Australia’s biggest productivity opportunity is sitting in our driveways, garages and rooftops.
I know an electrician in Melbourne who cops a few comments when he pulls up to worksites in his Tesla - ladder on top, tools in the back.
But the laughter fades fast. Once he explains it costs just $4 a week to run, and that he’s never had his tools stolen since ditching the Amarok ute that got broken into three times, he gets more questions than quips.
Australia’s biggest productivity opportunity is sitting in our driveways, garages and rooftops. Let’s swap our inefficient, fossil-fuelled machines for electric ones so more people like Brendan can reap the benefits.
We currently spend $160 million every day importing fuel. But we could be driving EVs powered by local solar instead, at a fraction of the cost. A typical petrol car costs $2,600 a year in fuel. Charge an EV at home with solar and that drops to about $170. No solar? No problem. ‘Free energy hours’ plans let households benefit from ultra-cheap, solar-rich midday power too.
It’s not just cheaper, it’s far more efficient. Petrol cars are marvels of engineering, with hundreds of explosions per minute driving pistons that ultimately waste about 75% of the energy as heat and noise. EVs have just 20 or so moving parts and use about 90% of the battery energy to turn the wheels. Quiet, clean, and efficient, and they do more with much less.
In a big, spread-out country like Australia, this efficiency really matters. With some of the highest road lengths per capita in the world, lower transport costs reduce structural costs across the economy; from groceries and farm supplies to emergency services and building materials.
So how do we make the most of it?
First, we keep policies that help new car buyers choose electric, like the FBT exemption, which is popular and effective. These new EVs will soon flow into the second-hand market, where three in four Australian car sales occur. That’s when the real transformation kicks in.
Next, we prioritise the cars that drive the most. Half of all kilometres come from just 20% of vehicles. Let’s help the highest-mileage drivers switch first, tradies, nurses, teachers, long-distance commuters, who also suffer the highest fuel costs. Switching these cars first maximises emissions reductions, fuel savings, and cleaner, quieter roads.
To tackle upfront costs and the ‘sticker shock’ that slows some buyers, we could offer a modest upfront discount, repaid through slightly higher rego over time. Drivers still save each year thanks to cheaper fuel, while the scheme helps the industry scale and eventually supports government revenue as fuel excise declines.
Replacing petrol and gas with electricity will nearly triple demand on the grid; but we can meet it without tripling costs.
Electricity networks already carry vast energy flows. The trick is smoothing usage across the day. Instead of spending billions on grid upgrades for just a few minutes of peak demand, we can use EVs and smart appliances like hot water systems to soak up solar during the day and deploy batteries to balance supply and demand.
The more we generate, store and use energy close to where it’s needed, the less grid we need to build. That means batteries, and lots of them, and in the right places. We should streamline approvals and grid connections for neighbourhood batteries, fix pricing structures, and raise limits on support for solar and storage. Larger commercial solar systems, workplace EV charging, and smart incentives can all support daytime solar uptake.
Electric homes do more with less, too. Swapping gas hot water, heating and cooking for electric alternatives cuts energy use and bills. Power it all with rooftop solar which is the cheapest energy on earth, and add batteries and EVs to store and use it around the clock. Throw in e-bikes for school runs and even electric boats or jetskis for the weekend. The all-electric household is a genuine lifestyle upgrade.
Rewiring Australia’s new report, The Electrification Tipping Point, shows that an average fossil-fuelled home could save $4,100 a year by fully electrifying. That’s over $60,000 in savings across 15 years.
To unlock these savings, we need smarter, accessible finance, like flexible, property-secured loans to cover upfront costs, and policies that ensure renters don’t miss out, including minimum energy standards and targeted incentives for upgrades.
Electrification is a structural upgrade to Australian productivity. We replace a global supply chain of rigs, ships and trucks moving 127 million tonnes of fossil fuels a day with the quiet hum of local renewables and an efficient grid.
Electric machines are better in nearly every way; faster, cheaper, cleaner, quieter. With smart policy, we can slash bills, cut emissions, and strengthen the economy.
If productivity is about doing more with less, then let’s get on with it.
This article was originally published on Renew Economy.
Rewiring Australia is a non-profit, independent, non-partisan organisation dedicated to representing the people, households and communities in the energy system. We empirically demonstrate and communicate the cost savings, emissions reductions, and energy system benefits of electrification.
Rewiring Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live, meet and work and we pay our respects to Elders past and present.
Rewiring Australia is a member of Climate Action Network Australia.
Contact us: electrify@rewiringaustralia.org
