Michelle Nazzari of Fonzarelli. Supplied.
These should be happy days for an electric scooter company, particularly local manufacturer Fonz Moto. Petrol prices are soaring, everyone seems to be interested in going electric, and local makers are probably best placed to dodge the global supply crunch.
But Michelle Nazzari, the founder of Fonz (formerly Fonzarelli) and chief designer for its successful products such as the Arthur and the NKD, are frustrated by a regulatory quirk that is excluding their electric scooters from some of the key EV incentives offered by the NSW government.
Fonz makes both electric motorbikes and electric scooters, but the NSW government, it seems, has only two categories, electric motorbikes (which do qualify for a stamp duty exemption), and electric mopeds (which don’t).
Nazzari says her Arthur scooters have been lumped in with the mopeds, even though they clearly can travel at a greater than the 50km/h limit that officially defines the moped category.
“I fully understand how it’s been missed, because obviously it’s challenging to set the policy and and they obviously wouldn’t know the ins and outs of all of these products,” Nazzari tells The Driven.
“But I’ve been contesting it since around October, November last year. We have a lot of upset owners, and also other electric scooters like the newly launched BMW, which goes for around $22,000 scooter, also wouldn’t be eligible on that basis of what’s a step-through motorbike versus what’s a straddle.”
Nazzari says her customers are missing out on a saving of around $220 from the stamp duty exemption for a scooter that costs from around $4,200 upwards to $7,500. Nazzari says current sales are around 50 a month.
“It’s frustrating because … we’re finally doing something in Australia, and people want to feel like they’re having a little win from the government. But this is like getting kicked in the face.
“It’s just a shame to have these low impact electric scooters, which are better for the environment than any other vehicle on the road, and they pretty much ignored. They should be encouraged.”
In addition to a renewable power source to power manufacturing energy requirements, the new site is also designed to optimise light, space and provide improved ventilation. Led lighting with dimmers, sensors and timers also reduce energy consumption.
Fonz released Australia’s first locally made electric motorbike, the NKD, onto the market in 2019 and despite pandemic challenges celebrated the milestone of selling 100 of its “electrifying, custom-built fun beasts” in November last year.
“In our last place we could create and assemble up to 20 motorbikes a month, but our new facilities will enable us to produce more than 100 in the same timeframe,” Nazzari says.
Fonz sources as much as possible from local suppliers within a 200 kilometres of their premises to minimise the environmental footprint in the manufacturing process.
“It makes sense to manufacture, particularly bulky components, locally to reduce our footprint and we have great local talent have those specialised skills to work with more specialised materials.
“For example, the skills to work with chromoly in the bike’s rock-solid frame – the likes of which is also is used roll cages and light aircraft for its strength and lightweight properties,” she adds.
“We’re currently considering funding options for more rapid expansion and our model would be to replicate this type of carbon-neutral micro-factory in other major Australian cities. This would enable us to also offer top-notch service at a local level.”
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.
BYD launches one of its most affordable electric SUV variants with pricing starting at under…
Tesla enters California with its Robotaxi service with invites being sent to users in an…
MG's premium brand IM launched in Australia with the release of the IM5 and IM6…
Xpeng's local distributor has announced arrival of 1,000 new G6 electric SUVs along with plans…
Some of the most popular vehicles in Australia are consuming significantly more petrol than advertised,…
BYD has launched a 24/7 roadside assistance program across Australia, linking up with the country's…