HVIA Appears Before Federal EV Parliamentary Inquiry

Last week HVIA appeared before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water’s transition to electric vehicles inquiry in Brisbane.

Joined by Mark Gjerek from MOV3MENT, a member of the HVIA LITE project, Adele Lausberg, Chief Advocacy Officer, and Adam Ritzinger, Chief Technical Officer, gave evidence about the opportunity to get policy and regulatory settings right from the start.

Adele Lausberg told the parliamentary inquiry that there were many operators eager to invest in large, battery-powered trucks, which could benefit businesses and the environment.

“If the goal is to reduce emissions, electric trucks certainly have a place and quite a large role to play,” she said.

“Some of the other elements of the industry are going to be much harder to make electric (but) we do know that electric trucks have a good case and they are part of the solution.”

However, Lausberg told the inquiry that freight businesses still face significant barriers to adopting the technology because electric trucks cost two to three times as much as their diesel equivalents and firms had to invest in charging equipment.

HVIA representatives also highlighted that governments needed to:

• Ensure charging stations on freight and commercial routes include heavy vehicle access;
• Look at overseas incentive programs to hasten the uptake of low- and net-zero heavy vehicles;
• Make road and bridge access consistent across states and territories;
• Train and upskill the workforce to service and repair electric trucks;
• Know that EVs are an important part of, but not the only, solution to decarbonising heavy vehicles.

Too often heavy vehicles are left out of the conversation, so HVIA was grateful to have the opportunity to present evidence to Chair Tony Zappia and Deputy Chair David Gillespie. 

You can read the HVIA submission here: Submissions – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au).