Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | Twitter
Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers introduced on Wednesday the proposal to the parliament aiming to reduce upfront cost including changes to fringe benefits tax and also the removal of the five percent import tariff.
The incentives will cover Battery electric vehicles (BEV), hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (HFCEV) and also the plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).
“This sends an unmistakable signal to this parliament, to Australian industry and to the Australian people – and beyond – that Australia now has a government which understands the economics of cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy,” Mr. Chalmers said.
It will amend existing tax laws to ensure employers providing employees with an eligible car would not have to pay fringe benefits tax on it. The changes will mean an employer providing a AU$50,000 electric vehicle would save up to AU$9,000 a year, the treasurer said.
Recently, Autralia’s Labor government enhanced that “there are no electric cars available in Australia for under AU$40,000, and just five for under AU$60,000” saying the country lags the world on take up for electric vehicles.
“In comparison, there are more than two dozen electric cars available in the UK for under AU$60,000 – including eight that are cheaper than the cheapest electric car in Australia.
This is because the UK Government, and governments around the world, have introduced incentives and policies to help electric cars compete with older technology with lower upfront costs”.
When naming the benefits for Australians, Labor said the Electric Vehicle Council estimates that “a AU$50,000 model (such as the Nissan Leaf) will be more than $2,000 cheaper as a result of removing the import tariff.”
In June, Polestar 2 was the best-selling EV model in Australia with 201 units and the third one in the first half of the year, only behind Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Kona.
In 2021, Australia recorded 20,665 EV sales (up from 6,900 in 2020) representing an EV market share of 1.95%. Of those, 12,094 were Tesla Model 3 vehicles accounting for 58.5% of the electric vehicles sold in the country.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | Twitter