Australian federal Strategy on Electric Cars

[rx80]

Anything in particular anyone from NSW would like me to add in to the discussion?

Will you upload the discussion points and the feedback you're getting, after?
I'm sure it'll be an interesting reading.

 

[Vostok]

Will you upload the discussion points and the feedback you're getting, after? I'm sure it'll be an interesting reading.

Sure. I expect that no commitments or anything like that will be made during the meeting, but I’d be able to gauge from their reaction to various propositions how well those are received (or not) which might give clues as to the likelihood of their adoption.

It will be also interesting to see just how much they have thought about these things and are already well across the stuff I will raise, or look at me blankly as if they’ve never thought about it.

 

[paulp]

Sure. I expect that no commitments or anything like that will be made during the meeting, but I’d be able to gauge from their reaction to various propositions how well those are received (or not) which might give clues as to the likelihood of their adoption.

It will be also interesting to see just how much they have thought about these things and are already well across the stuff I will raise, or look at me blankly as if they’ve never thought about it.

Having spent a career dealing with departmental staff and pollies, they are trained to not react, to not agree or disagree, and to make sure you walk away feeling like you’ve had some success even though there is none.
There are specific people with very high levels of training to deal with the public that they work for. Suggest you watch out for this standard response.

 

[Hungry Mile]

Having spent a career dealing with departmental staff and pollies, they are trained to not react, to not agree or disagree, and to make sure you walk away feeling like you’ve had some success even though there is none.
There are specific people with very high levels of training to deal with the public that they work for. Suggest you watch out ci for this standard response.

While that’s true, it would also be good to know if decision makers have real world experience. Not sure that pollies live in the real world. Maybe @Vostok can suggest Kean buys a departmental car for staff testing.

 

[Maximillan]

If I could suggest offering to make these quarterly two way feedback meetings where you can use it to provide ongoing consultation to the department and gather NSW government progress updates for this group of engaged community members.

To add to what paulp suggested, the people that you meet with don't set policy, but execute it. If they are senior enough they may influence or decide how policy gets executed.

 

[Vostok]

Having spent a career dealing with departmental staff and pollies, they are trained to not react, to not agree or disagree, and to make sure you walk away feeling like you’ve had some success even though there is none.
There are specific people with very high levels of training to deal with the public that they work for. Suggest you watch out for this standard response.

I deal with Federal Government departmental staff in my professional life on a reasonably frequent basis, some are better than others at either giving or withholding signals. Some have poor filters and tell me more than they should - if you ask the right questions. I expect State Government would be similar.

 

[Vostok]

While that’s true, it would also be good to know if decision makers have real world experience. Not sure that pollies live in the real world. Maybe @Vostok can suggest Kean buys a departmental car for staff testing.

Kean drives a Model 3 and wants fleets (including Government) to lead the way. Under the recently released plan, the NSW government will:

• Provide fleet incentives to help local councils, car leasing companies, car share companies and businesses buy electric vehicles. Fleet buyers purchase large numbers of vehicles at a time, their bulk purchasing power can also influence vehicle availability and helps to build the secondhand EV market in the future.
• Fleet incentives will be offered through a reverse auction process, ensuring the Government maximises value for money.
• The NSW Government will use its bulk purchasing power to incentivise importers to increase the range of EV models they sell in NSW, by setting an interim target of 50% EV procurement by 2026 and 100% by 2030.
• Conduct a strategic review of NSW Procurement’s Approved Vehicle List and associated procurement processes, to make it as easy as possible for Government agencies to buy EVs.

My main ambition is to ensure they think about the street charging issue from the perspective of an EV driver, not what an ICE driver thinks an EV driver needs (5 minute charging at a petrol station). I want to find out how much they have engaged with EV drivers or organisations (e.g. AEVA) to solve the problem the right way, rather than try to solve a problem from an ICE mindset, which would result in either solving the wrong problems or not solving the right problems.

 

[Hairyman]

There is a term I heard put around to describe the kind of charging strategy you might employ when travelling around for the rout8ne business of your day - out for shopping and other business. The word is grazing. Fairly low power charging that is ubiquitous. The sorts of rates you can manage with AC connections . You park somewhere, plug in and go about your business for whatever time and move on - like leaving your horse in a grassy paddock. By the time you have finished the errands you are about even for the day’s electricity consumption.

It has the appeal of being cheaper to install and maintain. It makes EV infrastructure ubiquitous and convenient. Larger scale parking stations have another source of revenue and point of differentiation. Street parking can be bundled with other services running in the power trenches as part of other projects- getting power underground, improved telecommunications connections etc.

 

[cafz]

Provide fleet incentives to help local councils, car leasing companies, car share companies and businesses buy electric vehicles. Fleet buyers purchase large numbers of vehicles at a time, their bulk purchasing power can also influence vehicle availability and helps to build the secondhand EV market in the future.

The recently-released Federal Labor policy includes removing Fringe Benefits Tax when a business supplies an EV for an employee's use, which if implemented would work well with this NSW Government policy to further drive business purchase and leasing of EVs.

 

[PC__LoadLetter]

Grazing won't work unless there's a dramatic expansion in slow chargers, to match the dramatic expansion in EV sales.

 

[Hairyman]

Grazing won't work unless there's a dramatic expansion in slow chargers, to match the dramatic expansion in EV sales.

Completely agree

 

[Onshore]

Grazing won't work unless there's a dramatic expansion in slow chargers, to match the dramatic expansion in EV sales.

Just about every house with an off-road car space can have a slow charger.

 

[Vostok]

The recently-released Federal Labor policy includes removing Fringe Benefits Tax when a business supplies an EV for an employee's use, which if implemented would work well with this NSW Government policy to further drive business purchase and leasing of EVs.

Matt Kean has specifically called out this issue, and expressed his disappointment that the Feds ignored it in their EV “strategy”. Mr. Kean is not afraid of calling out his colleagues in Canberra.

 

[Vostok]

Grazing won't work unless there's a dramatic expansion in slow chargers, to match the dramatic expansion in EV sales.

Well on a macro scale EV sales are still pretty small (and in this country, absolutely minuscule), and I don’t see any fundamental reason why a “grazing” approach could not adequately scale accordingly, if the right solutions are in place. I think “grazing” will be an important part of the charging mix and definitely cheaper to implement.

The other point is faster charging options are also scaling up. There is a Model 3 that is street parked in the suburb next to mine. The owner does not have off-street parking but clearly finds a way to take it places to get it charged.

 

[Vostok]

As predicted, I am not meeting with the Minister, but "The Treasurer has asked his Department to meet with you on his behalf" so that's pretty good. No date set yet.

”Meeting secured”

I am meeting with the head of the NSW Net-Zero Transport Team the week before Christmas. I have noted the extra topics mentioned here and will briefly cover them, although the meeting is only 30 minutes.

 

[Onshore]

”Meeting secured”

I am meeting with the head of the NSW Net-Zero Transport Team the week before Christmas. I have noted the extra topics mentioned here and will briefly cover them, although the meeting is only 30 minutes.

Do you have strata reform on your list?

Ie: something along the lines that strata cannot reasonably refuse an owner installing EV charging in their allocated parking.

Treat it like key domestic infrastructure along the lines of NBN.

 

[Vostok]

Do you have strata reform on your list?

Yes, I do.

 

[Vostok]

I had the meeting yesterday with two reps from the Net-Zero transport team in the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE).

It's more appropriate the details of that meeting go in the NSW EV charging Master Plan thread - so I've moved the discussion there.