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Electric vehicle adoption in Australia needs to move beyond the NVES fines-based approach, according to this major car brand.
Electric Cars
Mazda Australia believes the Government should be doing more to incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs), and that the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) is the wrong way to go about it.
Speaking to Drive, Mazda Australia boss Vinesh Bhindi said there is now enough choice in the EV market – spread across price point and size – so other hurdles to adoption need to be addressed.
“There are some other barriers, and I do understand consumers will take time to move towards that, but I would encourage the regulators to think about how to drive that demand and support the consumer in whatever the barriers are now,” Bhindi said.
“One of the proactive things that is currently in play is the battery subsidy – so someone who has got solar, can capture the energy and therefore allow charging infrastructure at home, so it makes perfect sense.
“But I think there has to be more and different initiatives to drive that demand part.
“I know the FBT [fringe benefits tax] incentives is under review, it doesn’t make sense to kill that one and only incentive – if it needs to be repackaged, that’s fine.
“It doesn’t have to be FBT, but it can be something else.
“The charging part of it, absolutely, you can see some charging businesses – it’s on again, off again, ‘we’re going to build more, we’re going to do less’, etc. – support there.
“And then continue to drive the opportunity for OEMs [Original Equipment Manufacturers] to bring to the table initiatives, as opposed to currently it’s basically a stick that’s fines-based, which basically is going to increase prices on one technology, and therefore making the other one look at bit more value orientated – I don’t think that’s the only path the regulators should take.”
The fines-based approach mentioned by Bhindi is the introduction of the NVES last year that sets fleet emissions caps for car brands – surpass those, and fines will be issued accordingly.
From the time of enforcement on 1 July, 2025 until the start of 2026, Mazda Australia has accrued around $25.5 million in fines, but emissions targets will decrease over time.
Mazda Australia – and others – have admitted it will need to increase the price of vehicles in its range to offset these fines.
According to Bhindi, the NVES has played a role in accelerating the number of all-electric options brought to market, but Australians are clearly not yet ready to adopt the technology.
“We have common ground on reducing carbon, that’s from all parties,” Bhindi said.
“The regulations are initially more focused on bringing more options into the market, and you can say ‘tick, that’s been achieved in the last probably 12 months’, and we’re about to join that with two products.
“Now it’s time to focus on demand generation, because even after so many options – over a hundred battery EV options in the marketplace – it only represents about eight or nine per cent and the smallest growth year over year.
“Options are not the issue.”
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Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
