It means they can more or less keep doing what they're doing, which includes, of course, manufacturing large SUVs and utes.

These are vehicles for which Australia has long had an unhealthy passion, and some of them at least will be subject to lighter standards than originally proposed.

The main change in legislation, to be introduced tomorrow, is that a "limited" number of 4WDs, including the Toyota Landcruiser and Nissan Patrol, will be reclassified from passenger cars to light commercial vehicles so they will have less stringent CO2 limits.

The amendments - which have been roundly criticised by Greens and crossbenchers including David Pocock - have come about after long-term consultations with the car industry.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has called them "sensible, but long overdue".

"Some people wanted us to go harder, faster. Some had concerns and wanted us to slow," he said.

Another non-surprise is that Tesla thinks the standards should go further, and the increasingly prolific and visible EV manufacturer is right.

Tesla's policy manager Sam McLean described the compromise as a "very moderate standard that takes Australia from being really the last place in this transition to the middle of the pack".

Up to this point, Australia - a rich, modern and progressive country - has been on par only with Russia in terms of clean car standards.

If passed, the new standard would bring Australia in line with 80 per cent of the global car market, including the US, the UK, European Union nations, and China.

But as a country with a relatively small population, we should have been leading the way long ago. Instead, Australia has for too long been a kind of repository for the world's dirtiest cars, drawn here by the bright and beguiling lights of lax energy standards.

Given our nation-wide reliance on and even festishisation of big cars, this will likely take a while to undo, but the new standards are a step in the right direction.

A new car in Australia currently uses, on average, 6.9 litres of fuel for each 100 kilometres, compared with new cars in Europe and the US that use 3.5 litres and 4.2 litres, respectively.

Meanwhile, there is still some disagreement over whether these new standards will eventually make cars cheaper to run, by using less fuel. The opposition has long claimed - along with some manufacturers - that they would inevitably make cars more expensive, with Peter Dutton calling the new standard a "disastrous new tax".

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His criticism is aimed more at the rush and design of the policy, saying it will be "at the expense of those who can't afford it or have no choice in the cars that they buy".

But even the boss of Toyota, Matthew Callachor, while denying the new standards were a kind of "ute tax" is nevertheless circumspect in welcoming the changes, and rightly so.

"We shouldn't be under any illusions that there still remains a very big challenge in achieving those ambitious numbers ... but the reality is we just simply need to get on with it now," he said.

And he's right; we have to start somewhere, and it's impossible to make all parties happy. But surely Australia can aspire to better than middle of the pack.