NRMA | DIVVY Parking Pty Ltd

Australia’s Electric Vehicle Future

And it’s closer than you might think. Electric vehicles already comprise 56% of the market in Norway and 25% in Iceland. Britain recently announced a ban on new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles from 2035. Car manufacturers are embracing the change, with Mercedes-Benz ceasing development of combustion engine vehicles to focus on electric vehicles. Honda has confirmed that they will no longer produce petrol cars in Europe from 2022 and Volkswagen are planning to cease production of petrol cars entirely after 2026.

The future of cars is electric.

With the international manufacture of internal combustion engine vehicles in decline, and no car manufacturing industry of our own, Australia’s electric vehicle future is in no doubt. New figures from the Electric Vehicle Council show that sales of electric vehicles in Australia tripled in 2019, whilst sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles fell by 7.8% in the same period. Despite this increase, electric vehicle sales in Australia were still far lower than in a majority of developed countries, comprising only 0.6% of our market (compared to 15% in the Netherlands or 4.7% in China).

Unlike in the EU and China, the Australian electric car market has not received governmental incentives or support. Despite this, government analysis last year predicted that even without policy support to spur change, half of new cars sold in Australia in 2035 will be electric vehicles. Australian drivers clearly consider the reduced environmental impact of electric vehicles worth investing in.

Electric vehicles are currently more expensive than their internal combustion engine counterparts, and it is expected that there will be a rapid uptake in Australian electric vehicle ownership once their price becomes competitive. The falling price of lithium-ion battery packs is the key factor to achieving price parity with petrol vehicles, and the cost of batteries has been steadily falling since 2010 thanks to global investment in electric vehicle battery production. Bloomberg predicts that price parity will occur in 2025 and electric vehicles will become as cheap as their petrol equivalents.

Another barrier to the adoption of electric vehicles thus far in Australia is ‘range anxiety’, with a lack of public charging infrastructure limiting the uptake of electric vehicles. Groups such as Infrastructure Australia, the government’s independent infrastructure advisor, have been calling for the expedited roll-out of a national charging network to ensure a seamless transition to an electrified transport sector.

The NRMA recognise the direction in which the industry is heading and have positioned themselves at the forefront of the electric car’s future. They have committed $10 million to build one of Australia’s largest electric vehicle fast-charging networks, comprised of more than 40 chargers across regional NSW and free to use for NRMA members. Meanwhile, the transport industry awaits the government’s National Electric Vehicle Strategy, due to be finalised in mid-2020.

At DIVVY we have an ethos of future thinking, and are developing exciting, cutting edge technology to improve peoples’ lives and drive sustainable practices. Here at DIVVY we are excited for the electric vehicle revolution and are actively investigating how best to position ourselves to facilitate this seismic shift in the transport industry and how we can support our current and soon to be electric vehicle-driving DIVVY users.

We look forward to playing our part in Australia’s electric future. For further information, please contact Kat Fowler, DIVVY’s Marketing and Communications Manager at kat@divvy.com.au.

Smarter Parking Report released with The NRMA

Several buildings located across some of Sydney’s busiest suburbs are utilising less than one-third of available parking spaces, while up to thirty percent of traffic in congested areas is looking for parking spaces, according to a new report released by the NRMA and DIVVY.

The Smarter Parking Report, released to coincide with the Roads Australia Transport Summit, details the parking problems plaguing Australian cities and highlights the huge imbalance between parking supply and demand.

Currently, the average casual daily parking rate in Sydney is $70.85, compared with $18.21 in Canberra and $22.29 in Adelaide.

With even some of the largest institutional owners of car spaces forced to leave parking assets dormant – often due to restrictions and regulations – the NRMA and DIVVY looked at parking utilisation rates across seven Sydney buildings and found those that forbid public access had significantly lower utilisation rates than those that allowed parking non-tenants.

One building in Walker Street, North Sydney had just 32 per cents of spaces used, a Harris Street, Pyrmont lot had 74 per cent utilisation while a Clarence Street building had 20 per cent of spaces left vacant.

By contrast, the remaining four buildings audited across the Sydney and Parramatta CBDs that allowed public access all saw utilisation rates between 90-97 per cent.

Globally, Australia has some of the lowest ratios of car spaces to workers. The Sydney and Melbourne CBDs have just 12.2 and 14.2 spaces for ever 100 workers.

NRMA CEO Rohan Lund said; Members were frustrated with parking options and exorbitant costs in metropolitan areas right across Australia.

“NRMA research shows 44 per cent of drivers have returned home because they couldn’t find a parking spaces,” Mr Lund said.

“When two out of every five Members we survey tell us they are now often avoiding specific locations because of parking, we know access to parking is having an adverse effect on the economy, particularly small businesses who rely on accessibility.

“We now need to start thinking outside the square when it comes to solving our parking issues. We must find innovative ways to unlock more of the spaces that lie dormant every day, improve the last-mile for workers through commuter car parks and use available technologies to move toward smart cities.”

DIVVY CEO Grant Fowler said:

“Empty parking spaces represented the huge untapped potential for both businesses and frustrated drivers, helping to address Sydney’s parking shortage and opening an additional revenue stream for businesses.

“We know that up to 30 percent of the traffic in metropolitan areas is cruising for a parking space. Taking more of the parking volume off the street allows cities to move more freely,”

“Using technology such as DIVVY, businesses can become aware of the possibilities that now exist and parking assets no longer need to sit unused.”

“There are thousands of parking spaces that lie dormant every day and just as many drivers who are in search of a parking space. Businesses, along with all levels of government need to adjust their policies and planning so more of these spaces can open up for public use.”

Read the Smarter Parking Report Here or see what our partners at the NRMA have to say