victorian electric vehicle trial mid-term report - Department of Transport

Communicating the environmentalbenefits of electric vehicles is bothan obstacle and an opportunity. Withreference to Section 6.2, the relianceon and arrangements for renewableenergy to deliver the environmentalbenefits of electric vehicles is acomplicated story. Experience fromthe trial suggests that a general lackof understanding or even cynicismregarding operation of the electricitymarket creates additional challengesin explaining the environmentalbenefits of renewable energy poweredelectric vehicles.Given that environmental benefitsare a strong motivator for EV takeupby early adopters (Section 3.2) inboth households (Section 4.2.1) andfleets (Section 4.3.1), providing aneasily-understood, defensible meansto evidence ‘zero emissions driving’may be a key enabler for EV take-up.Options to address this may include:• Linking EV support andidentification measures toGreenPower purchase contracts• Documenting, publicising andrecognizing ‘zero emissions’stories for households andfleets that link distributedrenewable energy generationwith EV operation• Working with key stakeholders todevelop or leverage an existingaccreditation program/brand thatcan underpin recognition of EVsthat can be defensibly linked torenewable energy• Leveraging the good understandingof solar PV owners and the ‘EVambassador’ role of the first EVdrivers identified above as part of arecognition program.7.2.2 Do electric vehicleseducate or inform peopleabout other issues?Results from the householdparticipants suggest that electricvehicle experience engages, educatesand motivates people in relation toenergy use issues more broadly.These and other insights are likelyto be shared with family, friends,colleagues and even strangers onaccount of the ‘conversation-starter’effect of EV ownership.Although around 80 per cent ofhousehold participants reportedthemselves as ‘having a goodunderstanding of their householdenergy use’, nearly 60 per cent ofparticipants suggested that theywould ‘like to know more about theirhousehold energy use/costs’ as aresult of having an electric vehicle(n = 62). As an outcome from theirelectric vehicle experience, nearlyone in three household participantsreported themselves as having animproved understanding of householdelectricity use/costs, and one in fouron measures to save on electricityuse/costs.To a lesser extent this also applied tovehicle fuel use. Around 40 per cent ofparticipants suggest that they ‘wouldlike to know more about how to drivein a way that saves fuel in conventionalcars’, to the extent that nearly one infive actually sought this informationout as a result of their EV experience.And as a result of their EV experience,nearly 41 per cent of participantsreported themselves as having animproved understanding of how todrive in a way that saves fuel inconventional cars.This improved awareness andunderstanding often translatesinto action. Some 29 per cent ofparticipants reported themselves ashaving made changes to their homeand/or behaviour that will reduceelectricity use/costs, which is the samenumber of participants who reportedthemselves as having changedtheir driving style so as to be moreeconomical in conventional cars.Household participants also reportedthemselves as having regularlytalked with others about their electricvehicle experience. Over 96 per cent ofparticipants reported having ‘frequent’or ‘very frequent’ conversations withfamily, friends or work colleagueson account of their Victorian ElectricVehicle Trial experience, and over 45per cent reported similar experienceswith strangers. This suggests thatEV drivers may act as ‘experts’ in thecommunity in relation to energy useissues more broadly.