On Thursday, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced a $150 million government investment to offer discounted loans for consumers to buy electric vehicles – which are “cleaner and cheaper to run”.
The low interest EV loan is available to workers earning less than $100,000 a year and essential workers such as police officers, teachers, firefighters and nurses.
The financing option will support discounted loans for new and used EVs worth up to $55,000 and home EV charging equipment. Interest rates on the loan are up to 5 percentage points lower than standard rates, which could save EV buyers more than $8000 on a $40,000 loan on a 7 year term. Buyers will also save money by “busting their petrol bills for good”.
The loan is backed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and administered by the Commonwealth Bank.
The announcement follows additional work by the government to support EV ownership, such as eliminating the 5 per cent import tariff on EVs, removing the fringe benefits tax on leased EVs through the electric car discount policy and building a nationwide EV charging network.
The Electric Vehicle Council’s head of legal, policy and advocacy, Aman Gaur, said the body supported the new initiative, saying one of the main barriers to owning an EV is the upfront cost, and low interest loans would help alleviate this.
“Financial support is essential to accelerate the transition to EVs and drive the next wave of adopters. Low interest loans, purchase incentives, rebates and registration concessions, are all effective and necessary measures that make EVs more affordable and accessible to a broader range of consumers.
“Electric driving is the most fuel efficient and cost effective way to travel. Once people are behind the wheel of a battery electric vehicle, they can save thousands of dollars a year on fuel and maintenance costs.”
EV infrastructure is getting better too
Mirova, a global sustainability and energy investor and fund manager based in France, has raised $72 million to support JET Charge, a Melbourne-based EV charging and infrastructure provider, in rolling out charging and infrastructure across the Australasian region at scale.
The equity investment is expected to be used to propel the company’s “charging as a service” offerings and rollout of its proprietary technologies aimed at making EV charging infrastructure at scale.