At the recent launch of the Team Global Express (TGE) depot which has been setup for a fleet of electric trucks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave an endorsement for companies considering the transition to low and zero emission vehicles.
In his speech to officially launch the depot, the Prime Minister said electric trucks are, “Good for jobs, good for the economy, good for lowering emissions and dealing with the challenge of climate change. Good for reducing air pollution, good for people’s health. There is no downside to this.”
The TGE depot is the first of this scale in Australia and when the 60 trucks are in operation they will represent one third of the fleet delivery vehicles operating from the depot in Western Sydney. And according to Chris Holgate, Team Global Express Group Chief Executive, it is one of the largest heavy electric truck trials in the world.
Prime Minister Albanese congratulated TGE and commended Volvo Trucks (who will manufacture electric tricks in Australia from 2027), as first movers in this space after working with ARENA to secure $20 million in funding for the $45 million project.
“We must cut transport emissions. They’re responsible for between 20 and 25% of Australia’s emissions, and one quarter of that is from trucks and buses,” the Prime Minister explained. “And I must say, that a company like Volvo is making a big difference in both of those areas.”
“Transport emissions have to be part of what we’re addressing. And we’re not just addressing that through passenger cars. We’re addressing that through heavy vehicles as well, and ARENA’s support of $20 million for this program is a very important part of the driving the nation program that we’re rolling out, right around the country. Now, you’ve got ahead of the game here. But there’s more to come. We’ll be at Origin and Jet Charge and Europcar and Patrick terminals, where similar things are happening.”
“There’ll be more to come I’m sure. Because this just makes sense, I know we talk about the future, well the future is here; it’s here right now and companies that embrace the opportunity will get first mover advantage. They will be ahead of the pack, that’s how our economy needs to transition,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“And I remember, not so many years ago, not ancient history. One of my predecessors saying that electric vehicles would end weekend, that they couldn’t tow anything, well these are pretty serious vehicles behind us.”
“And I reckon that electric vehicles can do anything that petrol vehicles can do. They’ll do it in a way which is more efficient, that boosts productivity, that saves money, as well as driving down emissions.”
“But importantly as well, and a particular issue here in Western Sydney is the quality of our air pollution as well. This is good for people’s health and there is a saving for health costs that we have factored in to the decisions that we have made as a nation. Sydneysiders will be the ones who get the benefit from this. Some of the cleanest, quietest trucks will be on these streets to due this partnership between Team Global Express and ARENA.”
