New research from The Australia Institute shows that South Australians strongly support electric vehicles and want governments at all levels to implement a range of policies that would encourage more electric vehicles onto our state’s roads.

“We South Australians are well and truly ready for more electric vehicles on our roads and it’s high time the government caught up,” said Noah Schultz-Byard, SA projects manager at The Australia Institute.

“In South Australia, 74 per cent of us want the government to build a network of charging stations for electric cars, two thirds of us want to see the Luxury Car Tax removed from imported electric vehicles and more than half of us want to see the government offering loans for electric cars.

“The most popular policy, with support from three out of every four people, would see governments using electric vehicles in their own fleets while 71 per cent of South Australians supported requirements to make new cars more fuel efficient, even if that meant that they cost a bit more upfront.

“State and Local Governments in SA have taken some steps in the right direction, by incorporating hybrid vehicles into their fleet and installing charging stations around the CBD, but more needs to be done.

“South Australia is already at the forefront of global renewable energy, battery manufacturing and energy storage technologies but our uptake of electric vehicles, when compared to other parts of the world, is lagging behind.

“Tesla, the electric car maker, have said that they may be open to building cars in South Australia at some point in the future but that our relatively low rate of electric vehicle uptake is a serious barrier to achieving that investment.”

While many policy options to encourage EVs were popular amongst South Australian voters, some were poorly supported. These included increasing the excise on petrol, banning the sale of petrol cars from 2030 and giving electric vehicles access to bus lanes and dedicated parking spaces.

“Forward thinking policies are required if we’re going to encourage investment in South Australia. Helping more of us to transition to electric vehicles would be good for the state’s economy, good for jobs and good for the environment,” Mr Schultz-Byard concluded.

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