The Parliament of Victoria's  Economy and Infrastructure Committee is conducting an inquiry into electric vehicles (Inquiry). The Inquiry's terms of reference are available here.

AGL recognizes the wide range of societal benefits that vehicle electrification can deliver to Victoria and the broader Australian economy, including the following:

• Increased EVs uptake will stimulate investment in the local economy and provide important opportunities for job creation.
• In the electricity system context, EVs are a flexible resource that have the potential to deliver benefits that will increase with scale.
• A faster shift towards vehicle electrification will increase the benefits from decarbonisation of our electricity system.
• The wider societal benefits resulting from advanced mobility systems will be brought forward through policies that support vehicle electrification.

AGL is invested in the development of the Australian EV market through our Electric Car Plan, which allows customers to charge their electric car, whenever they like and as often as they like for $1 per day. As part of our Electric Car Plan, we also offset emissions associated with our customers’ EVs at home through our Future Forests Program. AGL is a member of the Electric Vehicle Council, that was launched in May this year. We have also committed to transitioning 10 per cent of AGL’s business vehicle fleet to EVs by mid-2018.

AGL considers that public policy settings at both the State and Federal levels can also play a crucial role in accelerating the uptake of EVs in Australia. AGL urges the Victorian Government to consider implementing the following policy measures in particular:

• A State EV target;
• A Government fleet EV target;
• Stamp duty and registration concessions;
• High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane access; and
• Charging infrastructure planning and support.

We have given careful consideration to the Inquiry’s terms of reference which we elaborate further in our submission to the Inquiry, a copy of which is available here.