Seven reasons to embrace electric vehicles

This story was adapted from an article published on The Conversation

Despite the overwhelming evidence that electric vehicle technology can deliver significant economic, environmental and health benefits, misinformation continues to muddy the public debate in Australia.

Let’s look at the facts:

1. Lower emissions

Battery electric vehicles have no exhaust emissions. Their emissions are primarily determined by the upstream emissions: that is, from the production and distribution of the energy used to charge them. Electric vehicles in Australia typically generate about 40 per cent fewer emissions than a petrol vehicle.

2. Lower across Australia

Electric vehicle emissions vary depending on how dirty the region’s electricity is. Victoria has the most emissions-intensive grid in Australia due to its reliance on brown coal and even in that state, the real-world fuel life-cycle emissions of a typical electric vehicle would still be 20 per cent lower than a typical petrol vehicle. In Tasmania, which is dominated by renewable energy, electric vehicle emissions would be 88 per cent lower than a comparable petrol vehicle.

3. Cost savings

Electric vehicles are 70–90 per cent cheaper to operate, potentially saving households more than $2000 per year.

4. Economic opportunities

The Australian resources sector is well placed to capitalise on demand for minerals in batteries, such as lithium, and support the deployment of this technology globally using cheap, reliable and locally produced energy.