Australia's smallest state looks to electric vehicle future

Tasmania is the only state in Australia that can claim electric vehicles (EV) there to be truly zero emission, due to the island state’s combination of hydro, solar and wind-generated electricity.

And now the state is looking to capitalise on its green-energy generation by investing in green transportation – namely EVs – at a government fleet level and with fiscal incentives. It’s all part of the apple isle’s new renewable energy strategy.

Tasmania’s energy vision is vastly different to that of the rest of the Australia, which relies almost exclusively on coal and other fossil fuels to generate electricity, placing Tassie in a unique position.

Dubbed ‘Tasmania’s Energy Strategy, Restoring Tasmania’s Energy Advantage’, the recently released white paper proposes to turn the state into a leading renewable energy hub, and part of the island’s transformation is expected to be a major shift in transportation infrastructure.

As well as seeding EVs in government fleets, the white paper suggests providing incentives for private buyers to adopt EVs – a move that has been resisted at state and federal levels across Australia.

Electric vehicle take-up rates have been rapid in countries where governments provide tax breaks or other inducements, which is the case in many US states, European countries and China, and this has in turn stimulated the rollout of vehicle battery fast-charge stations.

Meanwhile Australians have no incentive to adopt electric cars, and the sales results reflect that.

The Holden Volt electric car is no longer sold in Australia, partly due to a lack of demand, while vehicles such as the BMW i3 and Nissan LEAF continue to sell in dribs and drabs.

However, as battery technology continues to improve – increasing in capacity and reducing in price – the white paper suggests many residents will even look at leaving the grid. In this respect EVs will become vital to energy independence.

“Rapidly falling battery storage costs may cause some customers to consider disconnection from the grid,” reads the government study. “To the extent that this occurs, it will leave fewer customers to pay for the maintenance of the grid, resulting in even higher prices and driving even more customers off the grid.”

Cars will be a key factor in pushing this shift, with several brands – including Tesla and Mercedes-Benz – looking at affordable home batteries powerful enough to keep households running and off the grid.

While Tasmania is banking on electricity and EVs for its future energy strategy, the federal government appears more interested in another zero emission energy source.

Federal science and industry minister Ian Macfarlane recently declared hydrogen, not battery-electricity, to be Australia’s automotive transport ‘fuel of the future’. He attended the opening of Australia’s first hydrogen refuelling station, an initiative funded by Hyundai.

Meanwhile Tesla is also pushing ahead with its own infrastructure on the Australian mainland, with a Goulburn fast charge station installed and plans to have a supercharger network by the end of 2015, allowing Telsa owners to drive from Sydney to Melbourne under electric power.

Another factor that could play a significant role in the future of EVs in Australia is, naturally, the price of electricity. The Tasmanian white paper notes that “Retail electricity prices have rapidly escalated, largely as a result of significantly increased investment in networks,” and will continue to do so.

“Consumers have responded to higher prices in a range of ways, including by investing in solar PV [photo-voltaic] and energy efficiency measures.”

In the long term these responses, in Tasmania at least, are expected to lead to lower levels of electricity consumption, which “is leading to concerns of a network ‘death spiral’,” according to the white paper.

“This is compounded by tariff settings that are largely consumption based but the costs of providing the network are largely fixed.”

Rooftop solar panels in Tasmania are predicted to jump from 70 mega watts to 300 mega watts in the next 10 years, which won’t be good for electricity providers, but it will be good for people who want to run their household and indeed their motor vehicle cheaply and with zero emissions.

What are your thoughts on Australia’s energy future – should the mainland try and follow Tasmania and encourage the adoption of EVs or are the other options – hydrogen, LPG, diesel – more feasible? Have your say in the comments section below.