THE ACT Office of Regulatory Services has reported that there were 167 electric vehicles registered in the ACT. This equates to a growth of 40% during the last 12 month period and although this hasn’t led to an electric transportation revolution, the data does show that the electric vehicle segment’s sales continues to grow steadily.

The ACT Electric Vehicle Council (ACT EVC) believes that this growth figure would be a conservative forecast figure over the next five (5) years.

“Considering the amount of new electric vehicle product expected in the market over the next 12 months and the major car manufacturers heavily investing in electric vehicles, there is no doubt there will be a shift in consumer purchasing to new electric cars,” said the Chair of the ACT EVC, Ron Collins.

“In the past six months Tesla, BMW and Volvo have launched electric vehicles for sale in Australia, with Audi and Porsche soon to launch their own models. This coupled with the existing availability of electric cars from Nissan, Mitsubishi and Holden means there is be plenty of choice in price, performance and range for new car buyers to consider. For new owners of electric cars it is a reality that they will never have to stop at a petrol station ever again.”

The ACT EVC has determined that even with new electric cars available, awareness and incentives are important considerations for consumers prior to purchasing an electric vehicle.

The ACT Government is preparing a Low Vehicle Emission Strategy and the ACT EVC has submitted a proposal suggesting additional incentives (e.g. tax exemptions, access to bus lanes, free parking, free charging and direct purchase discounts) would support the greenhouse gas reduction targets of 40% of 1990 levels by 2020.

Other benefits of owning a 100% electric vehicle in the ACT are that under the Green Vehicle scheme no duty is payable at registration time, not to mention that going electric helps reduce vehicle pollution and decrease carbon emissions.