Electric vehicles tipped to boost struggling NSW coal industry

A New South Wales government report has revealed that the state’s coal mining industry could disappear in the next two decades as global demand for the commodity shrinks due to lowering emissions targets worldwide.

An uptake in electric vehicle (EV) ownership, however, may help mitigate this impending economic crisis by boosting demand for Australian-generated electricity as opposed to imported fuel, clean energy advocate Renew Economy claims.

According to the government report, an increase in EVs on the east coast by 2050 could potentially help lower the negative financial impacts of reducing coal demand in the state.

Given that coal is one of the largest exports of goods in NSW, a coal-demand reduction of this scale would place immense pressure on the state’s GDP, with losses of up to 0.6 per cent expected by 2042, along with thousands of potential job losses. But the figures released in the report estimated that this loss could be reduced to 0.4 per cent by 2061, presuming NSW reaches its state electric vehicle registration target of five million by 2050.

The NSW report concluded that a higher electric vehicle uptake in NSW could significantly mitigate the negative impacts of reducing coal power, thanks to the local production of the ‘fuel’ required by EVs.

“This is because electric vehicles are powered by domestically produced and relatively inexpensive electricity, rather than imported petrol,” the report stated.

As global coal demand is expected to fall over the coming years as more countries move forward in their zero emissions targets, it’s anticipated that eliminating one coal fuel source through the use of EVs, would reduce the negative impacts of this decline, the report elaborated.

A surge in EV ownership could essentially afford the state the opportunity to reduce its reliance on coal exports and thus coal-powered generation for the electricity grid, softening the financial blow should global coal exports continue to decrease as predicted.

But, just how keen are NSW motorists on EVs?

A recent Canstar Blue survey uncovered that 62 per cent of drivers in New South Wales would consider transitioning to an electric vehicle in the coming years. That’s despite only 6,400 EVs currently registered across the state, according to CarsGuide.

Hefty upfront costs and accessibility to charging stations are just some of the challenges facing EV ownership in Australia. It also doesn’t help the popularity of EVs that a controversial new law recently passed in Victoria slogged EV owners with an additional road tax.

Finding a viable way for consumers to affordably own an electric vehicle would help sales in this evolving market, Canstar Blue’s Energy Editor, Jared Mullane, explained.

“There is major traction right now for consumers looking at ways to lower their carbon footprint, which is what makes electric vehicles such an innovative and eco-friendly space, but ownership usually comes with a much higher price tag than their petrol-powered counterparts,” he said.

“While electric cars will help motorists lower their carbon emissions, affordability along with increased electricity bills are just some of the pressure points consumers will be faced with.

“It will be interesting to see how investment in electric vehicles will be affected by lower global demand for coal and petroleum, but it’s too early to tell if we’ll be seeing more of these automobiles on our roads as a result.”

AGL Electric Vehicle Plans

Electric vehicles can come with additional costs, especially to your energy bill when charging it at home. Luckily, some providers have created EV-friendly electricity plans, which take these extra consumption requirements into account and offer lower usage rates to help cover them, without breaking the bank. Here are some of AGL’s EV plans available in Australia.

Red Energy EV Saver Plans

Red Energy also offer specific plans for EV owners that come with free electricity usage charges between 12pm and 2pm every Saturday and Sunday. EV owners must have a smart meter or interval meter to sign up to this offer. Click on the tabs below to see what prices Red Energy have in your state.

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