Exploring the feasibility of electric vehicle travel for remote communities in Australia

TL;DR

This study assesses the feasibility of electric vehicle travel in remote Australian communities, finding that long-range EVs could enable most trips to local hubs, informing policy on charging infrastructure deployment.

Contribution

It provides a GIS-based analysis demonstrating that long-range EVs can serve remote communities, highlighting potential for policy development despite existing barriers.

Findings

Over 99% of communities can reach small service hubs with current long-range EVs.

Current EV range limitations hinder trips to larger towns, but are surmountable for local travel.

Policy should focus on deploying charging infrastructure to support EV adoption in remote areas.

Abstract

Remote communities in Australia face unique mobility challenges that stand to be further complicated by the transition from Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles to Electric Vehicles (EVs). EVs offer a range of advantages that include lower maintenance requirements and independence from costly, dangerous and polluting petroleum imports that have long been burdensome for remote communities. Yet the adoption of electric vehicles in Australia has been slow by international standards, and what policy strategies do exist tend to focus on incentivizing uptake among urban residents with the means to afford new technologies, potentially leaving remote communities in the 'too hard basket'. In this study we assess the feasibility of EVs for a sample of communities in remote Australia using Geographic Information System analysis of travel distances between communities and service hub towns utilizing present-day EV specifications and charging technologies. We show that while EV travel is often not currently feasible for trips to large service hub towns using low-range vehicles, over 99% of communities and residents considered would be able to travel to their nearest small service hub town with existing long-range EVs. This finding suggests that while the barriers to the electrification of transport in remote communities are significant, they are not insurmountable and are deserving of consideration in national and state policy developments in the deployment of charging infrastructure.