A start-up Australian company offering used electric vehicles via a subscription service has received an overwhelming vote of confidence in its business model, after a launch event in Tasmania was quickly sold out.
The Good Car Company said on Wednesday that it had been forced to close registrations early for its Southern Tasmania Community Bulk Buy on Thursday in Hobart after the 80 spots on offer under Covid restrictions were rapidly snapped up.
“We’re amazed by how many Tasmanians want to be part of our collective community action to decarbonise transport,” said Good Car co-founder, Anton Vikstrom in a statement.
“We now have to ask people to participate in our online information sessions, because we can’t fit any more in the Waterside Pavilion on Thursday evening.”
As reported on The Driven in March, Good Car Co is one of a number of companies in Australia’s emerging EV subscription service sector, which allows drivers to try out electric car ownership without the high upfront cost.
In Good Car’s case, the business is based on imported pre-owned electric vehicles, at this stage starting with secondhand Nissan Leafs and NV200 electric vans and later, potentially, Volkswagen e-Golfs.
The imported vehicles are quality assured through mechanical, battery, and software checks prior to purchase, taking into account customer concerns around anxiety and battery degradation.
“We have stringent criteria for our customer’s cars,” said Sam Whitehead, who also co-founded the Good Car Co.
“Range anxiety and battery degradation are key questions for anyone purchasing an electric vehicle. We offer our customers a good quality product, and we make sure that is what they get.”
Good Car says that the Southern Tasmania Community Bulk-Buy – while not the company’s first bulk buy event – is bound to be its biggest yet, off the back of recent successes in South Hobart and Huon Valley when participants used collective purchasing power to put 30 more EVs on Tassie roads.
And last week’s government-backed unveiling of a DC fast-charger in Hobart has certainly done no harm.
Meanwhile, for the Tassie EV hopefuls who have missed out on the Hobart event, Good Car says they will have an opportunity to see some of the EVs on offer in at the Hobart Brewing Company on Sunday, October 4. For more info on the bulk-buy events, click here.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
