Almost half of all new cars sold in Australia by 2030 will be battery electric vehicles, according to a new analysis of Australian government policy by the Climateworks Centre.
But the think tank warned this target will fall short of limiting climate change to 2C and would need to be significantly higher to limit temperature rises to 1.5C.
The analysis, from its Government Climate Action report released on Wednesday, investigated state, territory and federal government policies on climate change, and found they had made "promising steps" towards Australia's net-zero emission target by 2050.
Climateworks Centre spokeswoman Alison Cleary said investments and policy changes at all levels of government over the past year had improved areas of Australia's climate outlook, even though more action was required to meet interim targets.
"With current state and territory commitments, we estimate that 69 per cent of the total electricity generation in Australia will be sourced from renewables in 2030," she said.
"This is up 14 per cent from the equivalent figure in 2021 and much closer to our 1.5 degree-aligned scenario, showing 79 per cent renewable generation by 2030."
Environmentally friendly transport policies, including incentives and targets for electric car purchases, would also make significant gains towards Australia's target goals, the report found.
State and territory policies on electric vehicles, when combined, "would be equivalent to a 46 per cent target for new car sales by 2030," the Climateworks Centre said.
The outcome would represent a rise of 16 per cent since 2021, it said, and was fuelled by new policies from the ACT and Queensland governments.
National policies cutting taxes on electric vehicles, funding a $39.8 million national charging network, and developing a National Electric Vehicle Strategy were also noted in the report.
But its authors said greater action was needed to meet Australia's targets.
Electric vehicles would need to make up 76 per cent of new car sales by 2030, it said, and 28 per cent of all cars in Australia to meet a 1.5C climate change goal.
The report also recommended governments at all levels put greater focus on encouraging public and active transport options, and city-planning options.
Electric vehicles made up 3.39 per cent of all new vehicles sold in Australia until September this year - a rise of 65 per cent from 2021, according to the EV Council.
But figures released this week by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries showed electric vehicle sales were rising, with 4.7 per cent of all new car sales electric in November and Tesla's Model Y becoming the country's tenth highest selling vehicle.
