FLEETDRIVE
Growing frustrations at state level
Victoria ’ s plans to introduce an EV tax that will charge electric car owners 2.5 cents per kilometre driven and plug-in hybrid owners 2 cents per kilometre driven from July 1 this year has gone down like a lead balloon among 25 leading manufacturers and environmental organisations .
The group who published a joint letter in response to the Victorian government ’ s plan in The Age paper earlier this month labelled Victoria ’ s policy the “ worst electric vehicle policy in the world ”.
“ Most industrialised countries are prioritising incentives for electric vehicles to benefit from cleaner air and new jobs from a growing industry ,” the letter said .
“ This new tax means the world ’ s manufacturers are far less likely to send Victorians their best , most affordable , zero-emission vehicles .”
Manufacturers including Hyundai , Volkswagen and SEA Electric said the levy would make it increasingly difficult for Victorians to purchase electric vehicles .
Mr Jafari said electric vehicle uptake was already massively behind the US , the UK and across Europe .
“ This tax will exacerbate the yawning gap ,” he said . “ Far from being on track to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 , emissions from transport are rising in Victoria . This is the wrong time to tax zeroemissions vehicles .”
Meanwhile New South Wales and South Australia have seemingly put the brakes on their proposed taxes , with the latter delaying its planned electric vehicle tax for one year until July 2022 to see what other states do . The NSW treasurer is expected to take a proposal to state cabinet later this year and is no doubt seeing how things play out in Victoria before making a commitment .
The case for hydrogen
At the present time there are only 2 hydrogen models in the pipeline for Australia – the Hyundai NEXO SUV and the Toyota Mirai sedan . The Hyundai NEXO is now being deployed in our nation ’ s capital , while Toyota has big plans to unleash its Mirai on the market and proudly unveiled its Victorian hydrogen production and refuelling facility in March ( as featured later in this issue ).
The ACT ’ s 20 new zero-emission Hyundai NEXO hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles officially hit the roads in March this year . They represented the first deployment of fully certified Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles ( FCEVs ) in Australia , as well as the first use of hydrogen vehicles by a Government in Australia .
The initial 20 ACT government NEXO vehicles will be followed by a fleet of five FCEVs for the QLD government . NEXO has a range of 666km ( WLTP ), with a refuelling time of three to five minutes , in an SUV that emits only water vapour from its exhaust and purifies the air as it drives .
Hydrogen stations are now available in Canberra , at Hyundai ’ s Sydney headquarters , Toyota ’ s new Altona base in Melbourne and there are plans for a fourth base to be built by the CSIRO , to be installed in the south-eastern suburb of Clayton ( also in Victoria ).
The potential for this unique energy source is outstanding because the primary product from the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen is water . It is viewed as the ultimate clean fuel . A major disadvantage with hydrogen is its low energy density , requiring large bulky fuel tanks for storage .
ISSUE 28 APRIL 2021 / WWW . AFMA . ORG . AU 13