The wanted side-effect of the National Electric Vehicle Strategy

However, these targets have also been delayed. They said the reason is to allow more time for consultation with industry. Meanwhile, I feel that it's important to stress that the weight of a vehicle makes a big difference to its energy consumption (whatever its propulsion system). As such, a lack of battery electric vehicle (BEV) deliveries (ie. a constrained supply to Australia beyond any production-related limitations) has only been part of the problem when it comes to tailpipe emissions (and subsequently, air quality).

A significant trend has been for vehicles with the same nameplate to get bigger with each generation, and this has been happening over decades. The BMW M3 of the '80s for example, was a nimble 4-cylinder (as were many of the 3 Series cars they were based on), but by 2007 they'd grown to the point where Munich decided they needed to shove V8s in them to get M3 levels of performance.

It's not just performance models either. This is an industry-wide trend. Honda's Accord and Civic grew bigger with each new model. Falcons and Commodores ended production bigger and much heavier than they started in the 1960s and '70s respectively. Australia's current top two selling nameplates, the HiLux and Ranger, have both grown substantially. In fact you'll struggle to think of any nameplate which hasn't gained size and weight over time.

Even if individual nameplates weren't getting bigger though, Australians are buying bigger and heavier vehicles anyway.

Car Expert wondered not so long ago, what happened to the Ford Focus?. In 2012 the Focus was clearly Ford's top seller with 18,586 sold, but only 161 were sold in 2022. Now they're pushing the Ranger so hard that 2022's figure of 43,128 just for the 4x4 variants also dwarfs 2012's sales of the Falcon, Falcon ute and Territory combined (34,415).

The comments section of a similar story I saw about the trend towards SUVs noted how the price of previously-popular small hatches got absurd, and then many models just stopped being available at all. So as a side-effect of this pro-BEV policy, it should also encourage the return of smaller vehicles that are cheaper to buy and cheaper to run.

There's one thing very much getting in the way of any policy or initiative which could encourage smaller vehicles though, and that is the horrid condition of our roads.

I've already bent a wheel in a frightfully deep, unsighted hole when returning from the supermarket one night, and I shudder to think what would happen to a motorcycle.

If the roads were in decent condition though, we could seriously consider Japan's kei class of coupes, hatchbacks, vans and pick-ups (along with others almost as small).

Kei is the smallest category of vehicle in Japan. It was introduced in 1949 and encouraged through tax incentives. Even with reduced incentives since 2014 they still make up about a third of Japan's domestic passenger vehicle sales.

Kei cars are built within very specific size and engine capacity limits, which have been revised a couple of times. Since 1990 they've had a limit of 660cc engine capacity, and since 1998 maximum dimensions of 3.4m long, 1.48m wide and 2m high (although only the vans and trucks reach this height).

A few have made their way over to Australia and other countries over the years, albeit with engines that aren't quite so small (but weight makes more difference to energy consumption than engine capacity). The Suzuki Mighty Boy ute and the Daihatsu Mira hatch are just two examples that were sold in Australia new. Various eclectic examples, particularly the sportier ones, have also made their way in as a grey (second-hand) import for enthusiasts to enjoy.

However, the fact that some manufacturers used to produce a variant for Australia shows that we do genuinely have a use for them. Japan is also an ally (unlike China who make most of the BEVs we've been able to buy so far) which, if Australia's currently military strategy is anything to go by, might become increasingly more important over time.