Why Australian dealers don't want to sell electric cars
business
Description
Why Australian dealers don't want to sell electric cars
A report came out in July last year that said Australia’s “do nothing” approach of up-taking
electric cars could cost the local economy over $350 million in the next 20 years, on top of
the one million tonnes of carbon emissions that will be added to the environment.
Last year in Australia, just under 2000 electric cars were sold, with the majority of those
going to commercial buyers. When you compare that to the 1.1 million new cars sold in
Australia last year, it really paints the picture.
So what’s the issue? Well, there seems to be two: pricing and dealers.
As with every emerging technology, the initial entry cost is often high. The cheapest electric
car on the market in Australia right now is the Nissan Leaf, which retails for around the $40K
mark. But aside from the electric drive-train, everything else about the car was simply on par
with vehicles worth half the price. It’s an extremely hard sell for the uneducated car buyer.
Your next bet is the BMW i3 which starts at $64K before on-road costs. That’s damn
expensive for a small hatchback, even if it is one of the best cars of the last few years.
