These days, he said, “Even my most, dare I say it, V8-driving, VB-drinking mates all believe in climate change now, and they’re saying ‘What can we do?’”
Anthony Broese van Groenou, co-founder of Good Car Co, a social enterprise which buys secondhand EVs in bulk to resell, says that after a natural disaster like a wildfire or flood, he usually sees a huge influx of inquiries. Adding surging fuel prices to the mix means he has seen inquiries increase fivefold, he said.
“We’re totally over capacity, and need to employ more staff to service demands,” he said.
Good Car Co has partnerships with manufacturers to sell their vehicles, he said, but no new vehicles are flowing in right now because manufacturers are not allocating any additional stock to Australia.
The government has said that the coronavirus pandemic has created global supply chain problems affecting the supply of cars worldwide, both electric and gasoline powered. A representative for Angus Taylor, the energy minister, said that the government’s manufacturing strategy “is actively looking to overcome these global constraints and strengthen local production,” noting that the government had committed $2 billion to its fuels and vehicles strategy to make it easier for Australians to switch to electric cars.
But industry advocates and experts say that supply will not improve without a change in government policy.
“Unlike other countries, we don’t have mandatory fuel efficiency standards, we don’t have an adoption target for EVs,” said Professor Burke, the ANU expert.
Without such measures, there is little incentive for manufacturers to send more cars to Australia rather than to countries where they face requirements to meet fuel efficiency standards or, in places like the EU, to avoid penalties imposed on manufacturers whose car fleet exceed specific emission targets in a given year.
