Is the electric car ‘boom’ over before it began? Australians shun electric cars, prefer hybrids instead
THE plug has all but been pulled on electric cars in Australia.
being touted as the next big thing in motoring, sales of electric cars
have almost come to a halt in Australia after more than five years of
experimental models.
Official sales figures show just 219 electric
cars were reported as sold last year or just 0.0018 per cent of the
total market — a staggering drop of 90 per cent from the previous year.
Indeed,
electric car sales are so unpopular, Nissan and Mitsubishi have stopped
stocking their electric hatchbacks, the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi
iMiev, because they struggled to move them even after slashing prices.
Instead,
buyers are continuing to embrace more conventional petrol-electric cars
because they can use petrol when they run out of battery power.
Indeed,
cars such as the Toyota Camry Hybrid have become a favourite among taxi
fleets because they are so miserly to run in stop-start traffic.
The
swing to hybrid power is so strong, it has crippled sales of LPG cars,
previously the preferred fuel for cabs. Just 612 LPG cars were reported
as sold in 2016, a dramatic drop of 70 per cent versus more than 12,000
hybrid vehicles.
Meanwhile, Australia’s appetite for diesel-powered vehicles is increasing, largely driven by demand for SUVs and utes.
Petrol-powered cars, however, still dominate the market, with more than 768,000 sold last year alone.
Car
buyers will be exposed to new debate about fuel this year as the
Federal Government considers whether or not Australia’s fuel quality
should be brought up to the same standards as other developed countries.
The
government wants to mandate cleaner cars but the car industry says it
can’t introduce its latest clean tailpipe technology on Australia’s low
quality fuel.
Regular unleaded sold in Australia is allowed to
contain 150 parts per million of sulphur but fuel in the US, Japan and
Europe must not exceed 10 parts per million of sulphur.
The petrol lobby says it can improve the quality of Australia’s fuel but that will come at a cost at the bowser.
Australia
is currently the fifth cheapest country in the world for fuel, once
exchange rates and average wages are taken into account.
