Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced that Australia will introduce a ‘new vehicle efficiency standard’ that could save motorists as much as $1,000.
Bowen and Minister of Transport Catherine King announced this on Sunday.
China, the US, New Zealand and the European Union have fuel efficiency standards, while Australia and Russia are the only two advanced economies without standards.
“We’re giving Australians more choice to spend less on petrol by overtaking the US,” Bowen said.
“This will save Australian motorists $100 billion in fuel costs by 2050.
“This is about ensuring Australian families and businesses can choose the latest and most efficient cars and vehicles, whether they are petrol and diesel, hybrid or electric.”
The federal government will introduce laws next year that will set new vehicle efficiency standards that will require car companies to provide fuel-efficient vehicles to buyers.
Motorists are likely to save $1,000 a year on fuel and have better air quality as Australia ‘finally joins the rest of the world’ in introducing emissions standards. The photo shows a woman filling her car with gasoline
Motorists can expect to save as much as $1,000 by 2028, with the changes leading to better air quality as Australia ‘finally joins the rest of the world’.
The preferred model for a new emissions standard is also expected to offer more choice to new vehicle buyers by encouraging car companies to bring more affordable zero-emission options to the market.
Australia’s rules would resemble U.S. regulations by forcing manufacturers to obey a fuel efficiency budget and balance sales of dirtier, fuel-guzzling cars with low- or no-emission vehicles.
“The standard increases choice,” said Transportation Secretary Catherine King.
‘It doesn’t determine what kind of car or vehicle people can buy, but it does mean you have a wider range of modern and cheaper to run vehicles.’
The government’s proposal would save drivers about $1,000 per vehicle per year and $17,000 over the life of the vehicle, bringing Australia up to US levels by 2028.
It would also reduce CO2 emissions by 369 million tons and deliver $5 billion in health benefits by 2050 through improvements in air quality.
The transport sector is responsible for 21 percent of Australia’s emissions and continues to rise as the electricity sector decarbonizes.
Consultations on the model and other options will last a month, with the changes, which will have to pass both houses of parliament, likely to come into effect from January 2025.
Motoring groups generally welcomed Sunday’s announcement.
Currently, new cars in the US use on average 20 percent less fuel than new Australian cars and the reason for this is that Australia does not have a vehicle emissions standard while America does. Traffic congestion in Port Melbourne is pictured
The Electric Vehicle Council said the plan meant Australia would “finally join the rest of the developed world on new vehicle efficiency standards”.
“Australia has always been at the back of the queue when it comes to the best and cheapest electric vehicles, as carmakers have been incentivized to offer them elsewhere first,” said CEO Behyad Jafari.
“That should end now with this policy and Australian car buyers should notice the change very soon.”
The NRMA had advocated following the US path, saying Australia could not continue down the path of voluntary targets.
“A business-as-usual approach meant Australian households and businesses were not taking advantage of the best technology designed to reduce fuel consumption,” NRMA Group CEO Rohan Lund said.
The emission standards come after the ban on highly polluting vehicles that will come into effect from December 2025.
Carmakers will have to meet pollution-reducing Euro 6d harmful emissions standards, which have been adopted by most major car markets including Europe, the US, China and India.