From the 10th May, West Australian residents that purchase a new electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle below $70,000 will receive a rebate of $3,500 to help accelerate the use of zero emission vehicles as part of $60 million allocated in the 2022-23 state budget.
In line with other States, WA will introduce a distance-based road user charge for zero and low emission light vehicles commencing from July 1, 2027 to ensure all motorists pay their fair share towards the maintenance and construction of WA roads.
A base rate of 2.5 cents per kilometre for electric and hydrogen vehicles and two cents per kilometre for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will apply, with both rates indexed to the Consumer Price Index. The State Government will invest $200,000 to develop options on systems for monitoring and collecting the future road user charge.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said at the announcement, “My Labor Government is taking climate action to secure WA’s low carbon future. Building on our $750 million Climate Action Fund that was announced last year, we are implementing further initiatives to significantly reduce our carbon emissions and progress towards net zero emissions.”
“Our $3,500 rebates are one of the most generous grants on offer in the nation and will see an extra 10,000 electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on our roads. This will assist WA with reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, while also reducing the pressure of high petrol prices on WA households that utilise the rebate.”
Assisting Western Australians to transition away from petrol-fuelled vehicles will benefit the environment and deliver significant household savings,while also enabling the average Western Australian driver to save more than $1,400 per year on fuel costs by making the switch.
The replacement of 10,000 petrol-fuelled vehicles with electric or hydrogen vehicles is expected to reduce carbon emissions by at least 7,000 tonnes each year.
The McGowan Government is also investing $22.6 million in new charging infrastructure to expand WA’s electric vehicle charging network, with the 2022-23 Budget to include:
- $10 million to support not-for-profits and small and medium-sized businesses with grants of up to 50 per cent of the installing charging infrastructure costs;
- $5 million to support local government’s install charging infrastructure by providing grants of up to 50 per cent of the installation cost;
- $4 million for the Public Transport Authority to trial the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure at four train stations, providing up to 20 bays per car park with commuter charging access; and
- more than $2.9 million in eight new charging stations across four locations on a section of National Highway 1 between Norseman and Eucla to ensure WA’s electric highway extends to South Australia.
A further $31 million will also be allocated for climate action research and planning to support various initiatives that assist State Government agencies with reducing carbon emissions.
This $31 million includes funding to:
- develop and implement strategies to reduce emissions and transition the agriculture, freight and regional heavy transport industries to net zero as part of the Sectoral Emissions Reduction Strategies;
- deliver more carbon farming projects on Government managed land;
- develop a Carbon Farming Industry Development Plan;
- climate risk assessments, reporting and adaptation planning for Government agencies;
- fund specialist research to inform the strategy to transition the Public Transport Authority’s bus fleet to electric vehicles; and
- expand the Western Australian Carbon Dioxide Geological Storage Atlas.
WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said, “We are also introducing electric buses onto the network through our current electric bus trial in Joondalup. These new incentives, including electric charging infrastructure at train stations, will help encourage more people to use electric vehicles.”
WA Energy Minister Bill Johnston was plugging the longest electric highway in the world. He said, “I’m excited to announce that Western Australia’s electric vehicle highway, which will be the longest in the world, will receive eight extra charging stations. With stations from Kununurra to Esperance already being delivered, the new stations between Norseman and Eucla will complete the link to South Australia.”
