All Energy Australia 2025 made one thing clear: Australia’s shift to cleaner transport is only just beginning — and the scale of the task is far bigger than most people realise.
Speaking at the event, Tim Washington, Co-Founder and CEO of JET Charge, delivered a blunt assessment of what it will really take for Australia to meet its 2035 transport emissions targets. His message was aimed just as much at diesel fleet operators and everyday business owners as it was at the EV sector.
We’ve gone from 10 EVs to 400,000 — now we need 5 million
Transport is now one of Australia’s largest and fastest-growing sources of emissions. To hit our climate goals, dramatically more vehicles need to become electric.
Washington laid out the numbers clearly:
“We need to sell 5 million EVs between now and 2035 to fit our emissions targets. We have about 400,000 on the road today.”
It took more than a decade for the first 400,000 EVs to appear. Australia now needs to add more than 4.5 million in the next ten years.
That’s a 17-fold increase in EV uptake — a level of growth that is unprecedented for the transport sector.
Public charging needs to grow 15x — and it’s still only part of the puzzle
Even people who have no intention of driving an EV often ask whether there are enough chargers. The reality is that the growth required is staggering.
Washington explained:
“In public charging alone, we need to go from about 4,000 DC plugs to 60,000 by 2035.”
But public charging isn’t the whole story. It supplies only 30% of the country’s EV charging needs.
The other 70% must come from homes, depots, council yards, factories and transport hubs — many of which currently don’t have enough electrical capacity to support a fleet shift.
Expanding charging infrastructure means more grid upgrades, more electricians, more smart software, more planning approvals and more reliable equipment. All of this needs to scale at the same time.
No single business — or government — can do it alone
A common misconception is that a handful of large companies can build the charging network Australia needs. Washington warned that this thinking is dangerous and unrealistic.
He admitted that JET Charge made this mistake early on:
“We thought we could do it all ourselves… I was arrogant. And I realised too many years too late that no company, no matter who they are, can do this on their own.”
Australia needs a much bigger ecosystem of charging installers, software developers, electrical contractors, hardware suppliers, fleet advisors, and local manufacturers. Without this expansion, the transition will stall.
For truck fleets, the challenge is even harder
While passenger cars attract most of the attention, heavy vehicles are the toughest part of the transport sector to decarbonise.
Margins are thin. Reliability is everything. And anything that disrupts operations is a deal-breaker.
Washington didn’t sugar-coat the industry’s expectations:
“Fleets don’t care about V2G or energy markets. They care about lowering cost per kilometre and keeping their trucks on the road.”
Electric trucks may deliver major benefits in the long term, but fleets will only adopt them when the numbers add up and chargers fit into their daily operations.
If we fail to hit our targets, costs will rise
Failing to transition quickly enough doesn’t just threaten climate goals. It will also impact vehicle pricing.
As Washington pointed out:
“If we don’t sell that many EVs, vehicle manufacturers will be subject to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard.”
Penalties for manufacturers translate directly into higher vehicle prices for consumers — petrol or electric. Stalling on transition simply pushes costs onto Australian buyers.
This transition is unavoidable — but achievable
Australia must move quickly, but Washington believes the country can succeed if it builds local capability and focuses on practical outcomes, not hype.
He closed with a direct message to businesses, governments and industry:
“If we are to achieve our goal of zero-emission vehicles by 2035, build a better business, build a faster business, and know who to partner with.”
The challenge is huge. But the alternative — missing targets, falling behind globally, and increasing costs for everyone — is far worse.
Final word for EV sceptics
You don’t need to be an EV expert to understand the situation. Australia needs millions more electric vehicles, tens of thousands more chargers, and a far larger industry supporting the transition.
This isn’t about ideology. It isn’t about loving EVs. It isn’t even about early adoption.
It’s about meeting national commitments, staying competitive, and ensuring transport stays affordable for businesses and consumers.
And as Washington made clear, the time to scale up isn’t in 2030 — it’s right now.
