Australia’s automotive industry, which has been struggling to keep up with emerging Asian markets for years, has finally come up with a plan that could go some way in making Australian-based manufactures more globally competitive.
A draft copy of the Automotive Australia 2020 (AA2020) project report obtained by Business Spectator has identified four long-term commercial opportunities for the car industry: electrification, gaseous fuels, light-weighting and data and communications.
In particular the report has identified electrification as the highest priority area if the Australian industry is to have an economic future in this global industry. The six applications in electrification are:
- Development and manufacture of super-capacitors for electric cars
- Design and local assembly of electric power electronic modules
- High energy density batteries
- Low-cost, robust, efficient electric motors/generators
- Standard battery packs for large passenger vehicles
- Development of a modular electric vehicle power train
The industry, which is valued at $7.5 billion, exports more than $3 billion in parts and vehicles and provides more than 50,000 jobs, is under intense pressure to innovate and change due to emerging Asian markets, competition from developing economies, the move towards new technologies and a global over-capacity.
This report, conducted under the auspices of the Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Automotive Technology (AutoCRC) in partnership with the CSIRO and the Australian National University, and enjoying the support of the federal and Victorian governments as well as the Automotive Industry Innovation Council, is a strategic attempt to identify how the industry can remain competitive. It flows from one of the earlier initiatives of the Rudd government, the $6.2 billion New Car Plan for a Greener Future.
The industry too has recognised the potential importance of this draft report in ensuring the continued support of Canberra and Spring Street in particular. It has been an active participant in the report, with AA2020 project manager Matthew Doolan noting that more than 160 organisations have contributed more than 2500 hours to compile the 92-page Technology Roadmap [The road-mapping approach for the industry was developed by the University of Cambridge].
Doolan says: “The success of the road-mapping approach can be measured first by industry involvement and secondly by the ongoing implementation of the road-mapping culture.”
In the area of gaseous fuels, the report says: “It leverages off local resources and expertise while presenting attractive export markets.”
It is believed present industry minister Kim Carr, a senator from Victoria, is putting his considerable political weight behind the report, along with Victorian Premier John Brumby. This would suggest it’s in the best interests of AA2020 to get its final report out ASAP — nothing quite galvanises a government’s receptiveness to an industry report more than an impending election.
Deep cycling batteries would also find a major market as storage for wind etc generator systems. With cost-effective storage a renewables-based electric generation system would be able to match its cycles of generation with the demand cycles of existing grids. Then it could compete as an alternative to gas, coal and nuclear generation.
In a grid with off-peak pricing, domestic users might also profitably use such batteries to store baseload power for peaktime use. Or to recharge the car!
@ Roger Clifton -” In a grid with off-peak pricing, etc “. If there is widespread use of electric cars I very much doubt that off-peak pricing will continue to exist.
More or bigger power stations will need to be built to cope with demand; and all that will have happened is that the emissions from internal combustion motors has been transferred to the power stations.So much for curbing greenhouse gases.
Nuclear power stations for base load, renewables at the margin and phase out the coal plants as quickly as we can, at the very least stop building more coal power plants. Electric cars and nuclear + solar/wind et al will reduce carbon emissions and make for a cleaner urban environment. Some of the Rudd stimulus (now wasted) should have been invested here.
The best thing is compared to Asia, Australia has an excellent home environment for recharging, the majority of potential owners would have a nearby power point in their garage/car port. Of course our domestic industry is still churning out six cylinder ICE sedans and is way behind the foreign competition.
How is this report relevant? I thought that cars made in Australia were essentially designed in Japan or the United States, or Germany in the case of GM Holden. Certainly the basic technology. However, I can see how Australian car _parts_ manufacturers would benefit from having this technology, so they could export parts in addition to have them used by Australian plants.
Whereas Australia doesn’t have a competitive advantage when it comes to making cars (otherwise there would be no need for subsidies), it does have a great advantage in the generation of solar and wind power. Few developed countries are as thinly populated and receive as much sunshine or wind as Australia. Lets stop endlessly subsidising the car industry, and instead use the money to kick start a renewable energy industry. If Danish, German and Spanish companies can make a killing on the world market, so can Australian companies.