An unlikely group of 12 companies and organisations, including car manufacturers, automotive groups and environmental organisations have come together to publish an open letter to the South Australian Parliament, calling on them to abolish stamp duty on electric vehicles.

The letter, which appears as a full-page advertisement in The Advertiser newspaper today, comes as the government is seeking to introduce legislation for a South Australian EV Tax for debate.

Prominent signatories of the open letter include Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, the Electric Vehicle Council, Solar Citizens, Conservation SA, Doctors for the Environment Australia, and The Australia Institute.

“South Australia is already so far behind when it comes to the uptake of electric vehicles and now the government wants to make that situation even worse with its very own EV Tax,” said Noah Schultz-Byard, SA Director at The Australia Institute.

“The only way that an EV Tax can work in this state is if the current incentives on offer are coupled with the permanent abolition of stamp duty on clean cars,” Mr Schultz-Byard said.

“The Coalition Government in New South Wales has really led the way on this important reform and has shown states such as South Australia what supporting EVs should look like,” said Behyad Jafari, CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council.

“Electric vehicles help to tackle climate change, lower our daily transport costs and improve the quality of the air we breathe. It is high time we made the switch to electric,” Mr Jafari said.

“We know many South Australians want to switch to an electric car, but are put off by the purchase price and threat of an EV tax,” said Ellen Roberts, National Director of Solar Citizens.

“This is an opportunity to provide incentives to help more South Australians buy an EV, so more people can access clean cars that reduce cost of living pressures,” Ms Roberts said.