With new efficiency standards to become law from 2025, Australia is poised to become a more attractive market for electric car makers.University of Queensland researcher Dr Kai Li Lim says it's imperative Australia — and its infrastructure — is ready for a potential influx of electric vehicles .
"On the other hand, you don't really want to overinvest to a point that you have more and more charging stations sitting there vacant."Electric cars also have the potential to power our homes, or feed electricity back into the grid with leftover charge. "Workers in the internal combustion engine vehicle sector should be supported with transition programs, and ideally be provided with pathways toward EV manufacturing and services," Dr Lim said."These are new skills as well, because we're talking about new standards that are coming in internationally," he added."Because this is a growing industry, we will be expecting more and more shortfalls until this stabilises a few years into the future," he said.
Dr Dia Adhikari Smith says while a lot of the focus is on passenger EVs, there's also big potential in freight.She pointed to a global memorandum of understanding, which has been signed by 35 countries so far and includes a target of "30 by 30".