VGA’s Paul Sansom elected to EV Council

VOLKSWAGEN Group Australia (VGA) managing director Paul Sansom has been elected to the board of the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC), promising to campaign for a nationally mandated CO2 target and EV charging capabilities in new residential and commercial buildings.

Mr Sansom, who after almost five years as the managing director of Audi Australia became the MD of VGA in January this year, said that his role on the EVC board will help advance the infrastructural changes he believes are required to make electric vehicles successful in the Australian market.

“Electric vehicles are the form of personal mobility to meet the demands of urbanisation, sustainability, and digitalisation – the three prevailing and irrevocable mega-trends of life in our time,” he said.

Speaking at last week’s Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA) Transform 22 summit, Mr Sansom told representatives of the organisation’s more than 600 members that “in the quest for sustainability, a zero-emission vehicle fleet is a non-negotiable pre-condition”.

He predicted that the majority of EV charging will take place at home or work, which he said would mean that people were “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,” he said.

“Neither new houses nor apartment buildings will be feasible without easy access to renewable (energy) 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.”

The Electric Vehicle Council is the national body for the electric vehicle industry in Australia. In representing businesses involved in producing, powering and supporting the uptake of EVs, it aims to accelerate the electrification of road transport locally.

Mr Sansom will join the EVC alongside CEO Behyad Jafari, head of energy and infrastructure Ross DeRango, head of policy Jake Whitehead, and policy manager Alexander Kelly.

VGA was previously represented within the EVC by former PR and group electric vehicles manager Kurt McGuinness, who was appointed deputy chair in late 2019.

“Already, Australia’s primary importers of European passenger vehicles, VGA, will become the most significant source of electric vehicles in this country,” said Mr Sansom.

“VGA has done much to drive public and political awareness of EVs and will work more closely than ever with the Electric Vehicle Council, which has been the most effective industry body in this sphere.”

The EVC board also comprises JET Charge founder Tim Washington (chair), Tesla business development and policy manager Sam McLean (secretary), and directors including AGL Energy COO Markus Brokhof, Tritium CEO Jane Hunter, Hyundai Australia COO John Kett, Origin Energy general manager of strategy Chau Le, Evie Networks CEO Chris Mills, and Nissan Oceania managing director Adam Paterson.