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Scott Morrison test drives an electric truck, but can’t find EV policy button

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Prime minister Scott Morrison did his level best in the last election campaign to convince everyone that electric vehicles would be the death of the economy, the weekend, and the tradies’ favourite mode of transport, the ute. But he has finally taken the wheel of an electric vehicle.

In a recent visit to the Volvo manufacturing facility in Queensland, Morrison took the wheel of a newly delivered Volvo FL Electric truck – the first in Australia and which is set to enter service on a trial basis with trucking company Linfox in April.

As you can see from the video below, Morrison got to drive the electric truck across the tarmac within the manufacturing facility and into what appears to be a delivery area.

“See you in Canberra,” he quipped. But what did he think of the experience? Well, we don’t know because, curiously, Morrison’s media team didn’t post the footage or the transcript of his remarks on his web-site, even though they did from his visits to an oil recycler and an ammunitions manufacturer on the previous day.

In remarks shared by Volvo, Morrison declared that: “We make things in Australia, and we make them well.” But there was no mention of what he thought of his EV experience.

To read the full version of this story, please go to our EV-focussed sister site, The Driven and click here…

Giles Parkinson

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of Renew Economy, and of its sister sites One Step Off The Grid and the EV-focused The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.

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