America’s giant pickup trucks will be spared from Anthony Albanese’s plan to cut carbon emissions when new rules come into effect early next year, giving the green light to aspiring owners.
Six-metre-long behemoths like the Chevrolet Silverado and RAM 1500 are increasingly popular in Australia and regularly spark outrage on social media by taking up space in shopping center car parks.
It can now be revealed that they will be temporarily exempt from the government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, a key policy due to start in January 2025 to reduce emissions from the new car fleet by 59 per cent over four years.
A consultation paper from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development proposes a temporary exemption for commercial vehicles weighing between 3.5 and 4.5 tonnes, such as these locally converted right-hand drive vans.
The department argued that certain traditional plus-size women’It is “virtually unable to meet the standard” and should be allowed to be sold in Australia for longer without being replaced by electric or hybrid versions.
This is despite these larger US vans emitting significantly higher emissions than Australia’s best-selling vans such as the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.
The government document proposes exempting giant utes in 2025, giving manufacturers of these American trucks an extra year to comply with the rules.
This means motorists who bought an extra-large van (to tow a boat or a horse float) would save having to pay a fine for driving a ute with higher levels of pollution that annoy other drivers.
Increasingly popular six-metre-long behemoths such as the Chevrolet Silverado (pictured) and RAM 1500 will be temporarily exempt from the government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. They have caused a furor on social networks for scenes like this
A consultation document from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development proposes a temporary exemption for commercial vehicles weighing between 3.5 and 4.5 tonnes, such as these vehicles (pictured, a privately imported Ford F-250 ).
A Chevrolet Silverado, which weighs 3.7 tons, emits almost 300 grams of carbon per kilometer – which is 49 per cent more than the 199 grams of carbon emissions from the best-selling Ford Ranger ute.
However, the Australian-designed Ranger will still have to meet the new emissions rules because the exemption will not apply to single-cab commercial vehicles weighing less than two tonnes.
The Toyota RAV4 SUV, the most popular vehicle sold in Australia in September, emits just 115 grams of carbon per kilometer, but will also be subject to strict new emissions standards.
But the old Toyota LandCruiser Series 70 GXL double cab could also be saved despite emitting 281 grams of carbon per kilometer for a model that has been in production since 1984.
This is much higher than the 208 grams per kilometer of a Toyota HiLux double cab.
A RAM 1500 TRX, which weighs 3.8 tons, would be covered by the exemption, but a Ford F-150 would not because it weighs less, 3.3 tons.
The exemption for large pick-up trucks, based on gross vehicle mass, is the second rollback since Transport Minister Catherine King and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard in February.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government earlier this year announced a plan to reduce passenger car emissions by 59 percent, so that new vehicles would emit just 58 grams of carbon per kilometer by 2029, compared to 141 grams of 2025.
But in late March, it eased rules on light commercial vehicles.
This meant that average emissions from new fleets of utility vehicles and vans would only have to fall by 48 percent instead of 59 percent over four years.
Sellers of light commercial vehicles would now have to reduce emissions from new fleets to 110 grams per kilometer, down from 210 grams per kilometer.
The Toyota LandCruiser Series 70 double cab, which weighs 3.5 tonnes, will be saved despite emitting 281 grams of carbon per kilometer.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government earlier this year announced a plan to reduce emissions from passenger vehicles by 59 per cent by 2029, but Labor has made concessions to commercial vehicle sellers.
Traders have few options when it comes to electric vehicles with decent towing capacity.
A diesel-powered Ford Ranger ute can tow 3.5 tonnes, but a Chinese-made all-electric LDV eT60, priced from $93,968, can only tow one tonne.
Under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard that starts in January, manufacturers would be penalized if their new fleet exceeded carbon emissions targets, with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries estimating a $13,250 fine for vehicles like a Toyota LandCruiser Series 70.
Starting in July next year, carmakers will be fined $100 per gram for each vehicle that exceeds a carbon limit, but they will be able to buy credits from other car companies that have met the target.
Automakers would also have to reduce the average fuel consumption of a new fleet by selling more smaller cars, electric vehicles or hybrids to offset the effects of larger sport utility vehicles and all-wheel drive vehicles.
Both main parties have committed to having net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but Labour, supported by the Greens, has promised to reduce carbon emissions by 43 per cent by 2030.
Submissions on exemptions to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard close on October 8.
