The Queensland Government has announced a pretty generous subsidy for electric car purchases, but Tesla buyers need not apply.
With fuel prices sitting well north of $2 a litre across much of Queensland (and Australia), electric vehicles have become even more enticing to many motorists peeved with putting a pretty big chunk of their pay packets through a petrol pump.
When releasing the Queensland Government’s new Zero Emissions Vehicle Strategy and Action Plan yesterday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced financial support for purchasing a new electric vehicle.
“We are going to make the cost of buying electric cars just that little bit cheaper,” the Premier said. “My government will provide a $3,000 subsidy for anyone buying an electric vehicle to the value of $58,000.”
While the announcement was accompanied by a great deal of self-congratulatory statements about Queensland’s progress on the zero emissions vehicle front, it was a little light on detail on the EV cash. But the ceiling of $58,000 means those hankering after a Tesla or other pricier EVs will have to pay full price for their electric dream machines. (Side note: TheDriven reported yesterday that Tesla Model 3 prices were very recently jacked up).
As well as the subsidy, recipients will also still be eligible to receive existing benefits such as discounted vehicle registration and registration duty costs. Further information on subsidy eligibility requirements, program guidelines and start dates will be available soon, but it’s been reported elsewhere applications can be made from July 1 and the subsidy will be available for three years.
$45 million is earmarked for this scheme, so that works out to 15,000 subsidies. With a bunch more EVs on Queensland roads pretty soon, this means more charging stations will be require too. The Premier has some of that need covered with a $10 million fund for public charging infrastructure.
What EVs Can You Buy For Under $58k?
CarExpert notes given the threshold, the following electric vehicles will be among those eligible:
- BYD Atto 3 – but it’s not available here yet (second quarter of 2023 likely)
- MG ZS EV
- Hyundai Ioniq
- Nissan Leaf
- Hyundai Kona (short-range)
- Electric Mini Cooper SE
Queensland Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy 2022-2032
The Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy 2022-2032 and Zero Emission Vehicle Action Plan 2022-2024 released yesterday are designed to “help drive the state’s commitment of net-zero by 2050”. Whether a pun was intended there isn’t clear.
The Strategy features the following targets:
- 50% of new passenger vehicle sales to be zero emission by 2030, and 100% by 2036
- 100% of eligible Queensland Government fleet passenger vehicles to be zero emission by 2026
- Each new TransLink funded bus to be a zero emissions model from 2025 in South East Queensland and from 2025-2030 across regional Queensland.
Commenting on the announcements, the Electric Vehicle Council of Australia stated:
“Great to see QLD supporting #EVs through a $3,000 incentive and a target of 100% passenger vehicle sales by 2036. We look forward to helping them get it done!”
While an electric car is a big investment, running costs are comparatively as cheap as chips – particularly if you have solar panels installed on your home. Learn more in the SolarQuotes Homeowner’s Guide To Solar Power And Electric Cars.
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Retail diesel fuel prices in Queensland today range from AU$1.98 to AU$2.36 per litre.
The average Queensland diesel price was $2.15 per litre on Mar 16.
https://fuelprice.io/qld/?fuel_type=diesel
Retail E10 petrol fuel prices in Queensland today range from AU$1.93 to AU$2.13 per litre.
The average Queensland E10 petrol fuel price was $1.97 per litre on Mar 16.
https://fuelprice.io/qld/?fuel_type=e10
Retail PULP-95 prices in Queensland today range from AU$2.02 to AU$2.39 per litre.
The average Queensland PULP-95 price was $2.22 per litre on Mar 16.
https://fuelprice.io/qld/?fuel_type=ulp95
People need to get their heads around the proposition that the era of cheap oil/petroleum fuels has gone forever.
A Goehring & Rozencwajg blog post on Nov 19 (before the Russian invasion) included:
https://blog.gorozen.com/blog/running-out-of-spare-capacity-global-oil-markets
The only solution in this circumstance, and in order to maintain energy security (and food security), is to end petroleum dependency fast.
We are now on the supply downhill slope and it will get steeper. See Figure 5 in: https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2020/11/16/peak-oil-never-went-away/
Geoff, the problem is EVs simply don’t offer the necessary performance at an affordable price for most people. Petrol engines do. And if petrol proves too expensive, well folk may look at switching to diesel or LPG instead of looking to EVs.
Note too that even if petrol is considered expensive there is the fact it is safe and reliable – if your tank runs low you can just pop into your nearest petrol station to top up, assuming you can afford it. If your EV runs low, well I guess you’re walking home – wall outlets just take too long to recharge.
George Kaplan,
“And if petrol proves too expensive, well folk may look at switching to diesel or LPG instead of looking to EVs.”
Petrol, diesel, LPG, kerosene, etc., are all petroleum oil-based. The era of cheap oil/petroleum fuels has gone forever means they have ALL become expensive, and ultimately will in time become unaffordable as global oil supplies decline further.
Energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg, Javier Blas, had is op-ed published in the SMH earlier this week, that included:
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/the-oil-price-surge-is-bad-the-diesel-crisis-is-worse-20220315-p5a4ne.html
“Note too that even if petrol is considered expensive there is the fact it is safe and reliable – if your tank runs low you can just pop into your nearest petrol station to top up, assuming you can afford it.”
It seems to me you cannot imagine petroleum fuels becoming unaffordable or scarce/unavailable. I have no doubts there are many like you that simply cannot imagine that, because you have never experienced it. The accumulating indicators I see suggest we likely will soon.
Ultimately, geology will trump technology. In many plays/regions we are already witnessing the point of diminishing returns. It’s not about how much oil is remaining in the ground, but how quickly it can be extracted and how much more energy is required to get it out of the ground and process it into a form useful and in adequate volumes for society. Diesel is the premier transport fuel and it seems currently there’s a worsening global shortage, particularly pronounced in Europe.
Geoff, you might be interested in: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/germany-step-up-plans-cut-dependence-russia-gas-2022-02-27/
Despite the governing German coalition including the Greens, said nation is reconsidering its plans to phase out coal, nuclear, and LNG. Reliance on Russian gas is a critical vulnerability. It was Germany’s intent to go 100% renewables by 2035, and to have quit fossil fuels before then, but that’s no longer practical.
(Whoops!!! Please ignore\delete the original post. I forgot to close off my strikeout! Lets try this again …)
Generous? I think not! (A view shared by many judging by comments elsewhere)
There are 6 models which may be considered, the cheapest of which is $46,990. (Feel free to correct me if there’s a cheaper model). Thus the subsidy translates to about 10.6% off the price. A Toyota Corolla however is $28,836 – less than two-thirds the cost of the cheapest EV available. The saving made on going petrol Corolla instead of EV equates to about 9,000 litres of free petrol!
The 15,000 subsidies available will potentially more than triple the current EVs in Queensland – there’s less than 6,000 in the state. Most are from the ‘metro Southeast’ i.e. Brisbane, or at least Greater Brisbane. Thus it appears the state government is yet again focusing on the inner city types rather than those living outside Brisbane. The recent floods for instance were only a concern for the state government when it was Brisbane being affected, with those in rural areas barely rating a mention or support.
Then there’s the ever present range anxiety issue. Not only are some of the options available so short range that not even a single round trip is possible without stopping off at a
petrol stationrecharging station, but battery deterioration over time and changed performance due to conditions means a significant safety margin is required, a margin these options simply don’t have. And whereas petrol stations are widely available, charging stations, other than ordinary wall sockets, aren’t.While the state will fund some charging infrastructure, it’s highly probable that this will be only or at least mostly around Brisbane, yet again further disincentivising EVs. Oh there are electric plugs\charging ports around e.g. recently flooded showgrounds, but if you’re not a camper why would you want to spend 24 hours recharging your vehicle?
Seems more like a gesture to look good for the pro-EV or anti-petrol crowds than anything genuine.
George,
People who own & drive EVs every day say that range anxiety is greatly overstated. Most people travel relatively short distances each day (well within the car’s range) & just plug the car in when they get home to top it up.
On the occasional long distance trip a modicum of planning will find regular charging points & you don’t get stuck in the middle of nowhere unless you ignore the charge gauge – just as you would if you ignore the petrol gauge in an ICE.
You never need to spend 24 hrs recharging your vehicle unless you have run it dead flat, want to charge it to 100% & only have a wall plug available. Normally, you only need to charge it enough to get you home or to the next charging station & that will rarely require a full charge. And then there’s that planning thing again. If you are going somewhere without decent charging facilities, you don’t plan to arrive there with the battery dead flat!
There are, of course, some people who drive many hundreds of km every single day & others who regularly drive to remote places. Perhaps an EV is not yet for them.
For the vast majority of us, though, range anxiety is not going to be a problem.
George Kaplan,
“Then there’s the ever present range anxiety issue.”
Apparently not for much longer.
Per Automotive News Europe, Mercedes-Benz reportedly claimed early Jan 2022 its battery-powered Vision EQXX prototype, which apparently is capable of being driven more than 1,000 km (621 miles) on a single charge.
https://europe.autonews.com/ces/ces-2022-mercedes-aims-end-ev-range-anxiety-1000-km-vision-eqxx
“And whereas petrol stations are widely available, charging stations, other than ordinary wall sockets, aren’t.”
But will those “petrol stations” have adequate supplies of fuel to sell at affordable prices in a few years?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/18/no-new-investment-in-fossil-fuels-demands-top-energy-economist
Per the 2009 paper titled Giant oil field decline rates and their influence on world oil production, the natural decline rate for giant oil field production (if no further developments occur) ranges typically between -4 to -6% per annum.
https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0301421509001281-gr6.jpg
At current EV prices in Australia, I can’t see much point at all in ‘government’ subsidizing their cost to consumers. All that will succeed in doing is reducing their current “exorbitantly excessive” retail price, down to a ‘virtually unaffordable by just about everyone’ level.
Unless of course such people are willing to take on additional debt and add that to their outstanding house mortgages, or take out higher cost consumer loans.
Seeing that large numbers of people in our society are currently experiencing financial difficulties of all kinds – including an inability to meet such basic obligations as: rent, mortgage repayments and rates, electricity bills, house insurance etc and have barely enough left over to buy food for their family, it seems very likely to me that the volume of actually delivered EVs, and their percentage of overall on-road vehicles will verge on the microscopic for quite some time yet – so far as the everyday consumer is concerned
Many ULP vehicle owners have already cut their emissions by around 75% simply by following such practices as – grocery shopping once a month instead of weekly, car sharing or public transport to their place of work etc etc. .
There was a seeming boom in new car sales during 2021 according to VFacts at https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/vfacts-australias-2021-new-car-sales-detailed-in-full, An overall 14.5% increase in volumes over 2020 was reported.
However, the 2020 sales volume were the lowest EVER recorded since 2003 See: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/vfacts-2020-australian-new-car-sales-results-reviewed-in-detail
EV Utopia seems unlikely to arrive any time soon here in OZ I suspect.
It seems to me car companies are purposefully only offering EV’s in high end premium versions, No one is actually making budget varieties yet.
They do not want price EV’s competitively against ICE cars because most people would stop buying the ICE versions and they would be stuck with a bunch of cars no one wants to buy.
It will change at some point. Some Chinese upstart will start selling cheap EVs and start stealing market share, then they will have to start releasing EVs that are competitive.
Even if that dose not happen, a few car manufactures have already said they are only selling EV’s from some point. Once that starts to happen it will start to cascade through the system as they try to out compete each other.
But before this they still need to offload all their ICE cars.
Peter, people who own & drive EVs every day, or people who live, work, and drive around the inner city every day in EVs?
Roughly two-thirds of all Australians live in one of 5 state capitals. While not quite as dense as Singapore, said capitals are on par with India for density. Remove those capitals and Australia’s density drops to roughly on par with the Western Sahara or Mongolia. Even discounting those who live way out bush, a simple grocery run or medical appointment can easily be a couple hundred kilometre round trip.
As you say, perhaps an EV is not yet suitable for such folk. However if government is subsidising EVs and electricity whilst discouraging and penalising ICEs and petrol there’s a certain inequity being compounded.
George, if you encourage other people to buy EVs demand for oil will fall, lowering the cost to you of filling your tank.
Ronald,
Evidence I see indicates projected increasing numbers of EVs are unlikely to make any significant difference to petroleum fuel prices in the shorter-term. In the longer-term, a sustained decline in global petroleum fuel supplies will likely outrun the benefits of EV uptake.
US petroleum geologist Art Berman in the YouTube video titled Worst Oil Price Shock Since 1980 — When Will It End? (If Ever) | Energy Expert Art Berman, published Mar 9, duration 0:57:07, from time interval 0:09:48 (bold text my emphasis):
“But now we have this additional problem of subtracting 5 million barrels a day of, of Russian exports. And again, just to make sure everybody understands, I mean Russia is the second biggest oil producer in the world, I mean second only to the United States. Russia produced something like ten-and-a-half, ten-point-six million barrels [per day] of crude oil and condensate in January. So, I mean, this is not some – we talk a lot from time to time, oh well, you know, Libya’s down 500,000 barrels a day, or Venezuela’s down, you know three-quarters of a million – you know those are big deals too. We’re talking about the, the second biggest oil producer in the world. I mean, this is really, I mean this is whole different league…”
Putting that in perspective, a loss of five million barrels per day represents around 5 to 6% of global supply.
Before the Russian invasion, the only countries with material remaining spare capacity were Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Iran, and Russia. Russia is now out. The others simply do not have sufficient combined capacity to make up Russia’s supply shortfall.
An article published by oilprice.com on Feb 6 includes:
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Big-Oil-Isnt-Losing-Any-Sleep-Over-The-EV-Revolution.html
I’d suggest demand destruction is the only way of reducing fuel prices. That means probably at least an global economic recession, and perhaps even a depression. It’s now too late to avoid some detrimental consequences.
George, I was referring to people who live in a city, town, village, almost anywhere, who drive regularly – certainly not just the inner city of state capitals.
The vast majority of people don’t travel far every day. Even in a small country town most are driving to the shops, schools & their workplace on the other side of town. Many EVs have a range of 300-400 km which would amount to a weeks travel for many. Even if you live in the outer suburbs of a large city & commute a long way to work, you still get home with charge to spare & plug in overnight.
As always, those who frequently have to travel a very long way can stick with an ICE – they’re not going to disappear overnight.
Governments tend to subsidise things which provide society benefits & discourage things which are harmful. Despite that, I haven’t noticed any penalising of ICEs!