Evee expands electric car rental range to include Audi e-trons

Electric vehicle hire service Evee has expanded its offerings with the addition of two premium all-electric Audi e-trons.

The service, which was launched in 2016, was set up to help electric vehicle (EV) owners offset the cost of purchase by offering a platform through which to hire them out.

It also helps defray high electric car hire insurance costs, allowing owners to pay a portion approximately equal to private insurance and splitting the rest over hires.

A recent expansion to include take in major cities in all Australian states and territories means that Evee now has a national footprint.

Evee founder Slava Kozlovskii says Evee’s most popular model for hire is the Tesla Model 3, but the addition of an Audi e-tron SUV and Audi e-tron Sportback to the fold gives Australian drivers a chance have a taste of all-electric German luxury.

Introduced in October, the e-tron and e-tron Sportback are at the upper end of the Australian electric vehicle market, offering a combination of “uncompromising luxury” according to the descriptive spiel on the company’s website.

It is touted as a key piece in Audi’s 100% renewable energy commitment, which will see the company in Australia source all its power primarily sourced from the Capital Wind Farm precinct near Canberra, through GreenPower.

As noted by Renew Economy’s Sam Parkinson who test drove the e-tron in October for The Driven, “For those who might not fancy transitioning from your traditional car cabin to a wheel and a large screen like a Tesla, then the e-tron might be a nice compromise.”

Electric vehicle hire and leasing in Australia is on the rise as providers catch on to the fact that they are cheaper to own, service and power.

In August, electric car leasing company EV Lease launched in Melbourne, in order to provide clean transport industries to the fleet managers.

More recently, virtual auto dealer Carbar shared the results of a survey that showed that most Australian drivers would prefer to drive an electric car but were put off by the high cost of purchase.