A LEADING American motor industry executive says that any fallout in the wake of the Australian New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) could be far wider than limiting the importing of utes and SUVs that cannot meet the standards as fast as Canberra wants.
Bill Hanvey, the president and CEO of the Auto Care Association, which represents the entire supply chain of the independent automotive aftermarket in the United States, said that rushing change would potentially impact badly on the future of local accessories manufacturing businesses that were potentially at risk from the measures.
Instead, he called for a smooth transition that can be managed by all the stakeholders.
Bill Hanvey
Mr Hanvey is to be a guest speaker at the forthcoming Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo to be held from April 11-13 at the Melbourne exhibition centre.
Speaking to GoAutoNews Premium, Mr Hanvey said that very large sums of money were spent on accessories like bull bars, roll bars, steps, snorkels, winches and large wheels and tyres especially fitted to the vehicles that will potentially be driven off the roads.
He said that making these accessories were a significant part of the manufacturing sector in the United States and that the same applied in Australia where local sales of aftermarket accessories supported many thriving manufacturing export businesses from Down Under.
“My view on that is that you cannot legislate a consumer choice.
“It is obvious that the consumers like these vehicles. They need these vehicles and in many cases they need these vehicles for work. In my opinion we are seeing a bit of overreach in terms of interfering with consumer choice.
“So we are in favour of consumer choice just as we are in favour of responsibility in terms of being responsible to the environment. And the way that we look at it, our industry is actually one of the first green industries because we repair something and put it back into service rather than putting it into a landfill.
“Our approach on this is that the automakers will consistently develop new technology to help reduce emissions. But I think that mandating the elimination of certain vehicles in favour of other vehicles does a disservice to the consumer, Mr Hanvey said.
“If you take a look at where our industry has come over the past 25 years in terms of fuel efficiency and emissions, we have done a fantastic job on that.
“Look at the steps we have made; if you look at the history in terms of how we have increased gas mileage, made the engine more efficient and longer lasting all the time reducing emissions.
“I think that that has been overlooked and that the industry does not get enough credit for the huge strides it has made in emissions technology.”
Mr Hanvey said that a strong case could be made to stop forcing the market and allow more evolution for a more orderly transition to a variety of zero emissions vehicles solutions to suit various applications.
He said that the rush to EVs should be slowed to allow for understanding the potential economic impacts they carry with them.
“With the promotion of EVs, nobody really knows the true economic impact from the mining boom in radium and lithium and some of the other critical elements that are included in EVs. We have to look; what really are the ramifications of a green EV? Are they as green as they say they are? Maybe not.
“I think that we put the cart before the horse on the EV. And there should be a more natural progression. Hybrids were introduced a couple of decades ago. The progression could be to plug-in hybrid where there is a choice of electric or gas power until the infrastructure can catch up.
“In the United States we don’t have the capacity to meet the requirements of a complete conversion to EVs over the next 10 years. And that’s going to provide a lot of consumer pain between having to find a charging station compared with the convenience of being able to show up at your local gas station. It makes a big difference.
“Do we have the infrastructure in place to be able to provide a seamless driving experience for people that want to drive 400 or 500 miles without having to recharge during the middle of the trip? So we put the cart before the horse. It’s great technology. But let’s phase it in gradually as we build our infrastructure.”
Mr Hanvey said that there are so many unknowns about whether the world is really going to truly be able to swing across to majority battery electric vehicles.
He said that danger in pushing too quickly could lead to a situation where the workhorse vehicles that we had been using were replaced with battery electric vehicles that won’t do the job or become too expensive.
“So, I think the technology is great. And actually, it will be a boon for our industry in terms of the technology that we’re going to be able to work on in subsequent years.
“But we should be turning our attention to technology to solve some of these problems. Look for alternative fuels other than EV like hydrogen for some of those bigger trucks, for example.
“We have to look at all options but not have the government make the decision for us,” Mr Hanvey said.
By John Mellor on 26th March 2024 Comment, News, Regulations AAA, Hanvey, NVES
A LEADING American motor industry executive says that any fallout in the wake of the Australian New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) could be far wider than limiting the importing of utes and SUVs that cannot meet the standards as fast as Canberra wants.
Bill Hanvey, the president and CEO of the Auto Care Association, which represents the entire supply chain of the independent automotive aftermarket in the United States, said that rushing change would potentially impact badly on the future of local accessories manufacturing businesses that were potentially at risk from the measures.
Instead, he called for a smooth transition that can be managed by all the stakeholders.
Bill Hanvey
Mr Hanvey is to be a guest speaker at the forthcoming Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo to be held from April 11-13 at the Melbourne exhibition centre.
Speaking to GoAutoNews Premium, Mr Hanvey said that very large sums of money were spent on accessories like bull bars, roll bars, steps, snorkels, winches and large wheels and tyres especially fitted to the vehicles that will potentially be driven off the roads.
He said that making these accessories were a significant part of the manufacturing sector in the United States and that the same applied in Australia where local sales of aftermarket accessories supported many thriving manufacturing export businesses from Down Under.
“My view on that is that you cannot legislate a consumer choice.
“It is obvious that the consumers like these vehicles. They need these vehicles and in many cases they need these vehicles for work. In my opinion we are seeing a bit of overreach in terms of interfering with consumer choice.
“So we are in favour of consumer choice just as we are in favour of responsibility in terms of being responsible to the environment. And the way that we look at it, our industry is actually one of the first green industries because we repair something and put it back into service rather than putting it into a landfill.
“Our approach on this is that the automakers will consistently develop new technology to help reduce emissions. But I think that mandating the elimination of certain vehicles in favour of other vehicles does a disservice to the consumer, Mr Hanvey said.
“If you take a look at where our industry has come over the past 25 years in terms of fuel efficiency and emissions, we have done a fantastic job on that.
“Look at the steps we have made; if you look at the history in terms of how we have increased gas mileage, made the engine more efficient and longer lasting all the time reducing emissions.
“I think that that has been overlooked and that the industry does not get enough credit for the huge strides it has made in emissions technology.”
Mr Hanvey said that a strong case could be made to stop forcing the market and allow more evolution for a more orderly transition to a variety of zero emissions vehicles solutions to suit various applications.
He said that the rush to EVs should be slowed to allow for understanding the potential economic impacts they carry with them.
“With the promotion of EVs, nobody really knows the true economic impact from the mining boom in radium and lithium and some of the other critical elements that are included in EVs. We have to look; what really are the ramifications of a green EV? Are they as green as they say they are? Maybe not.
“I think that we put the cart before the horse on the EV. And there should be a more natural progression. Hybrids were introduced a couple of decades ago. The progression could be to plug-in hybrid where there is a choice of electric or gas power until the infrastructure can catch up.
“In the United States we don’t have the capacity to meet the requirements of a complete conversion to EVs over the next 10 years. And that’s going to provide a lot of consumer pain between having to find a charging station compared with the convenience of being able to show up at your local gas station. It makes a big difference.
“Do we have the infrastructure in place to be able to provide a seamless driving experience for people that want to drive 400 or 500 miles without having to recharge during the middle of the trip? So we put the cart before the horse. It’s great technology. But let’s phase it in gradually as we build our infrastructure.”
Mr Hanvey said that there are so many unknowns about whether the world is really going to truly be able to swing across to majority battery electric vehicles.
He said that danger in pushing too quickly could lead to a situation where the workhorse vehicles that we had been using were replaced with battery electric vehicles that won’t do the job or become too expensive.
“So, I think the technology is great. And actually, it will be a boon for our industry in terms of the technology that we’re going to be able to work on in subsequent years.
“But we should be turning our attention to technology to solve some of these problems. Look for alternative fuels other than EV like hydrogen for some of those bigger trucks, for example.
“We have to look at all options but not have the government make the decision for us,” Mr Hanvey said.
By John Mellor
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