If policymakers conclude the answer to fuel shortages is to simply build much larger liquid fuel reserves, they will lock Australia into a worse dependence on less reliable supplies of petrol, diesel and other liquid fuels. As geopolitical tensions increase, this reliance is foolish in the extreme.

What Australia needs isn’t bigger fuel tanks. It’s to build energy independence. A nation able to run its transport sector on its own resources is a nation better able to weather global uncertainty. The fastest and most cost-effective way to do so is to accelerate the electrification of transport, powering vehicles with electricity from renewables and storage.

  • ikt@aussie.zone
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    10 days ago

    to be honest i think this is a problem that will solve itself over time, EV’s are just better, not because they’re cheaper but because they’re faster, quieter, require less maintenance, and in general are just nicer

    I read like 98% of people don’t go back to ICE after having an EV so I think in the future we might have the same fuel tanks but 90 days worth of supply after we’ve got majority of cars off of it

    • TheHolm@aussie.zone
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      10 days ago

      It will take a while to move to EVs. SO far they are not have economical sense for average person. Prices should go down bellow ICE before we see any noticeable adoption.

      • zurohki@aussie.zone
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        9 days ago

        I mean, you can buy a BYD Atto 1 for $27k and the cheapest new Toyota I can see is $33k.

        All the cars currently on the road can’t just be thrown away and replaced with EVs, but new EVs have actually hit and passed price parity now.

        • TheHolm@aussie.zone
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          9 days ago

          Yeh, one is Toyota other is Chinese crap. Please compare apples with apples. You can find EV with similar prices as ICE on secondary market. But only it means that EV are depreciated faster than ICE which makes it very questionable purchase as new.

          • zurohki@aussie.zone
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            9 days ago

            You can’t buy a used EV for under like $25,000 now and those are ten year old Leafs. Nobody’s selling.

            If you want apples to apples, you’re probably looking at a BYD Dolphin for closer to $32,000.

            You can tell that they’re good cars for a good price by the way the US and EU car industries have been screaming for government protection the last few years.

            If you’re deadset against buying a Chinese branded EV, I guess you can wait for the Toyota branded EVs with BYD drivetrains that are on their way.

          • YeahToast@aussie.zone
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            9 days ago

            “Chinese crap” you realize a lot of high end engineering and manufacturing is completed in China? If you’re looking at buying an item for cents on the dollar, then yes quality will be poor…

            • TheHolm@aussie.zone
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              9 days ago

              It is not only about quality. But also about warranty, part availability and long time support. Chinese cars has bad records on these. Buying used Chinese car is hardly a sensitive choice. Look to carsales.com.au as example. It is full of MGs which no one willing to buy. So if you buying new car you should plan to scrap it, not sell in 5 years.

          • stylusmobilus@aussie.zone
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            8 days ago

            Yeah all reports on BYDs stuff is pretty good ay

            This brings back memories of the shit we used to put on Japanese cars and bikes in the 70s