ANCAP: 'Only five-star cars should be eligible for EV incentives'

Crash testing authority ANCAP has warned the Government that only electric vehicles worthy of getting a five-star rating should be available for incentives or else it risks compromising the safety of our national fleet.

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program said it understands the Federal Government's desire to drive up the number of EVs being bought locally, but contends it shouldn't be done "at the expense of safety".

"ANCAP recognises the Australian Government's intention to increase the rate of introduction of electric vehicles and other alternatively-powered vehicles (EVs) and to deliver the environmental benefits through de-carbonisation of the transport sector," said ANCAP's Chief Executive, Carla Hoorweg.

"However, this should not be done at the expense of those safety improvements already delivered, or continued improvements expected from improving vehicle safety technology."

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The safety body also said it does not support any move to relax standards around the importation of second-hand EVs from overseas, claiming "the safety specifications of vehicles delivered in an overseas market can be substantially different to the Australian model with the same name, and there is no practical way to be able to evaluate their safety or provide an ANCAP safety rating."

It believes EVs brought into the country under concessional arrangements, such as the Specialists and Enthusiasts Vehicle Scheme (SEVS) – which was opened up to more vehicles when the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 (MVSA) was replaced by the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 (RVSA) in mid-2021 – should not be included in any possible fuel-efficiency standard as it may encourage carmakers to use them to meet their emissions targets.

"ANCAP does not believe that attempts to mitigate the safety concerns of second-hand EVs will be successful," said Hoorweg in a letter to the Government as part of ANCAP's response to the National Electric Vehicle Strategy consultation.

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"In theory, special safety criteria could be developed for second-hand imports to comply with – however no viable mechanism exists to assess and verify, in order to provide consumer information, on the safety performance of the features fitted to these vehicles.

"For this to be successful it would require technical information from the original manufacturer, regarding specifications of the individual vehicle (by VIN). The variability between vehicles sold under the same model name adds significant complexity to the level of information required. In ANCAP’s experience, it is very difficult to obtain information from manufacturers regarding the specifications of vehicles sold years before and this task is not one that ANCAP is equipped to undertake."

ANCAP's view is supported by other key industry players, such as the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) – which represents vehicle manufacturers.

“In our view, grey imports should be restricted to specialist and enthusiast people, they should be extremely rare and limited in their volume because they should not be part of the mainstream market,” FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber told Wheels last year.

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However it is not supported by all, with EV-importer The Good Car Company saying the Government should remove restrictions on second-hand imports by amending the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 to allow all late-model, low-mileage EVs.

It will, it says, this year increase its supply of imported electric cars into Australia from 200 to 2000.

"This would, in our view, accelerate the path to a larger secondary EV market sooner, thus enabling more Australians to have much greater access to a broader range of high-quality EVs at lower prices and with better after-sales support. These factors would assist in speeding up the electrification of transport in this country," the company said.

"Policies that promote the uptake of independently imported new and second-hand vehicles can fast track the EV transition."

Last year, Wheels exclusively revealed thousands of overseas vehicles flooding into Australia under new import laws could also pose a different safety risk due to flaws in the way they are recalled.

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But this is also something The Good Car Company believes can be mitigated for by; connecting VINs of vehicles to a national recall database, allocating legislative responsibility for recall monitoring to either a) the dealership or b) the owner, ensuring each dealership that imports a vehicle maintains a recall monitoring and advice system, and imposing an import age limit of no older than six years.

In September, the Federal Government launched a consultation for its proposed EV Strategy, which it says is designed to “improve the affordability, supply and uptake of electric vehicles”.

The deadline closed for submissions on October 31, with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water receiving more than 500 entries – which covered over 1200 organisations and 1500 individuals.

The outcome of the consultation, and form the Strategy will take, has still yet to be revealed.