BENDIGO would save at least $77 million in five years if Australia locked in European fuel efficiency standards, a new report suggests as electric vehicle shortages grind on.
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Manufacturers would have to cut the average amount of carbon dioxide their light vehicles belched out from 146.5 grams per kilometre to 95 if they were to hit that target, advocacy group Solar Citizens found.
The standards would only apply to new vehicles.
A majority of Australians buy their cars secondhand but Solar Citizens clean transport campaigner Ajaya Haikerwal says people should not underestimate what fuel efficiency standards might mean for people within four years.
"That will mean ... a lot of the cars bought now by councils, fleet companies - groups buying lots of vehicles - will trickle down to the secondhand market," he said.
"I haven't bought a firsthand car in my life. Four out of five people by secondhand vehicles, so we really need a bustling secondhand market [for electric vehicles] that will get prices down."
Bendigo had a miniscule 68 electric vehicles registrations in 2020.
Solar Citizens thinks fuel efficiency standards could help drive that number up to more than 6298 in five years.
Electric vehicle shortages hold back Bendigo efforts
Australia is part of a shrinking club of countries that have not brought in fuel efficiency standards.
It and Russia are the only ones left among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Solar Citizens says.
That was holding Bendigo's electronic vehicle market back, especially when it came to choice and affordability, the report found.
Ongoing questions about fuel efficiency standards might also be holding back groups widely expected to lead the vanguard on new purchases.
The City of Greater Bendigo has struggled to hit its target of 100 new electric vehicles by 2030.
"Over the past few years we have struggled to get supplies so we have actually been delayed," the council's climate change manager Michelle Wyatt said.
"Passenger vehicles might be coming into the market now but utilities are a major barrier for us."
Standards should be 'medium' term goal, Chesters says
Fuel efficiency standards have not proven universally popular world-wide.
New Zealand's targets triggered a furor over what some dubbed a "ute-tax" of thousands more dollars on some utes and van models.
It is unclear whether Australia could have a similar battle over fuel efficiency standards.
This country does love its dual-cab utes and large SUVs. That and a reliance on older vehicles make Australia one of the biggest petrol consumers in the world, a recent Australia Institute report found.
Mr Haikerwal said fuel efficiency standards would target manufacturers, not people who were selling second hand cars.
He said the government could consider other ideas to sort out that market, some of which could be tailored to help people on lower incomes. France, for example, had rebates to help owners retrofit cars.
Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters did not expect ute tax fears to factor into her government's thinking as it deliberated on a draft national electric vehicle strategy.
She agreed with Solar Citizens that the standard is needed but personally saw it as more of a medium term goal.
"Their idea of setting standards has merit and it is something the government is looking at. We know it has been critical in the European Union," she said.
Ms Chesters wanted an immediate priority on supply chain issues blowing out wait-lists for electric cars.
"The challenge we have is that people want to buy electric vehicles right now - before we even have a standard in place - and we can't," she said.
Ms Chesters also wanted local governments to build more charging infrastructure for the cars already in the country.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
