Industry body reveals 'three-point plan' to lower Australia's vehicle CO2

An industry lobby group has released a three-point plan aimed at pressuring the Federal Government to remove roadblocks to reducing carbon emissions.

Headlining the plan, introduced today by the Federal Chamber for Automotive Industries (FCAI), is a call for the Government to set an emissions reduction target for carmakers that reflects global standards and local needs.

Other key factors include; replacing blockages with incentives such as public, private and fleet charging and hydrogen refuelling, free parking/charging, access to transit lanes and the setting of government fleet procurement targets, investment in the recharging network/electricity grid, and adopting an international standard of fuel quality.

Last week the Albanese administration brought forward legislation introduced by the previous Government to improve the quality of Australian fuel from 2027 to 2024.

4

"Once the target is set, FCAI members are well placed to provide the technology mix needed to reach it," said FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber.

“The ultimate goal is a fully decarbonised car fleet, but to get there a mix of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery electric and efficient internal combustion engine vehicles will be needed.

“An emissions reduction target complemented by incentives will help move our nation up the global vehicle supply list and ensure Australians can access the low emission vehicles they want to drive.”

4

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber

Together with setting the emissions reduction target, the three-point plan also calls for impediments to be replaced with incentives – including; free parking, access to transit lanes and fleet procurement targets, as well as investment in the recharging network and electricity grid to meet the needs of Australia’s growing fleet of decarbonised vehicles.

Today's news follows an historic agreement made last week between 10 industry groups about Australia's path from internal combustion to electric.

Part of that agreement included that targets should be made across a mix of technologies based on availability, acceleration, allocation and consumer needs, including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery-electric, hydrogen and efficient internal combustion powertrains.

4

Alongside the new plan, the FCAI has also commissioned a study by marketing firm SMP Global into what new car sales would look like by 2030 if the Government did nothing and kept business as usual.

By the end of the decade, in such a scenario, just 18 per cent of new cars would be fully-electric, four per cent would be plug-in hybrid, 31 per cent mild hybrid, 23 per cent hybrid and 24 per cent internal combustion.

It's forecast that 77 per cent of premium brands' sales would be electric by 2033, versus around 21 per cent of volume sellers'.

For light commercial vehicles meanwhile, with no policy change, it's expected there would be no real difference – SMP saying only two per cent of the market would be full-EVs in 2033.

By comparison, in 2021 88 per cent of sales were made up of petrol and diesel vehicles.