Queensland’s inaugural Electric Transport Industry Transformation Forum is happening today in Brisbane, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm AEST, to showcase plans and insights from battery production to vehicle manufacturing.
Co-hosted by the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ), Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and the University of Queensland (UQ), the event will hear from 28 experts specialising in other areas such as power electronics, biofuel-electrification, and industry policy.
The forum, according to RACQ CEO David Carter, is critical in bringing together key sectors to develop a plan for advancing Queensland’s transportation and manufacturing industries.
“To ensure we capitalise on the electrification of transport, our universities, governments and industry must collaborate and that’s exactly what this forum is designed to achieve,” Carter said.
Carter added that the state already has a thriving transport manufacturing industry, urging manufacturers to build on it, especially in key areas such as electric buses, trains, caravans, commercial and defence vehicles, and boats.
“We all have a part to play and if we do this well, Queensland will lead the country in electric transport, future-proofing our state, creating thousands of jobs, bolstering our economy and protecting and enhancing our future for generations to come,” the CEO noted.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil said the forum was another step forward as QUT and its academics remained committed to advancing sustainability and creating innovative uses for renewable energy.
“Queensland has many key research strengths that come into play when focussing on a future of an EV ecosystem, including the National Battery Testing Centre at the Banyo Pilot Plant Precinct, which is QUT’s first renewable energy powered research facility, and the work on areas including robotic vision and artificial intelligence from QUT’s Centre of Robotics,” Professor Sheil said.
Meanwhile, Professor Deborah Terry, vice chancellor of UQ, asserted that Queensland has the capacity to develop a globally competitive electric transportation business.
“By leveraging world-leading research in Queensland and through collaboration with government and industry, we can build a thriving local industry,” Professor Terry said.
Terry added that the industry’s shared knowledge will enable the state to enhance established transport sectors, delivering environmental, social and economic benefits for Queensland for decades to come.
