Quite simply, whilst the carrots and sticks of policy are so strongly wielded in support of EVs by governments in Europe, the US and the like – manufacturers have much more incentive to send their BEVs to markets closer to home.
What is needed here is proper federal EV direction before that the same can happen here. Manufacturers can’t plan for the ‘Australian’ market when there are differing support mechanisms favouring different vehicle segments in different states (eg local government fleet or individual sales or commercial use) or differing price thresholds for the subsidies on offer with the same EV qualifying in one state, but not another. The Australian market is small enough already, let alone turning it into seven individual markets for BEVs!
That federal direction by the way is not nebulous ‘EV charging support’ with no explanation of what it is, or when it is to materialise. That is just a jumble of words as equally ‘meaningful’ as the spin Australia used to get by at COP 26.