Why are some people importing Japanese used EVs to Australia? The EVC Electric Vehicle Chargers team attended the recent NRMA EV Drive Day at St Ives, a suburb in Sydney’s Upper North Shore in July 2022.
No emissions standards: a supply-side challenge for Australian EV buyers
We spoke to the NSW Government Energy Department about their incentives and plans. One concern that they raised is that Australia has no regulatory CO2 emission standards on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. These gases have an impact on climate change. This allows car manufacturers and importers to dump their high CO2 emitting vehicles here because there are no restrictions.
Whereas the US has had these emission standards since 1975 Federally at least. Most other developed countries or at least some states or provinces in them do. You can’t take your car of a certain age on the road in California without doing a smog check each year.
This affects our availability of new EVs because the manufacturers prefer to divert them to countries with those emission standards.
With a new Federal Labor Government in Canberra, one which has more of a green streak to its DNA, this may change soon. Finally emission standards may reach our shores.
How do we address the EV supply shortage?
This supply issue means that many would be EV owners in Australia can’t quickly get the electric vehicles that they desire.
In the interim, what at least one company has done is to start importing Japanese used EVs and also the UK. These are right hand drive countries, so you don’t require any expensive conversions.
Good Car Co has found that Japan in particular is a good source because their Shaken system there penalizes people for having a car even a few years old. The older the car, the higher the taxes. It’s a total rort for the car industry of course. It encourages people there to buy new cars, but here it works in our favor. We get relatively late model Japanese used EVs at an affordable price as their previous Japanese owners need to dispose of them.
They have cars in stock and as well you can initiate a special order from Japan to get the car you want in their next bulk buy from there.
EV buyers groups
Good Car Co also do buyers groups for Hyundai and Polestar EVs here in Australia to get fleet pricing on behalf of their customers.
Hyundai is a multinational automotive manufacturer with its HQ in Seoul, South Korea.
Polestar is a Swedish automotive brand established in 1996 by Volvo Cars’ partner Flash / Polestar Racing. Volvo acquired it in its entirety in 2015. Its headquarters is in Torslanda outside Gothenburg, Sweden. However, vehicle production takes place in China
What are the issues with importing Japanese used EVs yourself?
You could also consider importing Japanese used EVs yourself. However, there are many steps to be aware of, both regulatory and business. This article has an interesting analysis of the process.
These steps may include the following:
- Vehicle steam cleaning
- Air-conditioning gas removal (if needed)
- Asbestos testing and removal (if needed)
- Getting clearance from Australian customs
- You need to lodge a Quarantine Entry with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
- Organise any vehicle modification
- Gather evidence that it is compliant
- Applying to enter the car on the Register of Approval Vehicles
Contact us about electric vehicle chargers
Contact us today to find out what your EV charger scenario might be. Once that is done, we can provide you with some estimates as to what it might cost to install electric vehicle chargers.
