Government ignores locally produced electric vehicles

Despite helping fund development of the locally produced Blade Electron, the government has ignored the Electron, opting instead to contract with Mitsubishi for 40 imported i-MiEV electric vehicles. The government did not choose the Blade Electron because it is "not a mass-produced car".

Ross Blade raises an interesting point:

In terms of our vehicle being mass produced, the fact of the matter is that if the Australian government is not going to buy them, then how can they be mass produced?

It's a chicken and egg thing.

Shouldn't the government encourage not only the uptake of electric vehicles but also local manufacturing?