Air quality as a game-changer: Pathways towards large-scale vehicle electrification in Australia

This paper presents an integrated analysis of the costs and benefits of carefully constructed scenarios for the electrification of transport in Australia. Scenarios were constructed to responsively meet increased electricity demand, whilst maximising emission reduction, household finances and public health benefits. The scenarios bundle several technologies, including charging infrastructure, electric vehicles, home battery systems, and renewable energy. The fastest, mission-style, adoption scenario can reduce emissions by 9% of the 2030 carbon budget and reduce the loss of life by 24,000 by 2042. In all scenarios, government expenditure is dwarfed by the estimated public benefits, and households are nearly always better off in the medium to long term. Demonstrating the feasibility and advantages of surface transportation electrification in Australia, which presents cross-sections of rural and urban infrastructure, traffic and a large, socially and politically diverse population, provides broadly applicable evidence of the feasibility of electrification in other jurisdictions.