FLEETDRIVE
An opportunity for electric vehicles?
Manufacturing is a vital part of the Australian
economy – and a commitment to local electric
vehicle production might just be the jump start
Australia needs to restart its economy after
COVID-19.
By 2040, electric models are projected to make
up 58 per cent of new passenger car sales, and
almost a third of the whole car fleet.
Australia itself remains in a unique position given
it is already a major exporter of many of the
materials used to manufacture core components
of EVs – including the lithium used to produce
batteries.
“There’s a surprising amount of automotive
equipment manufacturing [in Australia],” said
Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council
executive director Mark Goodsell.
“There’s still a remarkably strong automotive
parts industry that’s both feeding into off-shore
assembly and a very healthy domestic aftermarket
– Australians love tinkering with their cars.”
But rather than manufacturing these more
valuable goods locally, Australia is exporting
them as “raw commodities”, according to
Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad
Jafari.
Mr Jafari told The New Daily last month that
Australia is “falling behind the pack” and could
miss out if other nations move faster to attract
foreign business and investment.
As demand for EVs surges globally, will Australia
make use of its unique opportunity to assist the
production of certain vehicle components on
local soil?
“Car companies and investors are after
certainty of demand,” Mr Jafari said. “Once the
factories are built, they’re built – this is a one-off
opportunity.”
Meanwhile French president Emmanuel Macron
has announced France will seek to jumpstart
the local auto industry decimated by the
Coronavirus pandemic with an €8 billion ($A13.2
billion) plan that includes a major boost for
electric vehicles.
Speaking at a press event in northern France
on the site of an auto parts factory, Macron said
the French government wants France to take a
leading role in the European EV market.
“We need a motivational goal: Make France
Europe’s top producer of clean vehicles by
bringing output to more than 1 million electric
and hybrid cars per year over the next five
years,” Macron said.
ISSUE 23 2020 / WWW.AFMA.ORG.AU
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