Call for more electric utes, chargers in regional towns

ELECTRIC utes are perfectly suited to driving in regional Australia but the country needs policy changes and more public chargers to encourage the transport trend, according to a renewable energy group.

Solar Citizens called for changes as it prepared to complete a six-month electric ute roadshow on last week that has taken technology through towns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

The group’s clean transport campaigner Ben Lever said the demonstration not only proved electric utes were suitable for use in country areas but there was demand for the vehicles waiting to be fulfilled.

The tour comes months before Australia is expected to have a fuel efficiency standard introduced to encourage more automakers to bring electric utes into the country.

Mr Lever said the roadshow, which visited towns and cities including Bendigo, Shepparton, Ballarat, Kiama and Canberra, was an important step in proving the transport technology could work in rural Australia.

“We’ve found it is absolutely possible to drive over 10,000 kilometres around regional Australia in an electric vehicle, even one with a lower range than some,” he said.

“Perceptions that electric vehicles aren’t suitable for the regions has been busted by what we’ve done.”

Despite reservations from some drivers, Mr Lever said many who visited the roadshow were curious to try battery-powered utes and were particularly interested in their potential fuel savings.

“Regional Australians not only drive longer distances but pay more at the petrol pump so it’s a double whammy for them and going electric will benefit them even more than city people,” he said.

Bur Mr Lever said Australia would need to make changes to help more drivers access and use electric utes, including the installation of more public vehicle chargers and priority for chargers in regional areas.

Introducing a strong fuel efficiency standard to set pollution caps on automotive brands would also encourage them to bring a greater variety and number of vehicles into Australia, he said, and changes to allow drivers to tap into the vehicle’s battery to power homes, work sites, or the grid would make the vehicles more useful.

The vehicle used by Solar Citizens, the LDV eT60, was the first electric ute in Australia when it launched in November last year and another six are slated to arrive in the country by 2025, including models from Ford, Kia, GWM and Fisker.

But many electric utes will land in Australia years after their arrival in countries with fuel efficiency standards already in place.

The federal government committed to introducing a standard in Australia as part of its National Electric Vehicle Strategy in April, with Transport Minister Catherine King saying draft legislation should be ready before the end of the year.

– JENNIFER DUDLEY-NICHOLSON/ AAP