EV incentives focused on urban centres leave rural Australians stranded with fossil fuels

Most EVs on the market are likely to have the battery range needed for those living long distances from urban centres, however Australian policy is currently geared only towards encouraging uptake among citydwellers, new research from the Australian National University has found.

This could leave remote Australians exposed to ever-rising prices for fossil fuels.

Though Australia has historically been slow to embrace electric vehicles, state and territory governments have introduced a range of incentives to encourage the transition over the past few years.

Most of these policies however have been focused on city drivers thanks to a widespread assumption that the limited range on electric vehicles makes them unsuitable for regional areas.

The ANU research has turned that assumption on its head by investigating whether electric car drivers in regional areas could make the journey to major service hubs in one trip.

In the analysis, researchers considered the Tesla Model S and the Audi e-tron 50 Quattro as both were 4WD vehicles already available on the Australian market with larger battery ranges.

They did not account for variables such as topography, sealed or unsealed roads and extreme heat which all may influence battery life.