Volkswagen Group Australia Managing Director Paul Sansom has called on the building industry and government to “liberate Australians from traditional filling stations with home EV charging”.

In the keynote address at the Green Building Council’s TRANSFORM 22 summit in Sydney, Mr Sansom said that the automotive and the building industries “are becoming increasingly and permanently interdependent”.

“The greatest misconception around EVs in this country remains so-called ‘range anxiety’,” Mr Sansom said. “The opportunity – the necessity – exists to transform this perception to a reality of convenience and enablement.

“For by far the greater part of the time EVs will charge at work or home, meaning that we are for the first time being liberated from the necessity of traditional ‘filling’ stations. The creators of our built environment will provide accessible and efficient home charging. This will be the greatest enabler of zero emission vehicle ownership.

“Neither new houses nor new apartment buildings will be feasible without easy access to renewable EV charging; no more so than a home without internet access. There can be no doubt that the lack of such facility will negatively affect the value of property.”

Mr Sansom said that the advent of the Volkswagen Group’s Vehicle to Grid technology is a “game changer with respect to accelerating EV uptake in Australia and reducing the national carbon footprint”.

“Our cars will become your own personal renewable energy eco system by using the cars battery to store solar power for domestic use in your homes,” Mr Sansom said. “The MEB platform, on which Volkswagen Group EVs are built, feature this technology.”

Mr Sansom called upon the Federal Government for binding Co2 emissions standards and a building code policy that all states can adopt.

“VGA has said with reason that this otherwise enviable country of ours has lagged behind the rest of the first world in creating the conditions for zero emissions mobility. VGA was proud to speak in support of the New South Wales Government on the introduction of its world class EV adoption strategy.

“This is a progressive and ambitious, but sustainable plan that say should serve as the template for a long overdue federally mandated model. In terms of the global quest for sustainability, a zero emission vehicle fleet is a non-negotiable pre-condition.”

Mr Sansom’s TRANSFORM 22 address is available.