When the federal energy and environment minister starts talking about electric vehicles, you know the tide has turned. Last month Josh Frydenberg said governments at all levels needed to look at how electric vehicles could play a “greater role” in modern cities.

Just as happened with rooftop solar and is happening with batteries and battery home storage, the EV transition is now under way, but a stronger policy framework from all levels of government is needed for the full transition to take place.

Past barriers such as price and range are no longer a problem. The current model EVs have ranges of more than 300km and sell for less than $40,000 in the United States. Given that the average daily car trip by Australians is 35km, according to the Victorian Department of Transport, one has to wonder what the fuss about range is anyway. Even the most modest EVs easily cover three times that distance, and the Tesla model S covers 10 times that. No wonder Norway and the Netherlands are aiming to have their entire passenger fleet 100% electric by 2025.

With all the discussion about renewables and the electricity grid, EVs can also play an important role in stabilising the grid. Charging your EV at work or while you are shopping will soon become a reality everywhere and when you return home in the evening (when demand for electricity peaks), your EV will supplement your home energy needs. The perfect complement to rooftop solar and battery home storage, electric vehicles will make “energy freedom” and no power bills a reality.

But what about the cost? Recent modelling by Beyond Zero Emissions shows that to shift the entire Australian car passenger fleet to 100% electric in 10 years would cost only 25% more ($1,200bn) than replacing the same fleet with traditional internal combustion engine (Ice) vehicles at a cost of $1,000bn.

This cost is highly dependent on assumptions related to the price of oil over that period, the price of batteries, and the price of EVs. If battery and EV prices fall more rapidly over the period, and the price of oil increases more rapidly, replacing the fleet with EVs could be cost-neutral.

This also factors in the cost of public EV charging infrastructure (approximately $100bn) and the cost of charging the vehicles with 100% renewable electricity. Charging the vehicles with anything but renewable electricity means the full benefits of EVs will not be realised, which is the ability to have a pure zero carbon transport system. And as car sharing becomes mainstream, reducing car ownership and enhancing other forms of transport such as public transport will make transitioning the fleet to EVs even easier.

Interestingly, Beyond Zero Emissions’ modelling shows that it will be even more cost-effective to convert the entire Australian bus fleet to electric buses over 10 years. This could only cost 10% more ($7bn) than replacing Australia’s bus fleet with traditional fossil-fuel-powered buses. With higher prices for oil, and lower prices for batteries and electric buses, the cost of moving the bus fleet to electric could be 12% less than continuing to operate ICE buses.

Local governments can’t wait to get in on the action. Many are said to be talking to Tesla about installing the energy storage company’s supercharger stations in their area. But we need a suitable policy framework and incentives at all levels of government to get this moving.

At the federal government level, we need a reduction in sales tax for EVs. This is already happening in France, Germany, Japan, Norway and the Netherlands. At the state or territory government level, we need low or no registration fees for EVs. And at the local government level, we need free parking for EVs and access to transit lanes in peak hour, as we have for motorbikes, buses, taxis and cars with more than one person, and as they do in cities such as Copenhagen, Oslo, Barcelona, London and Los Angeles.

We also need a targeted education campaign from government highlighting the benefits of EVs, including lower pollution and pollution-related deaths.

And finally we need to break the relationship between the oil majors and motor vehicle companies that has impeded the development and penetration of EVs for so many decades. One way to do this would be to have proactive renewable electricity retailers supporting the shift to renewables and EVs as part of a zero emissions home energy package, just as AGL has started to do. Only with the help of forward-thinking companies can we make a true switch.