The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has declared that after a slow start Australia’s transition to zero emissions vehicles is “gathering pace”.
According to ARENA, sales of Electric Vehicles (EV) grew to nearly two per cent of new cars sold in Australia in 2021, “almost tripling the number sold in 2020”.
ARENA said that while Australian EV sales still lag behind other developed countries, there were signs of a long-awaited market shift.
“Electric cars are the most visible sign of the transformation taking place, but there is evidence of a wider shift,” ARENA said.
“Urban mobility is changing rapidly as electric two- and three-wheelers dominate the market in China and grow in popularity in other Asian markets, including Taiwan, Vietnam and India,” it said.
“Electric buses numbers are also rising quickly.”
It said that in Australia, New South Wales leads the way for e-bus uptake, announcing a plan to transition more than 8,000 buses to electric by 2030.
It said that beyond buses, some of the world’s biggest mining companies were also joining forces and looking to electrify their vehicles in a bid to decarbonise the mining sector.
“This innovation challenge, dubbed Charge On, is a global initiative to enable the development of concepts for large-scale haul-truck electrification systems,” ARENA said
“This would help mines to reduce their diesel fuel consumption and would significantly cut emissions from surface mine operations.’
It said that as vehicles hit the mainstream, a role is emerging for other zero emissions transport technologies.
“Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles take advantage of similar electric motors, but store energy in hydrogen tanks instead of banks of batteries,” ARENA said.
“This allows faster refuelling and greater range, but has been held back by the higher cost of hydrogen production, which requires a number of additional processes to create a zero emissions fuel.”
It said another issue was a short-haul fleet of ultra-heavy trucks which operate in Queensland where new hydrogen trucks are due for delivery before the end of 2022.
