Anthony Albanese makes surprising rule change that means massive American-style utes are set to flood the streets of Australia – even as they cause chaos at the shops

Gigantic American pick-up trucks will be spared from Anthony Albanese’s plan to slash carbon emissions when new rules come into force next early next year – in a greenlight for wannabe owners.

Six-metre long behemoths like the Chevrolet Silverado and RAM 1500 are increasingly popular in Australia and regularly spark outrage on social media by taking up space in shopping centre carparks. 

Now it can be revealed they are set to be temporarily exempted from the government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, a key policy set to begin in January 2025 to slash new car fleet emissions by 59 per cent over four years.

A consultation paper from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development is proposing a temporary exemption for commercial vehicles that weigh 3.5 to 4.5 tonnes, such as these pick-up trucks that are converted to right-hand drive locally.

The department argued that certain plus-size tradie utes ‘cannot practically comply with the standard’ and should be permitted to be sold in Australia for longer without being replaced by electric or hybrid versions.

That is despite these bigger, American pick-up trucks belching out significantly higher emissions than Australia’s mainstream, top-selling utes like the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux. 

The government paper proposes to exempt giant utes in 2025, giving the manufacturers of these American pick-up trucks an extra year to comply with the rules.

This means motorists who bought an extra-large pick-up truck – to tow a boat or a horse float – would be spared from having to pay a penalty for driving a ute with higher pollution levels that annoy other drivers.

The department argued that certain plus-size tradie utes ‘ cannot practically comply with the standard’ and should be permitted to be sold in Australia for longer without being replaced by electric or hybrid versions (pictured is a Ford F-150 ute)

A Chevrolet Silverado, weighing 3.7 tonnes, emits almost 300 grams of carbon per kilometre – which is 49 per cent more than a top-selling Ford Ranger ute’s 199 grams of carbon emissions.

Yet the Australian-designed Ranger will still have to comply for the new emission rules because the exemption won’t apply to single-cab tradie utes weighing less than 1.8 tonnes.

The Toyota RAV4 SUV, Australia’s most popular vehicle sold in September, emits just 115 grams of carbon per kilometre but it too will be subject to strict new emissions standards.

But the ageing Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series GXL dual cab ute could also be spared despite emitting 281 grams of carbon per kilometre for a model that has been in production since 1984.

This is much higher than a dual-cab Toyota HiLux’s 208 grams per kilometre. 

A consultation paper from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development is proposing a temporary exemption for commercial vehicles that weigh 3.5 to 4.5 tonnes, such as these vehicles (pictured is a privately imported Ford F-250)

A RAM 1500 TRX, weighing 3.8 tonnes, would be covered by the exemption but a Ford F-150 wouldn’t because it weighs less at 3.3 tonnes. 

The exemption for large, pick-up trucks, based on gross vehicle mass, is the second backflip since Transport Minister Catherine King and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard in February.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government earlier this year announced a plan to slash passenger car emissions by 59 per cent so new vehicles would emit just 58 grams of carbon per kilometre by 2029, down from 141 grams in 2025.

But by late March, it watered down the rules on light commercial vehicles.

This meant average new fleet emissions on utes and vans would only have to fall by 48 per cent instead of 59 per cent over four years. 

Sellers of light commercial vehicles would now be required to reduce new fleet emissions to 110 grams per kilometre, down from 210 grams a kilometre. 

The Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series dual cab ute, weighing 3.5 tonnes, will be spared despite emitting 281 grams of carbon per kilometre

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government earlier this year announced a plan to slash passenger car emissions by 59 per cent by 2029 but Labor has made concessions for sellers of commercial vehicles

Tradies have few choices when it comes to electric utes with a decent towing capacity.

A diesel-power Ford Ranger ute can tow 3.5 tonnes but a fully-electric Chinese-made LDV eT60, priced from $93,968, can only tow a tonne. 

Under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard beginning in January, manufacturers would be penalised if their new fleet exceeded carbon emissions targets, with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries calculating a $13,250 penalty for the likes of a Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series.

Fines of $100 per gram will be imposed from July next year on car manufacturers for every vehicle exceeding a carbon limit, but they will be able to buy credits from other car companies that met the target. 

Car makers would also have to reduce the average fuel consumption of a new fleet by selling more smaller cars, electric vehicles or hybrids to offset the effects of larger utes and four-wheel drives.

Both major parties are committed to having net zero carbon emission by 2050 but Labor, with the support of the Greens, has vowed to slash carbon emissions by 43 per cent by 2030.

Submissions on the exemptions to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard close on October 8.