Scott Morrison has accused Bill Shorten of wanting to “end the weekend” by forcing Australians out of 4WDs, as the Opposition Leader sought to clarify his claim that electric vehicles could be charged in eight minutes.
The Prime Minister yesterday pressed his attack on Labor’s electric vehicle policy, declaring Mr Shorten would slash the options available for Australian car buyers, forcing them to “say see you later to the SUV”.
“The cheapest car you can currently buy, as an electric vehicle … including all on-road costs and the rest of it, is about $45,000 to $50,000,” Mr Morrison said in Sydney. “That’s the cheapest car Bill Shorten wants to make available to you to buy in the future, and I’ll tell you what, it’s not going to tow your trailer. It’s not going to tow your boat. It’s not going to get you out to your favourite camping spot with your family.
“Bill Shorten wants to end the weekend when it comes to his policy on electric vehicles where you’ve got Australians who love being out there in their four-wheel-drives.’’
The Labor leader, who was ridiculed by Mr Morrison over his claim that EVs could be charged in eight to 10 minutes, was backed over the weekend by an unlikely supporter, Lucy Turnbull.
The Greater Sydney Commission chief and wife of Malcolm Turnbull tweeted a link for a new 350kW charger that can deliver enough electricity in eight minutes for an EV to travel 200km.
“Very exciting,” she tweeted, adding that “people’s appetite for EVs will grow quickly” as charging options improved.
But Mr Shorten said yesterday Labor would not dictate to Australians what vehicles they should buy.
“What Labor has said is that by 2030, we would like to see half of new car sales are electric vehicles,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean the government is going to go around in 2030 and confiscate someone’s ute. Let’s skip the scare campaigns.”
Mr Shorten’s plan to increase electric car sales from 0.2 per cent to 50 per cent by 2030 has been blasted by the Coalition over the past week. He accused the government yesterday of attacking its own policy, highlighting Josh Frydenberg’s prediction last year of a coming EV “revolution”, with at least one million of the cars on the road in Australia by 2030.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor last year announced $6 million towards a new network of 21 ultra-fast charging stations, declaring the chargers would “provide a range of up to 400km in just 15 minutes”.
Mr Shorten said the charger and the state of the battery were both key considerations in the time taken to recharge an EV battery. He said the latest fast-charging stations cost $1m-$2 million each.
However, energy investor Trevor St Baker, whose Brisbane-based Tritium consortium is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of EV chargers, said his company’s Brisbane-made 350kW chargers cost about $100,000 per unit, and could power an EV for a 350km trip within 10 minutes.
The company is building 200 ultra-fast charging stations across Europe with four 350kW charging “heads” each. “I do believe that EV take-up is happening all around the world, and it will happen in Australia, for public health benefits,” Mr St Baker said.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/shorten-to-kill-4wd-fun-claims-pm-morrison/news-story/77480ce996dbfb2c906787f97bbbd5c3
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