WA’s biggest independent car dealer has dismissed as unachievable plans by Labor leader Bill Shorten for 50 per cent of new cars sold in Australia to be electric within barely a decade.

John Hughes also warned that the Federal Opposition’s electric vehicle policy would have a “calamitous” effect on the car retailing industry unless it was given help with the transition away from internal combustion engines.

Mr Hughes, a longstanding Liberal Party donor who operates the State’s biggest single dealership out of Victoria Park, said Mr Shorten’s pitch to voters was “bold” but “won’t happen”. He said electric cars were simply too expensive for most consumers and unless the Federal Government provided “massive” subsidies there would be insufficient demand to drive prices down to competitive levels.

Prices for current models of EVs start at almost $50,000.

Labor’s plan would also risk thousands of jobs tied up in the traditional car retailing and servicing industries without major efforts and significant amounts of money for retraining affected workers, he said.

Under the plan, by 2030 half of all new cars sold in Australia would need to be electric.

There would also be tougher emissions standards for internal combustion engines.

The plan has been welcomed by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, which represents car manufacturers, although the lobby group urged Mr Shorten to fast-track investment in infrastructure such as charging stations.

Mr Hughes noted that 1.1 million new cars were sold in Australia last year, meaning that under the ALP’s policy more than 500,000 electric vehicles would need to be sold in the final year.

He said that though there was “some interest” from consumers, there were barely a handful of sales of EVs in WA, highlighting the scale of the task Labor faced.

“It’s a bold commitment and I don’t think they can achieve it,” Mr Hughes said. “Genuinely I don’t think there’s a chance in hell it will take place.

“But if it were to, I could see the consequences would be disastrous, calamitous.

“We would have to turn upside down the whole way we’ve been doing business.

“I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it’ll have a huge effect ... and it will have a huge impact on staffing levels and servicing levels. What about all the technicians, the service advisers, the apprentices?”