Tax breaks are needed to make electric vehicles more affordable as the industry warns Australia is becoming a global dumping ground for high-polluting cars.
The Morrison government's $250 million "future fuels" fund aims to put 1.7 million cleaner vehicles on roads this decade, with charging stations across 50,000 homes as well as businesses and public spaces.
It also involves upgrades to ensure the grid can hand an influx of electric cars, something the coalition calculates will avoid network costs of $224 million by 2030.
But the electric vehicle industry doesn't think the plan is feasible without direct government action to make cars cheaper and mandate vehicle emissions standards.
Former NSW transport policy advisor Gail Broadbent thinks scrapping the GST for new electric vehicles can cut their cost by around 10 per cent.
The UNSW electric car PhD researcher also proposes removing luxury vehicle and import taxes to bring down the cost further.
Hybrid vehicles start from roughly $26,000 and completely electric cars $47,000.
One proposal to cut the cost is getting governments to make their vehicle fleets electric to increase the stock of secondhand cars.
"There are many people who are in that category who would like to go electric because then it will cost them less in the long term ... but just can't afford to make that upfront purchase," Ms Broadbent told AAP.
But the government argues bringing in tax concessions or subsidies is unnecessary because the market will make electric vehicles cheaper.
"We want the customers to be able to drive incentives for these vehicle companies to drive their costs down," Mr Morrison told reporters from Toyota's Melbourne hub.
"And we don't want to drive those costs down by writing off big checks to multinational companies."
Ms Broadbent doesn't think this is logical, saying the way to make vehicles cheaper is buying more of them.
"It's not done by somehow there's some magic thing that as time goes on, they get cheaper. It only gets cheaper because of economies of scale," she said.
She also warns the government's refusal to regulate vehicle emissions by imposing a pollution cap averaged across a manufacturer's total sales is making Australia a dumping ground for inefficient cars.
"It has to be mandatory because there's a voluntary one now, but there's no incentive for car manufacturers to bring in more electric vehicles," Ms Broadbent said.
"In Europe, there is a disincentive - it's called a fine.
"If you're only producing X number of vehicles per year as a manufacturer, where are you going to sell them? Europe. You won't sell them here."
The Business Council of Australia points to the lack of broad electric vehicle infrastructure as a handbrake on uptake.
"The government should also consider how internationally consistent vehicle emission standards could help ensure Australians have access to the best new technology and widest possible choices," chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.