Australia’s EV market is currently at an inflection point – NRMA Insurance report

NRMA Insurance has produced a detailed report into the state of the Electric Vehicle market in Australia as the company looks to understand the feelings of Australian consumers, and also educate the entire motoring industry on issues facing this transition.

Titled “Changing Gears: The road ahead for Electric Vehicle adoption in Australia” the report shows how fare we have come, but also shines a clear light on how far we have to go before EVs are adopted at the rate being claimed by Governments in a push toward Net Zero.

Looking at ownership of of Electric Cars, NRMA’s survey shows a 5% ownership, higher among high income earners:

What’s more fascinating to me is the intent to purchase, which shows a strong push toward Battery and Hybrid Electric cars

What the report seems to indicate in a big way is the need for education. While there are clear reasons people want to buy an EV, like environmental concerns, cost savings, that’s not enough for everyone

The people who indicated they would not consider buying an EV shed a strong light on what the industry needs to do in either change to their ways, or educating consumers.

Driving range is the number 1 issue, followed closely by recharging time.

A strong education campaign around home charging (relate it to charging your smartphone), and fast charging would make a huge impact here.

Of course, affordability is key. Electric Cars are far more expensive than their Petrol equivalents.

Sadly, the spread of mis-information about EV fires is one thing that will be hard to combat, though over time perhaps data will help sell that.

NRMA Insurance plans to release a second report looking in more detail at full battery versus hybrid electric cars.

In the meantime, there are five key takeaways from the report which are food for thought for EV owners, EV Car Companies, and Government.

• They are busting the myths around EVs such as range anxiety
• Charging Confidence, there’s a huge job to do in assuring people there are ways to charge, it’s cheaper and isn’t a barrier to usage.
• Repairability is an important next step for the industry, with the EVs in Australia early in their life-cycle there’ a lot to do about the repair network in Australia.
• Work on ensuring there’s a strong second hand market in Australia – this addresses affordability in some ways
• And finally, Battery Health.

NRMA Insurance makes a strong argument to implement a standardised battery health testing and reporting tool. Mandatory annual battery health tests would establish a simple way to ensure long-term trust in EVs among all consumers.

This is a fantastic idea, that Governments should be looking into ASAP.

Read the full report for yourself from NRMA Insurance.