Mitsubishi Motors Australia chief executive Shaun Westcott says that Australia doesn’t yet have the infrastructure in place to deal with increased adoption of electric vehicles.
The CEO spoke at the recent launch of the new Outlander PHEV, a plug-in hybrid that uses both electric motors and a petrol-fuelled internal combustion engine.
Speaking to the press at the event, Westcott cited that Australia relies too heavily on “dirty power” to make electric vehicles environmentally beneficial.
“The reality with EVs is Australia has a lot of catching up to do,” Westcott said.
“A lot has to happen and I think with the new government there’s a higher desire to move the dial, but I’m afraid the harsh reality is there are limitations in how quickly we can adopt because we’re starting so far behind the curve.
“We still have 75% dirty power. There’s a lot of pressure on the motor industry to reduce emissions at the tailpipe. But if all we’re doing is transferring it to the power station then what are we doing guys?”
“That’s not net zero. All we’re doing is shifting the dirty emissions from the tailpipe to the power station.”
Westcott’s comments come off the back of fresh legislation, with Labor’s climate bill passing lower house late last week. The bill outlines an emissions reduction target of 43% by 2030, and a net-zero commitment for 2050.
While the legislation did not make direct pledges regarding the creation of renewable energy plants, Greens leader Adam Bandt says that it will result in “rigorous examination” of the 114 new coal and gas sites on the books for development.
“As a country we need to invest heavily in power stations that use renewable energy; whether that’s solar, wind or hydrogen it doesn’t matter. We need to get green and we need to get green fast,” Westcott added.
“That’s billions of dollars. I won’t say it’ll take decades because I don’t know how long it takes to build a power station, but it’s going to take years to get our supply clean and sufficient.
“We also need equitable incentive and usage charges for all electric vehicles across all states consistently in Australia. We need to incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles, not dis-incentivise or create obstacles or hurdles.”
Mitsubishi doesn’t currently offer a fully electric vehicle in Australia. In previous years it offered its i-MiEV fully electric hatchback, although the model has since been culled. In its absence the brand offers plug-in hybrid versions of its Outlander and Eclipse Cross.
It’s rumoured that a plug-in hybrid Triton is in development.
