New South Wales is to provide a further $105 million to boost the uptake of electric vehicles in fleets and ride share companies, announcing the move just a day after the federal Coalition government unveiled its disappointing “future fuels strategy” that will do little to boost EVs.
The NSW Liberal treasurer and minister for energy and environment Matt Kean announced on Wednesday that the $105 million of new incentives would be on top of the original $490 million announced for its Electric Vehicle Strategy back in June, bringing the total funds to $595 million.
The incentives will be available to hire car operators, delivery businesses, construction companies, or any fleet operator. They will “make it easier for your business to transition to EVs while enjoying the benefits of reduced costs and emissions,” said Kean.
Kean says fleet operators swapping to electric vehicles have an opportunity to reduce their emissions by an average of five tonnes of CO2 per vehicle and save up to $3,100 on annual running costs compared to that of an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.
“NSW is on track to have EVs make up more than half of new cars on the road by 2030, thanks to the NSW Government’s nation-leading Electric Vehicle Strategy – which has now been bolstered to $595 million,” said Kean, who recently spoke on The Driven podcast, including of his own experience with EVs.
“Fleet buyers make up about 50 per cent of new vehicle sales and usually sell them after three to four years, creating a great opportunity for us to increase the second hand EV market for the whole community.
“EV’s are cheaper to run, quieter on our roads, reduce air pollution and are better for our health – all great reasons why we want more and more people enjoying electric vehicles right across our State.”
The first round of the EV fleets incentive will open up on November 30, and will be delivered through a reverse auction process, with bidding rounds opening approximately every six months through to the end of 2024.
Fleet operators can register their interest and access the fleet incentive guidelines here though, as of writing, the website is currently unavailable.
NSW is also spendign $171 million on new charging infrastructure, offering $3,000 rebates for new EVs priced under $$68,750, and stamp duty exemptions for new EVs prices under $78,000, and is also spending $33 million to help the state government transition its passenger fleet to EVs.
Kean told ABC TV on Tuesday night that the federal government should be doing more for EVs.
“There’s a range of taxes and charges that could be waived that would make EVs more accessible for families and businesses right across the country,” he said.
“The biggest thing the federal government can do is deal with the issue of fuel standards,” adding his voice to the call for Autralia to impose fuel emission standards, as most of the rest of the developed world already does.
See our recent interview with Kean: The Driven Podcast: “Everyone wants to drive it.” Matt Kean and his Tesla