Tesla has decided to leave the primary automotive industry lobby group in Australia and has requested the consumer protection agency to look into the group’s misleading statements regarding the effects of the Albanese government’s environmentally-friendly vehicle policy.

In a letter to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) on Thursday, Tesla said it had serious concerns about the lobby group’s public claims that the government’s proposed vehicle efficiency standard would significantly push up the price of most popular cars and utes, and significantly reduce the price of Tesla models.

On Wednesday, Guardian Australia reported that Tesla had submitted a statement to the federal government, alleging that the FCAI solely represents car companies that aim to postpone efforts to address the climate emergency, rather than its members who support Labor’s stance.

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The Australian division of Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company stated that FCAI had advocated for a policy plan that was deemed “ambitious”, even though they were aware that it would not effectively reduce vehicle emissions until 2030 and could potentially contribute to a significant rise in CO2 levels.₂

The lobby group informed the media that the government’s policy could potentially raise the cost of popular utes by $13,000 next year. However, they were aware that this was not an accurate representation of how the system operated.

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During the communication released on Thursday, Tesla requested that the FCAI issue a public correction to its “inaccurate allegations” and recognize that they do not align with the intentions of car companies.

Tesla has requested that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission look into allegations made by a lobbying organization that they believe could potentially mislead consumers in Australia. The company has also stated that they will no longer be a member of the FCAI after the 2023-24 fiscal year. Thom Drew, who previously sat on the FCAI board, is no longer a member as of this week.

In response to Tesla’s allegations earlier this week, the FCAI stated that for over ten years, they have been urging various governments to implement an efficiency standard. They also mentioned that their members are committed to fighting against climate change and offering affordable options of zero and low emission vehicles for Australians.

The advocacy organization maintains its stance on how the government’s preferred policy would impact vehicle sales in 2023, based on last year’s sales patterns. The group asserts that the cost of the most popular gasoline and diesel cars would significantly increase, with the federal Coalition using this claim to criticize Labor’s policy as a burden on families and utility vehicles.

FCAI was requested to provide its reply in regards to Tesla’s correspondence.

Experts not affiliated with FCAI believe that implementing an efficiency requirement would have a lesser effect on the cost of new vehicles compared to FCAI’s claim. According to the Grattan Institute, the proposed policy would raise prices by approximately 1%, but consumers would ultimately see improved financial benefit thanks to lower expenses for fuel and maintenance.

Car companies must meet an emissions target per kilometre for all new cars sold in a given year to comply with efficiency standards. Each year, the target will decrease. The government’s preferred approach aims to reduce the target by 60% by 2030. Suppliers have the option to select which cars they sell, but must ensure that enough fuel-efficient models are offered in order to offset any high-polluting vehicles and meet the target.

Businesses that were below the mandated average would receive credits that they could then sell to vehicles that exceeded the average. Conversely, businesses that did not meet the required average could either face a fine or offset the difference by selling a higher number of environmentally-friendly cars in the next two years.

Most developed countries have some sort vehicle efficiency standard. The government’s preferred design has been supported by some car companies, including Volkswagen and Hyundai, but some others, including Toyota, want it changed and delayed. National CO₂

Since 2005, there has been an approximate 20% rise in Australia’s transportation emissions.

Tesla submitted a criticism of the calculations reported by FCAI to the media, which claimed that the government’s favored model would significantly increase the cost of 18 out of the top 20 selling car models in the country. Tesla stated that the FCAI:

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  This calculation only considers the most environmentally harmful version of each car model. For instance, when analyzing the Ford Ranger, it only takes into account the Raptor model, which releases 262 grams of CO2 per kilometer.₂

  The Green Vehicle Guide, released last year, identified 42 different versions of the Ranger, with 20 of them emitting less than 200g/km. This equates to a reduction in emissions per kilometre.

• Incorrectly described the implementation of an efficiency standard. It determined the most environmentally damaging versions of every car brand, computed the excess emissions above the permitted average, multiplied the discrepancy by $100/g (the suggested penalty cost), and included this sum in the car’s listed price. In actuality, fines would not be imposed on individual cars and manufacturers would be required to expand their selection of eco-friendly vehicles in order to balance out more polluting models.

• Without confirming with the company, the individual falsely stated that two popular Tesla EV models would decrease in price by approximately $15,000 each next year.

Source: theguardian.com