Victorians would receive $10,000 eco-bonus for switch to EVs, under Greens plan

Victorians would receive a $10,000 dollar eco-bonus for ditching their fossil-fuel powered cars in favour of electric cars, under a plan launched by the Greens today.

The plan was formed in response to the Andrews Labor Government’s proposed tax on people who drive electric vehicles. The tax is a retrograde step that would increase the operating costs of EVs by more than 50 per cent and dissuade people from buying them.

Victorian Greens spokesperson for transport, Sam Hibbins, said transport was the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Victoria and that this tax would do very little to slow it down.

He added that at a time when governments around the world were recognising the real threat of climate change and providing incentives for people to make the switch to EVs, the Andrews Government was keeping its head in the sand.

The Greens’ Five-Year Electric Vehicle Rapid Uptake Plan would scrap the government’s proposed tax and include a range of measures to increase the uptake of EVs including:

• A $10,000 eco-bonus for the purchase of an electric vehicle under $77,565
• Manufacturing 3,000 Australian-made electric buses and buying at least 5,000 electric vehicles. Out of 2,000 buses, Melbourne only has one electric bus, and in a government fleet of around 10,000 vehicles, Victoria only has five electric vehicles and 29 plug-in hybrids.
• Accelerating the rollout of charging stations and passing ‘right to charge’ laws that would give renters the right to install a charging station in their residential parking space.

Hibbins said the Greens’ plan could turn Victoria into a world leader on EV uptake, rather than a world laggard.

As stated by Victorian Greens spokesperson for transport, Sam Hibbins MP:

“At a time when governments around the world are making EVs cheaper to encourage uptake, ours wants to slap a tax on people who drive them.

“For a government that claims to take climate change seriously, this tax is a massively retrograde step, as it will discourage people from getting an EV.

“Transport is already the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Victoria, and unless we encourage a switch to cleaner cars, this will only get worse.

“Our five-year rapid uptake plan would see the government’s proposed tax scrapped, in favour of a $10,000 eco-bonus for people to ditch their fossil fuel-powered cars in favour of electric ones.”