All Australians should be free to choose the vehicle (diesel, petrol, electric or hybrid) that suits them without additional government costs. A government funded study has sounded the alarm bells about the government’s forced Electric Vehicle rollout.
From The Australian, ‘if Australians start buying electric vehicles in big numbers, the power grid will come under enormous stress, with EVs potentially increasing demand by between 30 and 100 per cent, according to recent trials conducted by Origin Energy.’[1]
“At the moment, our electricity grid is not coping at all. If we were to add another 30 per cent of peak load to the grid during those periods of high prices and constraints on the network, this would require significant investment to increase capacity,”[2]. That’s a friendly way to say the electricity grid will collapse without billions in upgrades which we can’t afford.
The solution being offered is deceptively friendly sounding ‘smart chargers’. They allow someone else to take over the charging cycle, deciding whether the vehicle charges or not at certain times.
In the trial, Origin gave users the ability to override the charging takeover, but do we believe the user will always be trusted with this override in times of peak demand?
All it would take is one flick of the switch and you are no longer able to charge your car as the government cites peak power demand or risk of blackouts.
This wouldn’t be a problem if we could trust the government to build adequate electricity infrastructure, but the blackout risks of the last few weeks have destroyed that trust.
Australians should be able to choose whatever car fits their budget and needs, electric, petrol, diesel or hybrid. The premature forcing of electric vehicles with subsidies, taxes and talk of banning petrol and diesel engines isn’t living in reality.
If you want an electric vehicle no one should get in the way, but if the artificial EV push continues from Government, Australians will suffer.
[1] Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ‘Origin Energy Electric Vehicles Smart Charging Trial Lessons Learnt 2’ May 2022 https://arena.gov.au/knowledge-bank/origin-energy-electric-vehicles-smart-charging-trial-lessons-learnt-2/
[2] James Jennings, ‘EVs may soon threaten the security of the power grid’ 4 July 2022 The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/motoring/evs-may-soon-threaten-the-security-of-the-power-grid/news-story/f7e7539ed00f1cb70cb17420e59defb8
