Rising petrol prices, driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East, are hitting Australians hard at the petrol pump and renewing concerns about the country’s reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Can EVs Protect Australians From Petrol Price Spikes?
Industry bodies including the Electric Vehicle Council have renewed calls for stronger support for electric vehicles, pointing to the federal electric car discount — a scheme that helps reduce the upfront cost of new EVs — as a key way to shield motorists from volatile fuel prices.
“Retaining the Electric Car Discount is more important than ever. The policy, which is under review, is helping Australians switch to EVs, giving them more control over their household budgets. EVs are cheaper to run and don’t face the same exposure to global oil shocks. Their “fuel” is electricity – often cheaper off-peak and free for households with rooftop solar. Add lower servicing costs and EVs protect families from the rollercoaster of global petrol prices,” Julie Delvecchio, CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council, recently said.
Rewiring Australia CEO Francis Vierboom late last week also called for the federal government to retain the discount on salary packaging EVs:
“Battery-powered EVs can run on electricity we make in Australia, including ultra-cheap rooftop solar, while the energy in our fossil-fueled cars is imported from one of the world’s least stable regions,” he said.
Meanwhile, Australians are starting to vote with their wallets. February saw record EV sales, with battery-electric vehicles taking an 11.8% share of new car sales — up from about 8.4% in January.
Online listings platform Carsales last week reported a 76.7% spike in searches for EVs after the outbreak of the war in Iran.
How Vulnerable Is Australia’s Fuel Supply?
The price spike also brings fuel security into focus. The federal government has reassured motorists there is no immediate shortage, but Parliament has been told Australia currently holds roughly 36 days of petrol, 34 days of diesel and 32 days of jet fuel if imports were disrupted.
That’s higher than in previous years, but still well short of the 90-day International Energy Agency benchmark many countries use to buffer against global supply shocks.
In recent days, the government has released portions of its emergency reserves and eased some fuel quality rules to boost supply amid the Middle East conflict.
It’s a reminder that everyday fuel costs are tied to bigger energy security issues, and reliance on imported oil leaves Australia exposed whenever global tensions spike.
Electrification: A Long-Term Solution
EVs are just one piece of the puzzle. Shifting energy use in transport, homes and industry to electricity gradually reduces reliance on imported fuel — especially as Australia continues to expand rooftop solar and large-scale renewables.
Historically, major oil shocks have pushed countries to think beyond short-term fixes. Back in the 1970s, many European nations began restructuring their energy systems, investing in renewables, efficiency, and alternative energy sources — changes that now shield them from short-term oil price spikes.
Today’s disruptions could do the same for Australia, giving electrification a chance to strengthen energy resilience while letting households take more control over their energy use.
A shift to EVs is just one of the ways Australia can reduce its reliance on imported oil.
Fuel Excise and the Budget
Fuel excise currently generates tens of billions of dollars each year to fund roads and transport infrastructure, but as more vehicles switch to electricity, governments will eventually need new ways to pay for road networks.
This is a politically tricky issue and one that many EV owners find unpalatable. But analysts say the sooner a solution is found — whether through EV road-user charges or reallocating existing revenue streams — the smoother the transition will be.
What It Means for Australians
For motorists, the spike at the pump is immediate and noticeable. For policymakers, it highlights how tied Australia still is to global oil markets. Electrification — from EVs to rooftop solar — may not fix prices overnight, but it’s a strategy that gradually moves control back into local hands and strengthens long-term energy security, while also giving households more options to manage their own energy use.
For more on how to electrify your transport, read our deep dive guide to home EV charging.
About Kim Wainwright
RSS - Posts
I can see this new EV craze creating a lot of potential problems. If you buy a fully electric vehicle, you’ll need to set up your home—assuming you’re lucky enough to have one suitable—to charge it. Charging on single-phase 240 volts is slow and inefficient, so the obvious thought is to install three-phase power. But for many households that simply isn’t practical, so you’re left hoping an overnight charge will be enough.
If you go with a hybrid, you’ll still need petrol, although careful use could make it work quite well.
We saw something similar during the last big fuel price spike, when many motorists rushed into LPG conversions without doing much research. LPG was—and still is—cheap, but if your car was set up for dual fuel you still had to keep at least half a tank of petrol on board and use some of it occasionally. The fuel pump and injectors still operate while the car is running on LPG; the petrol simply gets redirected back into the tank.
7-11kw charger on single phase is more than adequate for most people. Even a 10-15amp granny charger is fine for many.
bUt oUtBack/lOng Hall cAn’t rUn on ElecTricity
Sure, but converting urban commute’s to EV free’s up diesel/petrol for those that can’t easily be made into EV’s
Maybe an EV expert can give us advice on choosing, buying and using one? It can’t be just put it in “D”!
The internet is full of advice about buying and using an EV. It depends very much on your own needs, interests and capabilities for charging.
Just search. And be aware that information from other countries may not be relevant to here eg from Scandinavian countries where they are dealing with -10 to -30° C but also have excellent charging facilities everywhere. And some commentators are heavily biased either for or against EVs.
The NRMA or local equivalents have good advice too.
Only very few countries have moved towards oil independence in transport to a meaningful level, Norway and China to name the most prominent. Let’s not forget that oil is not the enemy, burning it is. Nearly everything else in our lives are derived from oil to some degree.
Electrification of transport would be a great step forward to disconnection from overseas weak supply chains.
Amen to using our own renewable energy to power our vehicles and ideally most things. We need to wean ourselves off reliance on dirty oil from the other side of the world, coming through one tiny passage of water that can be blocked by one unstable country with a few weapons.