27th July 2018

Mitsubishi Motors submission to Senate Select Committee on EVs

Mitsubishi Motors Australia history and current status with EVs: Mitsubishi first introduced an (EV) into Australian market in 2010 with the release of the i- MiEV. Over the following three years 237 i-MiEV were sold in Australia. In 2014, Mitsubishi introduced a plug-in (PHEV) the Outlander PHEV. This model was more successful in Australia due to affordability, great driving range and more practical design more closely meeting Australian customer’s needs. Since 2014 over 2000 Outlander PHEVs have been sold and it is Australia’s best-selling EV.

Australian EV Sales Jan 2010 to Jun 2018 Model Total Sales TOTAL 5,603 2,180 Leaf 635 Mercedes-Benz C-Class 616 BMW i3 460 Holden Volt 247 -MiEV 237 Volvo XC90 189 BMW 3 Series 186 Porsche Cayenne 162 Audi A3 136 BMW i8 128 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class 110 BMW X5 102 Volvo XC60 56 Porsche Panamera 38 BMW 5 Series 33 29 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 17 Renault Kangoo 15 Audi Q7 11 Renault Fluence 6 BMW 7 Series 5 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 3 MINI Countryman 2 VFACTS data

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation continues to invest in EVs and revisions to the Outlander PHEV are anticipated to increase performance and driving range in future generations. In 2016, Mitsubishi joined the Renault and Nissan Alliance. In September 2017, Alliance chairman and chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn announced a plan to increase the electrification of the Alliance brands product range by 2022. Key deliverables also announced included:

 By 2020 a single common scalable EV platform will be used to deliver 70 percent of EV volumes by 2022.  A new family of EV motor and batteries will be introduced from 2020 to be shared by all alliance brands.  Twelve new pure electric vehicles will be launched by the Alliance by 2022  Increase EV range to more than 600km  Battery costs will also be reduced by 30 percent by 2022 based on 2016 costs.  15 minutes charging time to deliver range of 230km by 2022, up from 90km in 2016, based on NEDC homologation methodology  Optimized, flat packaging of the battery, providing additional cabin space and greater styling flexibility  Adoption of Mitsubishi Motors' new PHEV technology as the common C/D segment PHEV solution by 2022

The Australian EV market: Currently there are a number of challenges to growing the EV sales share in Australia based on affordability, limited product choice and minimal infrastructure investment. For consumers today, the entry price for a pure EV is double the current price of a conventional small hatchback. The Outlander PHEV offers the smallest price gap between the equivalent ICE model of approximately $8000. While a number of other brands offer EV and PHEV models, the price point for entry to many of these models very high and not accessible to most consumers. Mitsubishi updated the Outlander PHEV for European and Japanese markets in 2018 to increase performance and range, however, due to the low sales volume in Australia this update was not available for this market. While PHEVs do not require significant investment in infrastructure to function as the technology provides a bridge between conventional ICE vehicles and pure EVs, the ability to access greater recharging facilities will benefit all customers and provide greater efficiency. Current recharging infrastructure investment is sporadic and does not reflect the needs of current and future consumers. Fast-charging infrastructure is critical to delivering a positive consumer experience by reducing the downtime when the vehicle is unavailable to be driven. For commuting outside the major metropolitan areas, fast-charging infrastructure is even more import for business and fleet customers. The future fast-charging requirements for EVs with larger batteries will require 150-350+kW capacity needs to be considered when investing in infrastructure over the next 5-7 years.

The cost differential between ICE and EVs is anticipated to drop significantly over the next 5 years and as consumer demand grows, consistent national planning around the type of infrastructure, funding and location needs to be carefully considered to ensure it will meet the needs of customers.

Areas for consideration to help prepare the Australian market for transition to EVs: - Infrastructure development in Australia - Business sustainability at current sales volume - Limited model availability due to sales demand - Emissions reduction benefits are insignificant based on current EV volume in market - Significant transport fleet emission reductions would bring significant health benefits for the Australian population - Fuel security– self-sufficiency of transport fleet - Balance of trade – importing fuel costs the Australian economy - New business/employment opportunities – supply chain to new industry will require specialist skills

Bridging the gap to 2025 - Federal Government can take leadership on supporting the transition to a new industry - Incentives for purchase of EVs can build momentum and help fast track the investment in product, infrastructure and services – to provide a budget neutral incentive – the funding could be sourced by a levy on ICE vehicles - Larger EV fleet will increase demand and lead to greater diversity of EV models offered by manufacturers in Australia - State Governments can play an important role by reducing registration costs, prioritising parking/toll road for EVs – these actions would need to be rolled back once EV sales start to grow substantially - Congestion tolling for ICE vehicles could be another source of revenue to support EV investment - Subsidies should be managed via a Sustainable Transport Fund (STF) to offer incentives for affordable EV vehicles (under $85k) and fund infrastructure investment - STF would need to be reviewed from 2024-2025 as the need for assistance to EV industry would be less likely as in market fleet and ongoing sales volume reaches a more sustainable level - Government fleets should lead the market uptake of EV vehicles – a commitment to use a percentage of EVs in all Government fleets would create greater awareness and also provide more affordable used vehicle stock in the market

MMAL future activities: - Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has created 28 ‘DENDO (Electric) Drive Stations’ in . These are Mitsubishi dealerships with have been fitted with solar panels and the ability to use an electric vehicle's battery power as an emergency power source, via a Vehicle-to-Building (V2B) charger. It is planned to create 200 of these DENDO Drive Stations in Japan by 2020. - The DENDO Drive Station was developed in conjunction with the ‘DENDO House’ Concept– V2H – for domestic housing - integrating EVs with home charging and emergency power supply.