Accelerating the take-up of electric vehicles to the rate needed to meet Australia’s emissions reduction target will be a challenge, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has admitted, conceding that drivers have been slow to switch.

Electric vehicles need to make up 85 per cent of car purchases in 2035 for Australia to meet even the lower end of its new emissions target, putting pressure on the Albanese government to maintain costly incentives for EV adoption and drastically increase investment in charging infrastructure.

Electric vehicles make up just under 10 per cent of new cars sold in Australia. Credit: Jason South

“It’s been a challenge, because you can institute a reform now, with the average length of service of an Australian car being, you know, well into a second

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