Electric car charging stations should be mandated for all new apartment complexes: Grattan Institute
A new Grattan Institute report recommends power be connected to apartment carparks and garages in the next decade for electric car charging.
"To ensure drivers don’t have to worry about where they can recharge their electric car, governments should require all new buildings with off-street parking to include electrical cabling to allow for an appropriate number of future vehicle chargers," the report urged.
The government should require all leased dwellings with off-street parking to have at least one electrical outlet near the car park by 2030.
It should ensure convenient, local vehicle charging is available by 2030 for all residents of homes without off-street parking.
The report noted the transport sector is responsible for nearly 20 per cent of Australia’s emissions, and more than 60 per cent of transport emissions are from light vehicles (including the two most popular cars in Australia, the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger).
"The best way to cut transport emissions is to supercharge the switch to electric cars," it said.
The report was the first of a series of five reports Grattan will publish in the lead-up to the international climate conference in Glasgow in November, showing how Australia can build momentum towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Sales of new petrol and diesel cars should be phased out by 2035, and governments should make electric cars cheaper, to help cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, the progressive think-tank argues.
It suggests Australia should introduce a zero emissions standard for cars, vans and utes by 2035 or face a crisis in which governments could be forced into “cash-for-clunkers” style band-aids as a lack of near-term action leads to a scramble to meet more ambitious targets by mid-century.
Zero-emissions vehicles should be exempt from stamp duty, import duty, and luxury car tax, their report suggested.
Scrapping stamp duty would cut the cost of new electric vehicles in Australia by up to 6.5 per cent.