Electric vehicles, if made readily available for a range of budgets, would be a way to improve energy efficiency and mitigate the impact of rising fuel costs for those who still rely on cars to get around. Currently in Australia there is interest in EVs, but they are still a luxury that many are priced out of. Governments need to ensure an adequate and diverse supply of EVs to Australia, and could also consider programs that support their purchase.
I think while EVs need a 400KG battery made from copper, lead, lithium and nickel (requiring around 250 tonnes of mining per battery) that EVs do more damage to the environment than they prevent. People say they have no emissions but what about the emissions required to mine the raw materials and manufacture the cars. Batteries only last say 15 years and then they are heavy earth material rubbish that needs to be disposed of. Is there even enough heavy earth materials on earth for all the EVs.
Electric vehicle uptake needs to increase far more rapidly and I think the government needs to support rapid implementation of the National Roadmap for Bidirectional EV Charging to help reduce electricity costs. A huge fleet of EVs with their large batteries that can be used to power houses during peak usage times is a massive opportunity to reduce demand on the grid, reduce electricity costs and reduce emissions.
Greater access to EVs should be supported through grants in government research & support of the resource sector to create alternative batteries like solid state batteries which will make EVs far more affordable.
We need a way to provide charging stations to apartment buildings so that renters don't need to depend on shopping centre parking limits and costs
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation