Federal energy and climate change minister Chris Bowen has announced a new $55 million package to help car dealerships and one major car rental company accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles.
The announcement, to be formally unveiled by Bowen at the Smart Energy Conference in Sydney on Thursday consists of a $50 million finance package from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and nearly $5 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
The CEFC finance will go to Angle Auto Finance (AAF), which will then provide short term loans to car dealerships to purchase electric vehicles from car manufacturers. The dealerships can then repay the loan to AAF once the vehicle is sold.
In a press release the government says AAF aims to get 20,000 new EVs onto Australia’s roads over the next two years. The financing represents $2,500 for each of the 20,000 vehicles.
ARENA will also provide $4.76 million to Europcar as part of $110.6 million investment the company is making into 3,100 new electric vehicles over three years.
The car rental company is partnering with Ampol to install 256 EV chargers across 41 hire car sites in airports, cities and towns to ensure EVs are fully charged before pickup. Eurocar says it will operate the EVs for up to two years before selling them on the second-hand market.
Daniel Bleakley is a clean technology researcher and advocate with a background in engineering and business. He has a strong interest in electric vehicles, renewable energy, manufacturing and public policy.