Flicking Australia's electric car switch
Posted by Big Gav in australia, electric vehicles
The Business Spectator has an article on a report into the future of Australia's car industry - Flicking Australia's electric car switch.
Australia's automotive industry, which has been struggling to keep up with emerging Asian markets for years, has finally come up with a plan that could go some way in making Australian-based manufactures more globally competitive.
A draft copy of the Automotive Australia 2020 (AA2020) project report obtained by Business Spectator has identified four long-term commercial opportunities for the car industry – electrification, gaseous fuels, lightweighting and data and communications.
In particular the report has identified electrification as the highest priority area if the Australian industry is to have an economic future in this global industry. The six applications in electrification are:
-- Development and manufacture of super-capacitors for electric cars
-- Design and local assembly of electric power electronic modules
-- High energy density batteries
-- Low-cost, robust, efficient electric motors/generators
-- Standard battery packs for large passenger vehicles
-- Development of a modular electric vehicle power train
The industry, which is valued at $7.5 billion, exports more than $3 billion in parts and vehicles and provides more than 50,000 jobs, is under intense pressure to innovate and change due to emerging Asian markets, competition from developing economies, the move towards new technologies and a global over-capacity.
This report, conducted under the auspices of the Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Automotive Technology (AutoCRC) in partnership with the CSIRO and the Australian National University, and enjoying the support of the federal and Victorian governments as well as the Automotive Industry Innovation Council, is a strategic attempt to identify how the industry can remain competitive. It flows from one of the earlier initiatives of the Rudd government, the $6.2 billion New Car Plan for a Greener Future.
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