Energy Consumers Australia appreciates the opportunity to provide input into the Inquiry into the transition to electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles (EVs) can benefit households and small businesses as the energy system (and more broadly Australia) transitions to net zero emissions, and as we see increasing uptake of consumer energy resources (CER) such as EVs.

As such, we support government policy that enables all Australians to access these benefits and delivers good outcomes for consumers.

Key recommendations:

• Consumers that switch to EVs will reduce electricity bills not only for themselves, but for all electricity consumers.
• There are opportunities to reduce the impact of EVs on peak demand by incentivising users to charge at times when the grid is not stressed and aligned with solar production.
• Consumers need to be empowered to access the benefits of EVs. This includes needing support to make EV-related decisions; needing robust consumer agency, protections and dispute resolution frameworks; and needing adequate enabling infrastructure, such as interoperability and reliability standards.
• Policy must ensure that the transition to EVs is equitable – and support all consumers to access the benefits of EVs.

Read the full submission here.