The atmosphere is set to be electric this Friday as government and motoring industry figures meet at the National EV Summit in Canberra, where the group will discuss the future of electric vehicles in Australia.
The climate change minister Chris Bowen is scheduled to open the clean energy talk, along with industry minister Ed Husic.
The EV summit has been organised by Mike Cannon-Brookes’ not-for-profit Boundless. Cannon-Brookes has a ‘green fund’ from which $500 million will go towards electrification of Australian homes and an electric vehicle future.
Mike Cannon-Brookes has put money behind the national EV Summit
The fund has come about thanks to Cannon-Brookes and his wife pledging $1.5 billion of their personal wealth to a mix of philanthropic endeavours.
Cannon-Brookes is the founder and co-CEO of IT task management software Atlassian and is one of the wealthiest people in Australia.
Who will be attending the national EV summit?
The Australian Financial Review has said that the EV Summit will feature Tesla chairwoman Robyn Denholm, NSW Treasurer Matt Kean and the Australian heads of Volkswagen, Polestar and the NRMA.
The chairwoman of Tesla, Robyn Denholm, will be in attendance
Some members of the Federal Chambers of Automotive Industries (FCAI) will be in attendance for the event, including representatives from a range of vehicle manufacturers.
Some of these include Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche Cars Australia, Tesla Motors, Volkswagen Group Australia and Hyundai Motor Company Australia.
All up, there are 39 members in the FCAI, including some of the biggest manufacturers such as Toyota.
Polestar bosses are also likely to attend the summit in Canberra
Some FCAI members – in particular Volkswagen Group Australia – have been recently frustrated by the slow adoption of electric vehicles in Australia along with a lack of disregard for an emissions reduction standard.
What will happen at the invitation-only EV Summit?
The National EV Summit is an invitation-only event which will bring together car company executives, senior MPs and infrastructure bosses into one room. It’s likely that electric vehicle charging companies such as Chargefox and Evie will also be in attendance.
Volkswagen Australia will have a say at the event
The main goal of the event is to discuss how to best make vehicles and transportation work for the future and a large part of that will be through the widespread adoption of electric vehicles and building on the small infrastructure Australians currently have for EVs.
Fuel efficiency standards will be a big talking point, as well as the overall goal of getting the entire country to zero emissions within just 28 years. It’s a big task, but with significant backing by people like Cannon-Brookes and the Australian government, it might just work.
