Vehicle emission targets to hurt
Australia’s new emissions targets, which the car industry argues will add thousands of dollars to the price of new vehicles, are among the toughest in the world, according to the Motor Traders Association.
MTA boss Matt Hobbs said that unlike emission standards in Europe and the United States, the federal government’s new rules – starting in 2025 – didn’t have any incentives, only penalties.
He wants the proposal refined to reflect the approach of the US, which in the past has offered incentives for car makers to bank credits for the EVs they sell.
“We only get the stick. There’s no carrot,” he said.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has said the bold new targets, which aim for a 60 per cent reduction in tailpipe emissions in five years, will push up the price of the country’s most popular vehicles by thousands of dollars.
The top three selling vehicles in the country, the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max, are among our thirstiest and will struggle to meet the targets without radical changes.
Climate Change and Energy minister Chris Bowen said this week the standards were “not radical” and were simply aimed at catching up with the rest of the world.
But a head-to-head analysis between the government’s preferred vehicle emissions plan and the European Commission’s plan shows Labor’s are more ambitious over the next five years.
Under the government’s preferred New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) model the initial CO2 tailpipe targets will be softer than Europe’s but they will ramp up dramatically after two years.
By 2027 our CO2 targets for passenger cars will be roughly the same as Europe, but our targets for commercial vehicles such as utes will be stricter.
Then in 2028 and 2029 they ramp up considerably.