Tasmania preparing new electric car incentives

Tasmania‘s current electric vehicle (EV) incentives recently lapsed, however the state government says further incentives are on their way.

From July 1, 2021 until June 30, 2023, owners who purchased an electric vehicle (EV) or a hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) were exempt from stamp duty. This would shave around $2800 from the before on-road costs asking price of a $70,000 EV.

Tasmanians can still technically claim the EV and FCEV stamp duty exemption until January 1, 2024, but only if they entered into a contract of sale before May 25, 2023.

In June this year the Tasmanian Department of State Growth unveiled its Climate Change Action Plan 2023-25, which has $10 million of funding behind it, and includes plans to further incentivise the purchase of EVs, along with e-bikes and e-scooters.

A spokesperson for the Tasmanian Department of Treasury and Finance said more details on these incentives “will be released soon”.

Also as part of the Climate Change Action Plan, the Tasmanian Government is planning to transition all its fleet vehicles to 100 per cent all-electric by 2030.

Tasmania claims it will be the first Australian state to have a statewide EV charging network. Once all the grant-supported EV ChargeSmart chargers are installed, there will be chargers an average of 47km apart, aimed at incentivising EV uptake.

The island state has never offered direct rebates for EVs, however, like a number of other Australian states currently do.

These include Queensland, which recently doubled its household EV rebate from $3000 to $6000; Western Australia with a $3500 rebate; and South Australia with a $3000 rebate.

To read a full detailed guide of what EV buyer incentives are offered across Australia, click here.

Other states are moving away from EV incentives.

Victoria was the first Australian state to remove its $3000 EV rebate in June this year, as the debt-laden state government looked at ways to cut back on spending.

The decision to prematurely ditch the rebate in Victoria was quietly slipped into the May State Budget papers.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns is also considering scrapping the state’s EV subsidies as part of the upcoming budget.

“We’ve got a subsidy in place that we think is pushing up the costs of EVs and we’re seeing EVs take up from about two per cent to eight per cent in the marketplace,” said Mr Minns.

“Given all of those moving policy changes, we’re going to have to say something about it in the… budget, which is due in a month’s time, but any government faced with that set of policy circumstances would have to take it into consideration.”

MORE: What electric car buyer incentives are offered across Australia?