The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) joined with Transport for NSW last week to host a NSW Electric Vehicle (EV) Drive Day at Sydney’s Eastern Creek speedway to allow fleet buyers to test drive cars from the largest selections of EVs ever assembled in Australia.
Chief Executive of CEFC, Ian Learmonth said the Drive Day was a chance to show fleet buyers why sales of EVs were gaining momentum around the world and encourage them to use their market influence to super charge Australia’s switch to EVs.
Mr Learmonth said fleet buyers could play an important role in helping Australia tackle one of its toughest emissions challenges – transport.
“Australia has some 19,000 businesses operating fleets with 20 vehicles or more, representing more than 2.1 million vehicles in total,” Mr Learmonth said.
“Australians have traditionally been early adopters of new technology, but we have fallen behind the pack when it comes to EVs,” he said.
“Fleet buyers purchase as many as one in five new vehicles in Australia.”
He said Australia was the world’s 16th largest car market but ranked 21st in terms of new EVs sold with the total number of EV’s on our roads 25 per cent lower than in New Zealand which is a much smaller market.
“The reality is that we need to cut emissions right across our economy, from electricity to transport and more,” he said.
Mr Learmonth said it would take time for more EV models to be available in a small market like Australia and for prices to come down, making EV’s more affordable for personal buyers.
“For fleet buyers, where driving needs are different, there is an opportunity for the EV transition to occur more quickly.”
He said modelling produced for the CEFC found that, with the right combination of incentives, models and infrastructure, EV sales in Australia could surge from as early as 2021.
He said the Drive Day showcased the latest range of battery EVs, plug in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell EVs, across 16 models and 21 vehicles, with representatives from BMW, Hyundai, Jaguar, KIA, Mini, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, SEA Electric, Tesla and Toyota attending the event.
