Kia is holding back its electric and hybrid vehicles in Australia expecting the government to introduce policies that might encourage the development of a charging infrastructure, and the introduction and purchase of EVs, Jeff Shafer, Kia Australia’s senior product manager, said.
According to The Motor Report, there are no significant financial incentives at present for customers to purchase an all-electric or a hybrid electric. The government has already ended the Green Car Innovation Fund and at present it has no plans for such policies.
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Shafer said: “For better or worse, Australia doesn’t have a strong government position on alternative fuel vehicles. There’s no picking and choosing by governments to say ‘we’re going to support hybrid’ or ‘we’re going to support any one particular technology’ so I guess that makes the job we’ve got as planners a little more difficult.”
