The Victorian government has announced it will subsidise electric vehicle buyers with up to $3000

The Victorian government has announced it will subsidise electric vehicle buyers with up to $3000. Buyers of electric and hydrogen vehicles will be subsidised until all new cars are sold and half of them are zero-emission by 2030.

The Victorian Government Zero Emissions Vehicle Roadmap

The $100 million package is intended for full-fledged cars and SUVs, but does not cover other vehicles such as buses, taxis, buses and taxis. The programme aims to support the development of electric and hydrogen vehicles and the government’s target of making all new cars zero emissions by 2030 and half of all vehicles zero emissions by 2050.

This package includes:

  • $46 million for Australia’s first public Zero Emissions Vehicle Subsidy Program – providing individual subsidies at the point of purchase of more than 20,000 ZEVs
  • $19 million to accelerate the roll-out of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across regional Victoria and support the charging of EV fleets
  • Front cover of ZEV Roadmap
  • $20 million for a ZEV public transport bus trial – and a target for all public transport bus purchases to be ZEVs from 2025
  • $10 million to replace 400 vehicles in the Victorian Government Fleet (VicFleet) with ZEVs
  • $5 million to establish a Commercial Sector Zero Emissions Vehicle Innovation Fund
  • $298,000 for an ‘EV-readiness’ in new buildings study

The Victorian government has committed to buying a total of 1,000 new electric cars and electric vehicles by 2023. Another $19 million was allocated to build electric vehicle charging stations in the state, with another $1.5 million to buy new vehicles.

The electric vehicle package is in line with action taken by governments around the world, but there are concerns that the government has not introduced the same level of tax incentives for electric vehicles as Infrastructure Victoria’s proposals recommend. The new financial incentives come on top of plans to tax electric vehicles – drivers to reduce the projected tax gap caused by battery-powered vehicles – that do not contribute to excise duty when refuelling. However, it calls into question the Victorian government’s commitment to introduce a law that would impose road charges on electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, “said the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA), the state’s largest electric car lobby group.