The Government’s new Future Fuels Strategy should be more courageous

HVIA has welcomed the Government’s new draft Future Fuels Strategy but says it is currently too passive.

HVIA’s National Policy and Government Relations Manager, Greg Forbes says feedback on the new discussion paper will be used to shape the Government’s final strategy.

“The strategy will influence Government investment decisions, inform its future work program and its interactions with State Energy Ministers,” Mr Forbes said.

Mr Forbes said its aspirations to break down the barriers encountered in the adoption of new technologies are not far reaching enough.

“Reducing barriers is helpful but to really improve the penetration of these vehicles into the fleet, we also need to have a strategy to increase fleet turnover,” he said.

“Australia has one of the oldest vehicle fleets amongst developed nations and Australia needs to have a strategy to encourage people to trade in older vehicles and buy newer more efficient vehicles.

“Lowering the fleet age would not only improve the uptake of these technologies, but it would also bring a host of other benefits.

“Newer vehicles also embody advanced safety features and have higher productivity,” Mr Forbes said.

As seen at the last Brisbane Truck Show, HVIA’s members are keen to develop and implement these new technologies.

“This will be even more evident at the 2021 show where we will highlight the latest developments in relation to future fuels and electric drivetrains at the Future Fuels and Sustainability Hub.”

The Government’s draft strategy is built around three central principles:

• Addressing Barriers to the roll out of new vehicle technologies to increase consumer choice.
• Investment in early-stage infrastructure to stimulate the market and private sector.
• Improving access to information to help people make informed choices.

To do this the Government has created a $74.5 million Future Fuels package aimed at supporting electric vehicle charging and hydrogen fuel infrastructure and a $24.5 million Freight Energy Productivity package which will focus on improving energy productivity of heavy road freight businesses using existing liquid and future fuels.

The discussion paper identifies 5 key strategies related to:

• Electric Vehicles charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure
• Focusing first on commercial uptake of electric and hydrogen vehicles
• Improving Information for motorists and fleets
• Investigating the integration of battery electric vehicles into the National Electricity grid
• Supporting Australian Innovation and Manufacturing

You can find a copy of the discussion paper here.

Comments on the discussion paper are open until Friday, 2 April. If you have any questions please contact Greg Forbes on 0437 923 755 or g.forbes@hvia.asn.au.