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How do we change a system employed by government?\u00a0 If we went cold turkey on many of our traditional national policies the flow on effects throughout the public and business sectors would be ruinous.\u00a0 If you believe the headlines which state that traditional motor vehicles are heading for a cliff edge where there will be no more fossil fuels available to power them, and that the environment will be so much the better without vehicles that are powered by conventional fossil fuels, then things look pretty dismal.\u00a0 But is this actually so?<\/p>\n
There are numerous countries around the world that have their special governmental team of policymakers pushing for electric vehicles (EVs) to be subsidised and made easier for those who can afford an expensive EV to buy one.\u00a0 Across the ditch the New Zealand Labour\/Green government are creating a fast track for EV purchase in the hopes to lessen greenhouse emissions and keep NZ green.\u00a0 And in America they have recently brought in policy that reduces the initial purchase price of an EV by up to $7500 USD.\u00a0 Of course, the subsidizing is paid for by the tax payer.\u00a0 Those who cannot afford to buy a new electric vehicle pay for the privileges that the wealthier EV owners enjoy \u2013 like free use of public charging stations and preferential access to carpool lanes.\u00a0 What about the grand schemes and plans of making some American States totally EV and thus pronouncing the ban of all internal combustion vehicles by 2040 (California).\u00a0 Is this really fair?<\/p>\n
Could this thinking and ideology be the motivation behind EVs in Australia?\u00a0 How could the typical Australian on an average wage manage a law that states that you must drive a new and expensive EV by 2040?\u00a0 By the way, we\u2019ll also use your current taxes to help the wealthy buy an EV quickly (and enjoy its benefits) while you struggle to put the food on the table, let alone by an EV!<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s also remember that most of Australia\u2019s electricity is made by coal and other natural resource plants.\u00a0 A large fleet of EVs across Australia will draw down on the current available power supplies very heavily.\u00a0 But wait, I know, we could use people\u2019s current taxes to build more expensive cleaner power plants and provide bigger, better power networks!\u00a0 That will make Australia a better place.\u00a0 Power companies will enjoy the profits and will be sure to put the price of power up once electricity comes in short supply.<\/p>\n
Hang on!\u00a0 Are electric vehicles really as great as they claim to be?\u00a0 Supporters of the EV suggest that EVs will reduce air pollution and tackle climate change. \u00a0But will they?\u00a0 (Climate change is another issue – and one that many can make plenty of money, too)\u00a0 It\u2019s evident that a new vehicle powered by the modern conventional internal combustion engine is, in fact, way more pollutant-free than one might tend to think.\u00a0 Extracting Lithium and other materials for batteries has an environmental impact of its own.<\/p>\n
The appropriate comparison at governmental levels for evaluating the benefits of all those new electric vehicle subsidies, mandates and ideologies should be the difference between an electric car and a new petrol-or-diesel-car. \u00a0New internal combustion engines are very clean and emit only about 1 percent of the pollution that older vehicles did back in the 1960s.\u00a0 New innovations on internal combustion engines continue to improve these engines and their efficiency and cleanliness.<\/p>\n
When we consider EVs, and their large appetite for electricity, the energy to power them has to come from somewhere.\u00a0 Cars are charged from the nation\u2019s electrical grid, which will mean that they\u2019re only as \u201cclean\u201d as Australia\u2019s mix of power sources. \u00a0An environmental impact in the mining of the lithium, cobalt, and nickel that go into car batteries is evident. \u00a0Extracting Lithium is actually not so bad; most of it is extracted from brines that are evaporated by the sun, but it has a sizeable carbon and physical footprint.\u00a0 We have a long, long way to go before the production of electricity for the main grid looks as green and as clean as an EV appears.<\/p>\n