Regional Aussies could save $4 billion from clean transport

Regional Australians could save almost $4 billion on fuel over the next five years if the Federal Government stops Australia from being the dumping ground for the world’s polluting cars, it is claimed.

Minister for Infrastructure, Catherine King, will launch a new 'Recharging the Regions' report into the regional benefits of clean transport at Ballarat’s Federation TAFE tomorrow, alongside a demonstration by a carpenter running tools powered by one of Australia’s first electric utes.

According to the report, a fuel-efficiency standard which aligns with our international trading partners' would save Ballarat motorists alone $80 million over the next five years in reduced fuel costs

National Director of independent, community-based organisation Solar Citizens, Heidi Lee Douglas, said Australia’s regional residents could not afford to lose $4 billion in savings offered by clean transport.

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"Regional communities are hit hardest by rising fuel costs, because in the regions we drive more and pay more at the petrol pump," Douglas said.

“Right now we are the dumping ground for the world’s worst-polluting, expensive-to-run vehicles because Australia has the weakest fuel-efficiency standards in the world. We deserve better.

"Fixing standards would mean more fuel-efficient cars would be sent to Australia by car companies, including a much better diversity of electric vehicles, like more EV utes.”

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Other key findings from the report, based on the introduction of a suitable fuel standard, include; the number of EV registrations in the regions could grow from 3000 to more than 45,000 in five years and improved air quality and health outcomes for the regions– which in some areas, like Ballarat, have a higher rate of asthma and lung conditions compared to the national average.

Failing to introduce a strong standard, it says, will lock the regions into spiralling fuel costs, limit vehicle choice for consumers, and see harmful transport emissions continue to rise.

Back in September 2022, the Federal Government launched a consultation on its first electric vehicle strategy.

The consultation, which was announced at Australia's first ever EV summit in August, sought Aussies' views on how to encourage uptake of EVs, increasing charging infrastructure, boosting local manufacturing – as well as the much talked about fuel-efficiency standard.

Here's how the industry responded.