Electric truck leasing scheme wins green bank backing, but charging hub delayed

The federal government’s green bank has committed up to $6 million into an electric truck leasing scheme that will provide 60 Foton T5  battery electric trucks (BETs) to supermarket giant Woolworths.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) on Friday announced its backing of the innovative EV as-a-service program, which will be provided to Woolworths by UK-headquartered battery specialist Zenobe for a period of five years.

The partnership, first flagged last year, allows Woolworths to electrify its trucking fleet by leasing the trucks from Zenobe who will then manage them as the ultimate operator and owner.

CEFC head of infrastructure, Julia Hinwood, says this sort of solution will be “essential to address the finance gap present in electrification of heavy fleet transport to accelerate the decarbonisation requirements within the sector.”

Woolworths has said it will use the new trucks to carry out the final leg of groceries deliveries, known as “last-mile” deliveries. 

“Our work with the CEFC shows that electrifying the truck sector is not a distant ambition. It’s achievable today,” said Gareth Ridge, Zenobe’s Australian head of electric vehicles.

Wider electrification scheme

The BET leasing scheme is part of a wider project being spearheaded by Zenobe, who is building a huge BET charging site at a site in Mascot, NSW.

As part of its Driving the Nation Fund, Arena last year provided Zenobe with up to A$8.5 million to fund the new trucks and build the charging hub, which is expected to comprise 22 120kV Zerova dual-gun DC chargers.

The hub will also feature a 100kW/150kWh second life battery to support operations at the site, acting as an alternative to a diesel generator which may have been used in the past at a project such as this.

Around 20 of the CEFC-financed trucks will be based at this depot, with the remainder deployed at various locations across NSW and Victoria.

Woolworth’s Head of Partnerships, Henri Le Comte, said that “working with Zenobē has allowed us to scale our EV fleet quickly, helping to make our suburban streets just a little quieter and cleaner.”

Although certainly a move in the right direction, the retail chain still has much to do if it wants to reach its target of electrifying its entire 3000 vehicle fleet by the end of the decade.

Charging hub delays

Zenobe had hoped to commence construction on the charging hub last year, with commercial operations slated for the beginning of 2025.

However, according to a progress report published earlier this year, the project has been delayed after Zenobe encountered issues during the planning process.

“Early investigations and advice from our planning consultant suggested the project could be exempt under State Legislation for the development of EV charging stations,” states the report. 

As it turns out, with the project being categorised as a “truck depot”, it isn’t exempt from requiring council approval. As a result of this, Zenobe has been required to bring forward items which it initially believed were necessary to complete after the commencement of construction. 

“Due to this being one of the first truck charging sites, we believe that council and State EV charging exemptions do not accurately reflect this emerging sector of electrification,” explained the battery specialist.

However, with future policy changes, Zenobe believes that “this barrier to truck electrification has the potential to be removed and sit alongside other similar activities which are also exempt.”