Greens transport spokesperson, Katherine Copsey MLC. Source Victorian Greens
The Greens have slammed the Victorian Labor government’s decision to scrap the state’s $3,000 Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) subsidy, labelling it as “a backwards step” for EV uptake in the state.
The program will end on June 30 well below the 20,000 subsidies promised in 2021 with just 8,000 being allocated so far.
The Driven broke the news about the early end to the subsidy on Wednesday after sources revealed details in Victoria’s budget papers (published 2 weeks ago) showing that the subsidy would end in this month. The policy change went unnoticed with no official announcement from the Victorian government.
Greens transport spokesperson, Katherine Copsey MLC said that in a climate crisis, the state government should be helping people make the switch to EVs by making them more affordable, instead of putting up roadblocks.
“Victorian Labor’s electric vehicle policy was already the world’s worst, and somehow it just got worse,” said Copsey.
“It’s clear this Government hates EVs and has put roadblocks up at every opportunity. It’s disappointing that this Government continues to punish Victorians who want to reduce their emissions and boost climate-friendly transport.” said Copsey.
While Victoria goes backwards on EVs, other states are surging ahead
With Victoria’s regressive EV tax and now the axing of the ZEV subsidy there is now a net disincentive for EV ownership in the state. Oher states like Queensland have recently doubled their EV subsidy to $6,000.
States in the US are going even further with California’s Clean Car Rebate at $US7,500. Combined with the US federal IRA EV tax credit of an addition $US7,500 means that total EV tax credits in California are as high as $US15,000 ($A22,500) per vehicle.
California’s bold EV policy means that a new Tesla Model 3 in that state now has a purchase price less than a Toyota Camry.
The Driven asked the Victorian government for an explanation of why the program was scrapped early. It received the following on-record statement:
“We’ve laid the groundwork to achieve our target of 50 per cent of all light vehicle sales being ZEVs by 2030.
“We’re spending $19 million to accelerate the roll-out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across regional Victoria, supporting the development of new charging technologies.
Applications for the ZEV subsidy program will close on June 30, 2023 and payments will be made until the end of the calendar year.
It is believed that the Victoria government is relying on the federal government’s proposed fuel efficiency standards to be a key driver for ZEV uptake, but the timing and ambition of that policy will not be known until the end of the year at the earlier.
The Victorian Greens say that transport is fastest growing source of emissions in Victoria and that the Andrews Government has done very little to encourage Victorians to make the switch to EVs.
In 2021 the Andrews government made global news becoming the first region in the world to impose a road tax only on electric vehicles.
Described as “the world’s worst EV policy”, the Victorian government imposed a tax of 2.6c (up from 2.5c) for every kilometre driven by EVs inside or outside the state of Victoria. The tax also applies to plug in hybrids at a different rate of 2.1c/km.
In March it was shown that the EV tax was actually responsible for taking hundreds of non-complying EVs off Victorian roads.
Instead of scrapping the subsidy, the Victorian Greens are calling on the Andrews government to scrap the EV tax.
“The Greens are calling on Labor to scrap their tax on EVs and provide incentives to support people making the switch from expensive, polluting cars to electric vehicles.” said Copsey.
Keyword: “This government hates EVs:” Greens slam Victoria’s scrapping of $3000 EV subsidy