Electric cars to be prioritised in South Australian fleets

​The roundtable, which includes state leaders from Victoria, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory as well as city representatives from Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin, met in Adelaide today and also agreed to coordinate the planning and construction of electric vehicle infrastructure and the standardisation of incentives.

South Australian Climate Change Minister Ian Hunter said state and city administrations have an important role in shifting public perception of electric vehicles, starting by using more electric vehicles in government fleets. "Transport is the fastest-growing contributor to climate change globally and other major economies are moving away from petrol and diesel-fuelled engines," he said.

"It's important that we are at the forefront of a transition to lower-emission vehicles in Australia – both to reduce greenhouse gases and other emissions, and to keep pace with global competitors." Behyad Jafari, the CEO of Australia's Electric Vehicle Council, warned that Australia has fallen behind in the global market for electric vehicles.

"We need governments, particularly the Federal Government, to take meaningful action to begin the process of transitioning our economy from imported oils, to transport run from domestically generated renewable energy," he said, The delegates to the roundtable then inspected a variety of electric and hybrid cars, including a Tesla Model X. The announcement came on the same day that the world's largest lithium ion battery using Elon Musk's Tesla Power packs began operating at the Hornsdale Power Reserve.

The battery, which stores the energy produced by Neoen's Hornsdale windfarm, was delivered ahead of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's self-imposed deadline of "100 days or it's free".​