The long wait list on the delivery of electric vehicles - some stretching to almost a year - will slow the federal government's planned switch-out of its diesel-powered BMW Comcars this year.
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While the federal Department of Finance has whittled its EV choice down to eight contenders, the wait list on all of them is wracked with uncertainty due to ongoing supply issues and international component shortages.
In September last year after evaluation trials, the department chose eight contract contenders: the BMW IX, BMW IX3, Polestar 2, Genesis GV60, Genesis GV70, Kia EV6, Tesla Model 3, and Tesla Model Y.
The current Canberra-based Commonwealth car fleet primarily consists of grey-painted turbo-diesel BMW 6-Series 620GT (Gran Turismo) hatchbacks which were first began to trickle into the service back in the second quarter of 2020, replacing the much-loved, long wheelbase, Australian-made white V8 Holden Caprice sedans.
But if that particular fleet transformation - away from an iconic, locally-built luxury car to those imported from Germany, and with diesel engines - was seen as significant, then the next transition will be even more so.
As the first batch of three-year leases on the BMWs falls due in the next few months, the planned transition is to replace all these diesel cars with electric. The full fleet transition is scheduled to be complete by late next year.
The current Comcar fleet consists of 160 vehicles, including the 97 BMW 6-Series GT turbo-diesel sedans, plus 45 Toyota Camry Hybrid sedan, 15 Kia Carnival people movers and two Toyota Hi-ace baggage vans.
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The BMWs are the preferred transport of the car-with-driver services to parliamentarians when undertaking parliamentary business, and to federal Ministers (including parliamentary secretaries) and shadow ministers.
The federal government has committed to a low emission vehicle target to be applied to new vehicles ordered under Commonwealth fleet arrangements and the Federal Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction, Chris Bowen, has a white Tesla Model3 as his private transport.
However, given the extended wait times on all new EV deliveries, some of the current BMW leases may need to be extended.
Korean car importer Kia has reportedly more than 1200 customers on the wait list for its much sought-after EV6 while its sister car and last year's Wheels Car of The Year winner, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, suffers from a similar level of high demand and low availability.
Hyundai "dropped" 250 Ioniq 5s unannounced onto the Australian market in January and all were allocated to eager customers within an hour. One car unwanted from a previous order was snapped up in minutes.
In the most recent online post regarding delivery times from a Tesla customer, the quoted time taken from order lodged to the Chinese factory through to Australian delivery was 357 days.
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