Is Australia on the way to an electric vehicle future? Some people would like to think so, but is it feasible? It is time to scribble on the back of an envelope about watts.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics there are currently (as at January 2021) 19.8 million registered vehicles in Australia, including passenger cars, vans, trucks and motorcycles. Cars and light commercial vans make up the vast bulk of the registrations. If we assume that if those vehicles were electric, they would have a 75kwh battery that would require a full charge once per week, then the extra demand for electricity across the country for a full year would be 74,250 Mwh.