The range of EVs is surging, but certain fears are holding back sales
The government forecasts that EVs will one day dominate Australian roads but the latest figures show the proportion of new cars sold that are EVs has slowed to only 5.9 per cent of the market.
New research from insurance giant NRMA says key reasons Australians lack confidence in electric cars include doubts over owners' ability to find qualified EV technicians when they need repairs, and concerns about the viability and safety of second-hand EV parts, including batteries.
NRMA, which said there were 80 EV models available and more were expected in the coming months, also flagged customer concerns about how to safely dispose of EV batteries at the end of their use.
The report, based on interviews with 2079 people including 91 EV owners and 280 individuals considering EV ownership, showed more than 60 per cent of existing owners were concerned about the lack of qualified technicians who could repair them, and almost all of them said they expected their insurer to have access to EV technicians.
NRMA Insurance chief executive Julie Batch said the absence of qualified EV technicians was an issue compounded by a national shortage of automotive repair technicians.
'Nationally there are 38,000 unfilled automotive positions right now, and EVs are different. So you need both those skills that are current in automotive technicians, panel beaters, repairers, things like that, and you need to add to those things,' Batch said. She said filling that void would require upskilling an already dwindling industry.
The automotive sector has also previously warned of a shortage of technicians to service the growing number of EVs on the roads. The Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce has said the industry would probably need two to three times the current number of qualified EV technicians.
An additional 68 per cent of those surveyed by NRMA were concerned about recycling and disposing of EV batteries, and less than one-third of drivers said they'd be comfortable using a recycled battery. They cited fears over battery fires, especially when charging vehicles, despite evidence suggesting EV battery fires are rare.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
14 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
ASX set to slide as Wall Street slumps on Trump tariffs, jobs shock
The US stock market had its worst day since May on Friday after the government reported a sharp slowdown in hiring and President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from a number of US trading partners. The S&P 500 fell 1.6 per cent, its biggest decline since May 21 and its fourth straight loss. The index also posted a 2.4 per cent loss for the week, marking a sharp shift from last week's record-setting streak of gains. The Dow Jones fell 1.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite fell 2.2 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is set to retreat, with futures pointing to a slide of 32 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open. The Australian dollar was fetching 64.63 US cents at 5.19am AEST. Worries on Wall Street about a weakening economy were heavily reinforced by the latest report on job growth in the US Employers added just 73,000 jobs in July. That is sharply lower than economists expected. The Labor Department also reported that revisions shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls. Markets also reacted to the latest tariff news. President Donald Trump announced tariff rates on dozens of countries and pushed back the scheduled effective date to August 7, adding more uncertainty to the global trade picture. 'The market has been felled by a one-two punch of additional tariffs, as well as the weaker-than-expected employment data -— not only for this month, but for the downward revisions to the prior months,' said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. Loading Trump's decision to order the immediate firing of the head of the government agency that produces the monthly jobs figures will only fuel the market's uncertainty, Stovall added. The surprisingly weak hiring numbers led investors to step up their expectations for an interest rate cut in September. The market's odds of a quarter-point cut by the Federal Reserve rose to around 87 per cent from just under 40 per cent a day earlier, according to data from CME FedWatch.
The Age
14 minutes ago
- The Age
ASX set to slide as Wall Street slumps on Trump tariffs, jobs shock
The US stock market had its worst day since May on Friday after the government reported a sharp slowdown in hiring and President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from a number of US trading partners. The S&P 500 fell 1.6 per cent, its biggest decline since May 21 and its fourth straight loss. The index also posted a 2.4 per cent loss for the week, marking a sharp shift from last week's record-setting streak of gains. The Dow Jones fell 1.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite fell 2.2 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is set to retreat, with futures pointing to a slide of 32 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open. The Australian dollar was fetching 64.63 US cents at 5.19am AEST. Worries on Wall Street about a weakening economy were heavily reinforced by the latest report on job growth in the US Employers added just 73,000 jobs in July. That is sharply lower than economists expected. The Labor Department also reported that revisions shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls. Markets also reacted to the latest tariff news. President Donald Trump announced tariff rates on dozens of countries and pushed back the scheduled effective date to August 7, adding more uncertainty to the global trade picture. 'The market has been felled by a one-two punch of additional tariffs, as well as the weaker-than-expected employment data -— not only for this month, but for the downward revisions to the prior months,' said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. Loading Trump's decision to order the immediate firing of the head of the government agency that produces the monthly jobs figures will only fuel the market's uncertainty, Stovall added. The surprisingly weak hiring numbers led investors to step up their expectations for an interest rate cut in September. The market's odds of a quarter-point cut by the Federal Reserve rose to around 87 per cent from just under 40 per cent a day earlier, according to data from CME FedWatch.
Sky News AU
14 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Caleb Bond: Forcing EVs on Australia's 4,000km terrain is just impractical - much like ripping up roads so two men and a dog in a sidecar can use a bike lane
You won't believe it but Australian cities are apparently some of the worst in the world for the ease of owning an electric vehicle. What a rotten bit of luck. This is according to consumer comparison service Compare the Market, which assessed global cities against the number of chargers, EVs and sales per capita, government incentives and the cost of power. The top 10 cities are, surprise surprise, all in Europe save for Montreal and the top three are all in the Netherlands. What could it be that makes EVs so much more popular in Europe than Australia? Oh, that's right – our country is nearly 4,000km wide and our capital cities have significant urban sprawl. In fact, our cities rank amongst the largest urban sprawls in the world per head of population. That, of course, is because we live in a big country with plenty of space so most of us choose not to live on top of each other – unlike those tiny European countries where that's just how things are done. Who would have thought that smaller countries, which naturally mean you have less distance to travel on a regular basis, would be more conducive to owning an EV? It has become blindingly obvious that the reduction in Australian EV sales is simply the result of market forces. It's not that people have anything particularly against electric vehicles themselves, they just want cars that are practical in a big country like Australia. If you only drive around the city then sure, you might be fine. But a lot of people don't. And it's ridiculous to expect a charger to be available everywhere in this wide brown land. Australia is not built to be an EV country in the same way it's not built to be a cycling country. The government can try to force EVs upon us with subsidies or whatever else they can dream up but, at some point, practicalities have to enter the equation. Just as councils can try to force us to ride bikes instead of driving cars by continually ripping out perfectly good lanes of traffic to replace them with sheltered bike lanes used by two men and a dog in a sidecar. Despite building all these bike lanes, nearly all of them are empty most of the time. I wonder why that might be? Oh, yes – we have that massive urban sprawl which means most people live a fair way from the CBD and find it far more comfortable to travel to town by car or public transport. It is no coincidence that the country recognised to be one of the most cycling-friendly in the world – the Netherlands – is also ranked the best for EVs. You can't force a square peg into a round hole. We just need to admit it. But we also mustn't forget the other great barrier to Australian EV ownership – the trifling issue of having to fill it up with electricity which, as I'm sure you know, is quite expensive. We have some of the most expensive electricity in the world, in fact. If only Albo gave us that $275 he promised us off our power bills, maybe it'd be a different story. Caleb Bond is the Host of The Sunday Showdown, Sundays at 7.00pm and co-host of The Late Debate Monday – Thursday at 10.00pm as well as a Contributor. Bond also writes a weekly opinion column for The Advertiser
