'Australia isn’t ready for electric cars', says Mitsubishi boss

The CEO of Mitsubishi believes urgent changes are needed before Australia is ready for a surge in the popularity of electric cars.

Speaking at the launch of the Mitsubishi’s new plug-in hybrid, the Outlander PHEV, Shaun Westcott delivered a withering appraisal of the challenges facing electric cars in Australia and said that, despite increasing sales, we’re still years behind the rest of the developed world.

High purchase prices, slow charging times, the need for more infrastructure and Australia’s reliance on ‘dirty’ energy were Westcott’s key points – although he also called for an overhaul of the current taxation and incentive schemes being rolled out across the country.

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“The reality with EVs is Australia has a lot of catching up to do,” he said. “A lot has to happen and I think with the new Government there’s a higher desire to move the dial, but I’m afraid the harsh reality is there are limitations in how quickly we can adopt because we’re starting so far behind the curve.”

The sale of pure electric cars has more than tripled in Australia over the last three years to total 20,665 in 2021, but they still only account for around two per cent of the total market. Westcott says Australia shouldn’t just be encouraging the transition towards electric cars, but also addressing our reliance on coal power stations.

“We still have 75 per cent dirty power,” he said. “There’s a lot of pressure on the motor industry to reduce emissions at the tailpipe. But if all we’re doing is transferring it to the power station then what are we doing guys?

“That’s not net zero. All we’re doing is shifting the dirty emissions from the tailpipe to the power station. So as a country we need to invest heavily in power stations that use renewable energy; whether that’s solar, wind or hydrogen it doesn’t matter. We need to get green and we need to get green fast.

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“That’s billion of dollars. I won’t say it’ll take decades because I don’t know how long it takes to build a power station, but it’s going to take years to get our supply clean and sufficient.”

Despite building one of the world’s first mass produced electric cars in 2009 with the i-Miev, Mitsubishi currently has no plans to bring a fully-electric model to market in the near future. Instead it plans to focus on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, like the new Outlander PHEV. Westcott says more needs to be done to encourage the uptake of all electrified cars in Australia, be that hybrid, plug-in hybrid or full EV.

“We also need equitable incentive and usage charges for all electric vehicles across all states consistently in Australia,” he said. “We need to incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles, not dis-incentivise or create obstacles or hurdles.”

Australia currently has no formal national electric car policy or incentive scheme. Each state or territory has instead introduced its own policies, but Westcott says there are current inconsistencies that could actually turn customers away. He also argued incentive schemes should be more attractive if Australia wants to meaningfully increase EV sales.

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“The axe we have to grind at Mitsubishi with PHEVs is that when it gets to taxing our vehicles they class it as an EV, but when it comes to incentivising it in some states, it’s not an EV. So isn’t that a double standard?” Westcott asked.

“I believe incentives have a place until you reach critical mass…and we need to step up the pace to get us there. And incentives don’t just have to be cash. These are down to things like preferential lane driving. Giving people preferential access.

"We need road user charges. We need to pay for our roads, no one is saying we don’t. But not to the extent that you penalise or it becomes an obstacle or prevents people from getting into a technology. It should be the opposite. Particularly in the beginning.

“So I’m not a guy that believes in subsidies ad nauseam forever. It should be a tapering curve to stimulate and encourage an initiative. So we do believe there are opportunities to rationalise, improve, standardise and harmonise across all EV platforms. We need to have a level playing field.”