AfMA Fleetdrive Issue 18 | Page 10

Inside the AEVA AfMA catches up with National Secretary of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association – Chris Jones. WORDS BY DANIEL BRAID explains some of the ongoing challenges for electric vehicles from both a fleet and consumer perspective and what the association is doing to promote change. DB: Tell us a little bit about the history of the AEVA and what its role is in 2019. T he Australian Electric Vehicle Association Inc. (AEVA) is a volunteer run, not-for- profit organisation dedicated to the cause of switching Australia’s transport networks to electric drive as quickly as possible. Chris Jones 10 ISSUE 18 2019 / WWW.AFMA.NET.AU CJ: Sure. So, we basically started in 1973 back when the price of oil doubled or tripled overnight. And people suddenly took finding alternative energy sources for getting around a bit more seriously. Universities and research organisations had been working on a lot of these things in the background, but our association was established to sort of take those technology developments back to the people. And we were kind of set up as a friendly forum for anyone in the public to learn about these and find out where the technology is going.