Australian fuel efficiency standards aimed at cutting petrol bills, 'catching up' with US

[Franco Cozzo]

Uh oh, its happening!

Australian fuel efficiency standards aimed at cutting petrol bills, 'catching up' with US

Australia is finally getting efficiency standards for new cars.

The Albanese Government has announced its New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), and will consult with stakeholders on its preferred model until March 4, 2024 before introducing legislation “as soon as possible”.

It aims for the new rules, which will affect new passenger and light commercial vehicles, to come into effect by January 1, 2025.

Car companies will be given targets for average CO2 emissions per kilometre across their vehicle fleets. Over time this CO2 target will move, forcing companies to provide vehicles with lower or zero emissions to meet stricter targets.

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-new...ing-up-with-us

Did Ford Australia has this on their bingo card for 2025? They've got the Hybrid Ranger in the works, this might force them to introduce other cars back to our market to allow the Ranger sales to continue.

Electric Vehice Council has released a statement:



Simon Holmes a Court is looking to lead the teals to make them more strict:

David Pocock supports fuel efficiency standards

The ACT’s independent senator David Pocock has joined the list of those throwing their support behind the government’s efforts to introduce fuel efficiency standards.

The senator said the proposed standards were a good starting point but there was “scope for even more ambition in what the government has announced to ensure a quick catch up and get us on par with countries like the US earlier.”

For years Australia has languished at the back of the pack. The absence of fuel efficiency standards have made us the world’s dumping ground for the most fuel inefficient vehicles.

Our lack of any standards has cost Australians at the bowser, and has damaged the climate due to high emissions.

Finally, we have an opportunity to turn this around. Australians will save up to $1,000 a year as a result of these changes, which will go a long way in the current cost-of-living crisis.

I congratulate the government on taking strong action on what was a key election commitment.

I want to see these new standards implemented as soon as possible and call on the government to bring forward the slated commencement date of 1 July 2025 to at least the end of this year.

Anything less ambitious than what is being proposed will increase the cost of transport and do further damage to our climate.

https://www.theguardian.com/australi...-cuts-albanese

Independents are jumping onboard,

Further details available here:

Cleaner, Cheaper to Run Cars: The Australian New Vehicle Efficiency Standard—Consultation Impact Analysis

2.1.1 Australians don’t currently have access to the same fuel-efficient cars as other jurisdictions…

Globally, and for decades, car manufacturers have been developing new technologies and materials designed to improve the fuel efficiency of cars.

However, the type of vehicles and technologies vary depending on where the vehicle is manufactured and to which market the cars are supplied.

Compared to cars in other jurisdictions, new cars supplied to Australia use more fuel per kilometre.

As outlined above, manufacturers supply cars to the Australian market that aren’t as fuel-efficient as the cars they supply to other markets. Global vehicle manufacturers are not currently offering the same range of fuel-efficient vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) models, and electric vehicles (EVs), for distribution in Australia.

In 2022, there were 500 EV models available globally, compared to 45 EV models available for sale in Australia. The US, NZ, the EU, the UK, and China all had higher numbers of EV models available than Australia. Compared to other markets, Australia also lacks access to more efficient ICE vehicles (as the average CO2 g/km of different jurisdictions is testament to).

Stakeholders have made clear that the driver for this lack of supply is the absence of a mandatory NVES in Australia, placing Australian consumers at a disadvantage compared to those overseas. For example, in 2021, the former head of VW Group Australia, Michael Bartsch stated that “unless a CO2 target is set [in Australia], manufacturers will continue to prioritise modern markets both for zero emission vehicles and the most efficient conventional engines” x and that “markets where there are punitive fines if they don’t are naturally first in line for zero emission vehicles”.

There's three options on the table at the moment:



https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/de...mpact-analysis

I suspect this will effect 2-bit flogs like Isuzu with their two car range being the DMax and the MUX, Ford Australia can just pull the finger out and offer some of their vehicles to the Australian market that they do for the UK.