Australia is falling well behind other nations when it comes to the rollout and adoption of carbon saving electric vehicle technologies, new research has revealed.
An international study by car rental comparison website StreeFreeCarRental.com has ranked the top ten countries in the world when it comes to adopting carbon-saving electric vehicles, and Australia is nowhere to be seen. The electric vehicle market in Australia has faced various difficulties and the country is falling behind its global competitors.
The Netherlands was found to be most advanced in the rollout of electric vehicle technologies followed by Norway and Sweden with France ranked in fourth place. Researchers looked at both electric vehicle sales per head of population and state investment in infrastructure and charging points to compile a definitive leader board of the countries showing the way when it comes to electric cars.
The study highlights how much work there is still to be done for Australia to catch up with other countries in the race to net zero carbon emissions. Although there continues to be an undeniable upturn in electric vehicle sales as registrations hit 20,000, the percentage of vehicle sales that were pure electric in 2020 sits at 0.6% of the market share in Australia. This compares with between 5% and 8% in many comparable countries and about 60% in Norway, a small market that went hard early in backing the technology.
Australia is far behind in total market share, and total electric vehicles sales. However, there is some hope on the horizon, as many states continue to work on their own electric vehicle policies, and in some cases, set targets for government fleets and the general driving population. Funding of $72m has already announced for co-investing in charging infrastructure.
A spokesman for StressFreeCarRental.com who compiled the research said: “Our study shows which countries are leading the world in the race to net-zero vehicle emissions and which are falling behind in the slow lane. And Australia needs new policies, as well as investment in infrastructure. It may be a while before Australia breaks the top ten global leaderboard.”