Greenpeace Australia Pacific is urging the Albanese government to heed calls from the independents and the Greens to exclude subsidies for petrol hybrid cars, and instead focus on accelerating the electric vehicle revolution.
Rather than subsidising outdated technology such as hybrids which still rely on fossil fuels, the Albanese government needs to focus on making electric vehicles more affordable and accessible to all Australians, said Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior campaigner Lindsay Soutar.
“Australia doesn’t need another subsidy for fossil fuels, it needs proper legislation to clean up and electrify our transport system, which is one of the biggest sources of climate pollution.
“In Europe, plug-in hybrids have been called ‘fake electrics’ or a ‘wolf in sheeps clothing’ for overselling the potential emissions reduction when analysis of real-life usage shows emissions are much higher.”
The biggest manufacturer of petrol hybrid vehicles in Australia is Toyota – a company found to be the third most influential negative climate lobbyist globally, after Exxon Mobil and Chevron, with an international track record of lobbying to extend the life of hybrid vehicles and working to slow the uptake of electric vehicles.
“The Federal government should not be pandering to companies pushing hybrids, when real zero emissions solutions are here in the form of electric vehicles.”
In addition to ditching proposed subsidies for outdated hybrid cars, Greenpeace Australia Pacific is calling on the Federal government to introduce strong Fuel Efficiency Standards, which would give Australians access to a broader range of clean electric vehicles.
“Australia ranks alongside Russia as one of the only countries in the OECD without fuel efficiency standards, which require car manufacturers to limit climate pollution from the cars they produce. This means big car manufacturers can keep dumping dirty cars the rest of the world rejects in the Australian market.
“Australia is being left behind as the rest of the world makes the shift to cleaner, healthier electric cars, with Australian waiting lists for electric cars are stretching out to over a year.
“The Federal government can steer Australia’s electric transport into the fast lane by introducing strong fuel efficiency standards that will make cleaner electric vehicles affordable and accessible for all Australians.”
—ENDS—
Notes:
Read Under The Hood: The Truth About Toyota: https://www.greenpeace.org.au/act/electrify-toyota
Read the Greenpeace Automotive Environment Guide 2022: https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-eastasia-stateless/2022/09/dd6f236f-auto-environmental-guide-2022.pdf
MEDIA: For more information, contact Maddison Bates-Willis on +61 401 244 296 or [email protected]