Kia Australia Waiting On Government Policy Before Pushing EVs, Hybrids

Kia is holding back on building a case for hybrid and electric vehicles in Australia until government gets on board, the brand's local product boss Jeff Shafer told TMR this week. 

With the exception of the now-defunct Green Car Innovation Fund, state and federal governments have been slow to follow other regions into introducing policies that encourage the introduction and purchase of electric vehicles.

There are currently no significant financial incentives for buyers to purchase a hybrid or all-electric vehicle, and there are no known plans for policies that would encourage the development of any meaningful charging infrastructure. 

Kia Australia’s Senior Product Manager, Jeff Shafer, said a lack of government direction was making it hard to justify electric models for the brand's local range.

“For better or worse, Australia doesn’t have a strong government position on alternative-fuel vehicles,” Mr Shafer said.

“There’s no picking and choosing by governments to say ‘we're going to support hybrid’ or 'we're going to support any one particular technology', so I guess that makes the job we’ve got as planners a little more difficult.” 

Mr Shafer said a shift to electric-assisted or all-electric vehicles would likely be gradual, and that the war on world oil prices would be slowing the adoption of new 'green' technologies.