Electric Vehicle Index shows more electric cars on Tasmanian roads

The data, which was published on the AAA's Electric Vehicle Index, shows that while traditional cars also known as Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) still dominate our roads, electric vehicle use is growing.

The data shows that in Tasmania, electric vehicles made up 9.98 per cent of new vehicle sales in Q2 2023 compared to 6.74 per cent in Q1 2022.

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RACT Chief Advocacy Officer Garry Bailey said Tasmania, alongside Victoria, was one of only two states with close to one in ten sales being battery electric vehicles (BEV).

"Up from 295 in Q1 2023 to 461 in Q2 2023, these sales figures tell us that more Tasmanians are warming up to electric vehicles," he said.

Across Tasmanian LGAs, Hobart took the lead with 439 registered EVs in January 2023 which ranked in the top 50 cities nationally.

In the north, Launceston ranked fourth across the state seeing an increase from 46 to 112 registered EVs (a 143 per cent increase) from January 2022 to January 2023.

West Tamar saw an increase from 20 to 49 registered EVs on its roads between 2022 and 2023 and was ranked 7th across Tasmania.

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Meander Valley saw an increase from 20 to 43 EVs in the same period and ranked 8^th.

Devonport was ranked 10^th across the state and saw an increase from 19 to 35 EVs between 2022 and 2023.

Anthony Brose van Groenou, Co-founder and director of The Good Car company which aims to sell affordable EVs, said that ten years ago, he and others had to do a lot of education and "hand-holding" in demonstrating the benefits of EVs.

"Now, it's much more that people are understanding that EVs are a better option. The availability of EVs has always been a bit of an issue so that's why we continue to import secondhand electric vehicles from Japan and the UK to have more diversity of stock that wouldn't otherwise be here and just improving the numbers, increasing that supply."

"It's encouraging that more people are considering an electric vehicle and more Tasmanians are making the switch," Mr Bailey said.

While the 97.23 per cent increase is dramatic, it's from a very low base which has to be taken into account, Mr Bailey said.

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There are 702,825 total vehicles registered in Tasmania and from that 2533 are EVs, Mr Bailey said.

The data shows that 83.12 per cent of new vehicles in Q2 2023 were ICE vehicles down from 87.45 per cent in Q1 2022.

Environmental considerations have a lot to do with sales of EV sales, Mr Bailey said.

There's also been a significant increase in fuel prices which is focusing people's attention on transport costs.

We know that in Tasmania we pay more out of our household income for transport than any other state, he said.

The most recent data from AAA's Transport Affordability Index shows that Launceston residents pay 18.9 per cent of their household income on transport costs.

Tasmania does have quite a good charging network, Mr Bailey said, and so people are more comfortable that they'll find a charging station.

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Secondly, Tasmania being an island means that we don't travel as far as commuters on the mainland.

"So the problem of so called 'range anxiety' isn't as prominent as it might be in other states."

However, EVs are largely purchased by people on higher incomes and Mr Bailey wanted that many people will continue to drive ICE vehicles for a long time as Tasmanians generally keep their cars for longer.

Added to this are cost of living pressures which means people are less likely to make a significant investment like a new vehicle, he said.

In terms of charging infrastructure, "we do need more," Mr van Groenou said.

"Seeing that we're getting 100% sales increase on electric vehicles. We should, by that same measure, see a hundred percent increase in charging infrastructure. We're not there yet."

Electric vehicles are far cheaper to run but their upfront purchase price makes it far more difficult for low income families to get them, Mr van Groenou said.

"And that in itself is is a big issue. We need to address equity issues around transitioning to cheaper, more affordable and better vehicles."

In the ACT, people can access zero interest loans which are means tested allowing lower income families to get financed for an EV.

"That's that's the kind of thing that we need to see here in Tasmania, because we do have a population that is of a lower socio demographic strata than other places in the country.

"So we really need to make sure that we look after everybody in the state and we're not just giving out incentives to subsidise expensive electric vehicles. We need to make them accessible and affordable for everyone."

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