Australians living in the outer suburbs and earning middle incomes will have access to modern and fuel efficient cars that will save them up to $3,000 per year under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), according to the Electric Vehicle Council.
The vehicle efficiency standard is about driving down prices for cleaner cars in Australia. It incentivises car makers to gradually reduce the total emissions of the cars they sell, giving motorists dozens more choices at a lower purchase price and cheaper running costs.
Electric Vehicle Council CEO Julie Delvecchio said: "The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard is helping more Australians living in the outer suburbs make the switch to cleaner cars that will save them up to $3,000 per year.
"All major mainstream car makers are adapting to Australia's incremental standards, the same way they adapted to standards in the US and Europe. Manufacturers who want to send their dirtiest cars to Australia are the only ones with anything to lose from this very sensible and measured policy.
"Far from electric cars only being bought by people living in the inner city, EVC data shows the people adopting electric vehicles the most are those living in the outer suburbs - areas like Kellyville in Sydney's north-west and Werribee in Melbourne's south-west.
"Traditional suburbs have overtaken inner-city suburbs in EV uptake. Our data shows that outer metropolitan suburbs have accounted for 43 per cent of uptake. When combining outer metropolitan, regional and rural, this accounts for 61 per cent of EV uptake in 2023.
"This indicates that EV adoption is growing more rapidly in outer suburban, regional and rural areas than inner metropolitan areas. These communities often commute longer distances, meaning they benefit the most from ditching expensive overseas fuel.
"People living in the outer suburbs also tend to have access to a garage or driveway for home charging, and the added advantage of rooftop solar panels-features that are often harder to come by in the built-up inner city. People living in regional centres are also embracing EVs too including in Toowoomba and Ballarat.
"The NVES is about benefiting all Australians – it's lowering the cost of running a car by up to $3,000 per year, giving us a wider range of cleaner cars for all lifestyles and reducing air pollution to improve the air we all breathe.
"Australia needs the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard to continue in the race to catch up with the developed world. Before this year, Australia was the world's dumping ground for the dirtiest, fuel-hungry cars – an unenviable reputation that's now firmly in the rearview mirror."
Overview of 2023 BYD and Tesla EV sales by postcode. Source: BYD and Tesla
