New research from independent think tank The Australia Institute has found the level of State Government funding offered to incentivise the uptake of EVs in South Australia falls well short of what is on offer in other states. An additional $70 million of funding, effectively tripling the $36 million currently being offered, would be required just to meet the NSW Government’s commitment, when scaled by population, Gross State Product, and the passenger vehicle fleet.

The insufficient funding has been offered by the SA Government in combination with their EV Tax, which is due to be debated in the Upper House this week.

Key points:

• The SA Government’s EV Action Plan aims to make SA “a national leader in electric vehicle uptake and smart charging by 2025.”
• However, the SA Government’s current EV package provides just one third of the funding that has been legislated in NSW, when scaled by population, GSP and the passenger vehicle fleet.
• An additional $70m in support for EVs, above the $36.3m currently being offered by the SA Government, would be required to match the EV Package offered by NSW.
• The 6,000 up-front purchase subsidies being offered by the SA Government represents just 0.53% of the current passenger vehicle fleet in SA.

“As it stands, this government’s policy will pull the handbrake on EV uptake in South Australia,” said Noah Schultz-Byard, SA Director at The Australia Institute.

“If the State Government was genuine about being a national leader on EVs, it would at least be matching the policies being offered by their NSW Coalition counterparts.

“The SA Government is failing to adequately support the transition to EVs and now they are attempting to put a new tax on the emerging technology that our state so badly needs.

“We are a long way behind the rest of the world when it comes to the uptake of EVs and this package, with very little support and a big new tax on the sector, isn’t going to get us to where we need to be.

“The Parliament should tell the government to go back to the drawing board and return with a genuine policy approach that will support the uptake of EVs in this state, not hold us back.”