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EV charging: FCAI backs Infrastructure Australia

The peak body for carmakers in Australia has thrown its support behind Infrastructure Australia placing electric vehicle charging on a list of high-priority projects for Australia.


Australia's peak motoring body, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), has thrown its support behind an Infrastructure Australia report putting electric vehicle charge infrastructure on a list of high-priority projects for the nation.

Tony Weber, FCAI CEO, described electric vehicles as a "key component in the way of the future" in a statement.

"It is very pleasing to see further acknowledgement and real-world planning from Australian regulators on this technology," he said.

In a report published yesterday, Infrastructure Australia identified a lack of charge infrastructure as a barrier to electric vehicle adoption, calling for a "network of fast-charging stations on the national highway network" to drive take up.

Behyad Jafari, CEO of the Australia Electric Vehicle Council, said the report should give the Federal Government another nudge toward taking decisive action on the burgeoning technology.

"Infrastructure Australia is the objective authority on what the nation needs to start building. If their experts recognise a national fast-charging network as a high priority, then governments should heed the call," Jafari argued, calling out the fact electric vehicle range is improving and the cost of entry is dropping.

Given it represents carmakers in Australia, it should come as no surprise to hear the FCAI throwing its weight behind the electric revolution. Although not all manufacturers are fully behind electric tech, a number have come out prominently in support of greater investment in electrification.

Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director, Mark Cameron, said we're "quite a way behind" the rest of the developed world on "infrastructure, and incentives, and the view of electric cars", arguing "governments that have said 'right, we want to move to an electric, no-carbon future very quickly' have put the right foundations in place".

His calls were echoed by senior members of the Hyundai and Audi teams at the opening of a new EV charge station in Euroa. All contained a sense of urgency, summed up in the following quote from Behyad Jafari.

"Australians can and should be able to drive all over this massive nation with complete confidence in a zero-emission vehicle. The technology exists. We just need the political will to make it happen," he said.

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