Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / The Motor Trade Association's Tom Edwards is hoping Australia doesn’t follow the European Union in banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars until appropriate measures are in place

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The Motor Trade Association's Tom Edwards is hoping Australia doesn’t follow the European Union in banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars until appropriate measures are in place · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: The European Union has passed the law, effectively banning the
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  Speaker 1: sale of new petrol and diesel cars by twenty thirty five.
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  Speaker 1: It raises concerns for the Motor Trade Association, which say
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  Speaker 1: that Australia must not follow suit. To shed some further
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  Speaker 1: light on why is Tom Edwards, the Motor Trade Association spokesperson,
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  Speaker 1: good morning to you, Tom.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. How's it going?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, really good? Thank you so much for your time
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  Speaker 1: this morning, Tom. If introduced, will this effectively force drivers
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  Speaker 1: to well adopt electric vehicles.
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  Speaker 2: Fectually in the European Union? That is correct, and so
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  Speaker 2: our very strong methods share in Australia is that we
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  Speaker 2: don't want to distort market intervention. We want to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that we approach.
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  Speaker 3: And accelerate electric geggles in a pragmatic and practical way,
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  Speaker 3: and we're very much in favor of evings, so we
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  Speaker 3: think we need to do it in a sensible way,
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  Speaker 3: particularly given the fact that the European market is uniquely
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  Speaker 3: different to Australia. One example in the Norway, which is
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  Speaker 3: seen as largely the electric vehicle leader amongst many other countries.
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  Speaker 3: They sell about eighty percent of their new carss each
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  Speaker 3: year are electric vehicles, but that only equates to twenty
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  Speaker 3: percent of the overall cars on their roads right. Compare that,
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  Speaker 3: for example, through the territory only one percent or not
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  Speaker 3: even one percent of all new cars last years with
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  Speaker 3: ev So we've been a long way to go.
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  Speaker 2: We're saying we're in favor of it, but let's make
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  Speaker 2: sure we do it the right way.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and do it in a way that you
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  Speaker 1: know that we're ready for as well, I guess even
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to infrastructure and that kind of thing
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  Speaker 1: for us here on the territory, absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: There are a lot of issues for us to work
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  Speaker 2: through and we're very committed to it, but we are
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  Speaker 2: a little bit behind the able compared to our European counterparts.
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  Speaker 2: The things like you touch on charging infrastructure, making sure
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  Speaker 2: that there is enough adequate charging networks to be able
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  Speaker 2: to actually make sure your car can go from point
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  Speaker 2: A to point there are a range of things to consider,
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  Speaker 2: and also not just charging, but also the price and
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  Speaker 2: particularly compared in the territory for utes, which we know
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  Speaker 2: are the overall favorite model for territories, and paying over
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  Speaker 2: one hundred thousand dollars for an EVU probably just doesn't
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  Speaker 2: pass the buck. A lot of people.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, Well, that's been the biggest thing, hasn't it. Like
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  Speaker 1: I think in theory it's it's wonderful to think, let's
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  Speaker 1: all drive electric vehicles, but it can be incredibly expensive
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  Speaker 1: to make that transition.
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  Speaker 2: It can be, and also not just in the sense
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  Speaker 2: of the expense, but if, for example, you want to
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  Speaker 2: drive a ute and it's an electric vehicle, your payload
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  Speaker 2: and towing capacity is limited. So again we're in favor
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  Speaker 2: of it, but we're saying we're saying, let's have a
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  Speaker 2: maturer conversation and see what it actually means on the ground.
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  Speaker 2: And that's why has contributed towards the National Electric Vehicle
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  Speaker 2: Strategy hopefully released shortly, and making sure that for the
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  Speaker 2: everyday person who does want to be environmentally conscious that
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  Speaker 2: is actually possible for them without hurting their pockets.
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  Speaker 1: Tom What does it mean though? As well? Like you know,
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  Speaker 1: for most of us, you've either got a diesel or
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  Speaker 1: a petrol car. Even if you get to the point
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  Speaker 1: where then you're going, all right, well I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: go electric. Are you going to be able to trade
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  Speaker 1: it in in the same way that you usually would
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  Speaker 1: I'm assuming not if we're getting to the point where
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  Speaker 1: you're phasing them out.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. And so one of our main concerns
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  Speaker 2: is that if we do adopt similar short term benchmarks,
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  Speaker 2: which the European Union has done, it means that the
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  Speaker 2: trading value of existing petrol and diesel cars would effectively plummet. Now,
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  Speaker 2: obviously we don't want that because we want to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that people can use the value of their existing
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  Speaker 2: car to upgrade to an electric vehicle. So what we're
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  Speaker 2: saying is, yes, we're in favor of electric vehicles, but
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  Speaker 2: let's not punish people who can not afford it those
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  Speaker 2: high prices for electric vehicles by effectively putting amount of
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  Speaker 2: the market.
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  Speaker 1: So where are we at right now in Australia? What
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  Speaker 1: is the policy? I know that you mentioned that there
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  Speaker 1: is a I think you said a review underway, But
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  Speaker 1: what do you think we're going to move to here?
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  Speaker 2: I think we definitely are increasing our electric vehicle stalles.
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  Speaker 2: Then that's really qualities and we are supportive of it,
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  Speaker 2: but probably in the short term anyway, the biggest player
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  Speaker 2: and contributor will be hybrids. Hybrids are becoming more and
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  Speaker 2: more popular and Additionally, for the territory where we do
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  Speaker 2: have a lot of trucking, a lot of heavy commercial vehicles,
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  Speaker 2: hydrogen will also be a player in it. We see
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  Speaker 2: that to start to come up. So I think there's
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  Speaker 2: a broad range of things. Australia definitely is behind the
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  Speaker 2: able compared to some of the European nations, but that
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  Speaker 2: also provides us an opportunity to do things which to
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  Speaker 2: avoid doing things which they've done wrong. We are picking
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  Speaker 2: out there is a long way to go.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I had heard that, you know, hydrogen is going
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  Speaker 1: to be the way that we sort of move as
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  Speaker 1: well when it comes to our vehicles, and we still
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  Speaker 1: it sounds as though we're still a little while away
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  Speaker 1: from that though we.
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  Speaker 2: Are and there are some manufacturers who have invested in it.
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  Speaker 2: But again it's another option for both industry, both commercial
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  Speaker 2: and also for everyday people. But we are a little
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  Speaker 2: bit long ways to go, and that is why hybrids
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  Speaker 2: are probably the most popular alternative type positive vehicle. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: there are more and more people getting events. We're saying it,
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  Speaker 2: but like I said, the territory only having about one
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  Speaker 2: percent of Utah.
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  Speaker 1: Two, we are a little bit of well motor trade
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  Speaker 1: Association spokesperson Tom Edwards, It's always great to catch up
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  Speaker 1: with you. Thank you so very much for having a
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  Speaker 1: chat with us about this one this morning. Thanks so much,
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  Speaker 1: thank you.