An entirely electrified fleet of passenger vehicles would substantially reduce Australia’s emissions even if the electricity grid was entirely powered by coal, according to new research that exposes yet more holes in the federal government’s Future Fuels Strategy (FFS). The study, published in December by Transport Energy/Emission Research, makes a detailed comparison of emissions from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and battery electric vehicles (BEVs). It finds that, with the 2018 energy mix of around 80 per cent fuel (mostly coal) and 20 per cent renewables, transport emissions would fall by between 16 and 40 per cent. For a grid that was 90 per cent renewably generated, an electrified passenger fleet would reduce transport emissions by 70-80 per cent. Even on an entirely coal-powered grid – an irrelevant prospect but an instructive thought experiment – an electrified passenger fleet would reduce emissions by between 5 and 29 per cent.