Valentin Muenzel writes in The Conversation (14.4.15) that the cost of batteries is one of the major hurdles standing in the way of widespread use of electric cars and household solar batteries:
‘The cost of batteries is one of the major hurdles standing in the way of widespread use of electric cars and household solar batteries. By storing surplus energy, batteries allow households to reduce power bought from the electricity grid. Unfortunately, batteries have so far been prohibitively expensive.
‘… Falling prices will pave the way for what could be a rapid transition to a cleaner energy system.’
- Rapid rise in electric car sales »
- Australians will not buy electric cars without better incentives »
- ‘What about the plug?’ Australia’s electric car infrastructure stalled by policy paralysis »
- Australia’s electricity grid can easily support electric cars – if we get smart »
- Electric cars can clean up the mining industry – here’s how »
- Don’t trust the environmental hype about electric vehicles? The economic benefits might convince you »
- Climate explained: the environmental footprint of electric versus fossil cars »
- Electric car sales tripled last year. Here’s what we can do to keep them growing »
- Owners of electric vehicles to be paid to plug into the grid to help avoid blackouts »
- Electric cars have few downsides except price. One company is looking to change that »
- Think taxing electric vehicle use is a backward step? Here’s why it’s an important policy advance »
- Australian states were warned road user tax on electric vehicles could discourage uptake »
- Top economists call for budget measures to speed the switch to electric cars »
- Cramming cities full of electric vehicles means we’re still depending on cars – and that’s a huge problem »
- Australia was late on renewable energy and is now making same mistakes with electric vehicles, analysts say »
- Morrison flicks the switch on electric vehicles, won’t help you pay for them »
- Coalition releases electric vehicle strategy but rules out subsidies »
- As the world surges ahead on electric vehicle policy, the Morrison government’s new strategy leaves Australia idling in the garage »
- Government assumes 90% of Australia’s new car sales will be electric by 2050. But it’s a destination without a route »
- Most Australian households are well-positioned for electric vehicles – and an emissions ceiling would help »
- ‘Advantages other nations would die for’: Push to build electric cars in Australia »
- Zap to it: Queensland offers $3000 electric vehicle subsidy »
- Sold out: why Australia doesn’t have enough electric vehicles to go around »
- How climate-friendly is an electric car? It all comes down to where you live »
- Will we be saying goodbye to petrol? What the major parties are planning for electric vehicles »
- Electric vehicles could significantly increase demand on the power grid, trials underway to change energy use behaviour »
- Queensland cracks automotive milestone – 10,000 electric vehicles »
- Why Labor’s new tax cut on electric vehicles won’t help you buy one anytime soon »
Going electric and banning new petrol-powered cars could be Australia’s next big light bulb moment
Peter Martin writes in The Conversation (25.5.21) about how the Coalition in office previously turned off an industry’s life support ‘without blinking’ – the author argues that, in relation to petrol-powered cars, it’s time for Australia’s government to do it again.
‘In 2007 Malcolm Turnbull turned off an industry’s life support without blinking. The industry made light bulbs, of the traditional kind; so energy-inefficient they lost most of it as heat.
‘… Turnbull was able to do it because Australia no longer made light globes. There was no domestic industry – and no jobs – to protect.
‘Australia stopped making cars in 2017. The thousands of workers who used to assemble cars in Australia no longer have those jobs. Which means there’s no car industry to protect.
‘We have the opportunity to do to traditionally-powered cars what we did to incandescent light bulbs. And the need. We’ve all but committed ourselves to net-zero emissions by 2050.’
- Going electric and banning new petrol-powered cars could be Australia’s next big light bulb moment »
- Check your mirrors: 3 things rooftop solar can teach us about Australia’s electric car rollout »
- Australian subsidies give oil refineries the whole carrot farm while electric vehicles get the stick »
- Electric cars ‘will be cheaper to produce than fossil fuel vehicles by 2027’ »
- On the road again: here’s how the states can accelerate Australia’s sputtering electric vehicle transition »
- Labor proposes discounts for electric cars and ‘community batteries’ to store solar power »
- Australia risks being left behind in petrol-fuelled ‘parallel world’ as other countries embrace electric cars »
- Australia’s electric vehicle policy steers us to a future based on fossil fuels. It needs to be dumped »
- The US jumps on board the electric vehicle revolution, leaving Australia in the dust »
- Australia’s electric car strategy only doing ‘the bare minimum’, expert says of leaked draft »
- How to cut emissions from transport: ban fossil fuel cars, electrify transport and get people walking and cycling »
- Power to the people: proposals to increase the rollout of community batteries »
- When it comes to electric vehicles, Queensland still has the hand brake on »
- Electric car costs could spark motorists to throw the switch »
- The electric car revolution putting Australia and the rest of the world to shame »
- Scott Morrison spruiks electric vehicles – but rules out subsidies and an end-date for petrol cars »
- Several nations are promising to ban petrol car sales by 2035, but Australia isn’t one of them »
- Scott Morrison has put the war on the weekend in his rearview mirror and embraces electric vehicles »
- The embarrassingly easy, tax-free way for Australia to cut the cost of electric cars »
- We must rapidly decarbonise road transport – but hydrogen’s not the answer »
- Electric cars touted to recharge Australian manufacturing sector »
- Queensland to provide $3,000 subsidy to buy electric vehicles »
- A cut-and-paste attack on electric vehicle batteries and renewables is spanning the globe. But is it right? »
- What would it take to get Australians to buy electric cars? Canberra provides a guide »
- Beyond electric cars: how electrifying trucks, buses, tractors and scooters will help tackle climate change »
- Australia has critical minerals for electric vehicles, so isn’t it time for a domestic industry? »
- How the government can unlock the electric car market »
- Australian car industry’s emissions plan to slow electric car take up »
- Zap to it: Electric cars could dominate sales by 2030, study finds