While Australia lacks significant government incentives to entice consumers into electric vehicles, companies are stepping up with offers to reduce the barriers and encourage EV uptake.
The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria’s (RACV) annual survey of more than 1000 people found a surge in electric car interest this year – up 11 per cent from 2019.
However, expensive price tags, limited options, perceived range anxiety, and a lack of proper incentives are still key detractors from purchasing an electric vehicle.
Despite countries like North America and Norway offering benefits like cuts to tax and on-road fees, bus lane travel and reduced toll road costs, Australia only has minor benefits for EVs like cheaper stamp duty and registration costs depending on the state.
But, this isn’t enough.
To combat Australia’s political inaction, companies from car manufacturers to electricity providers are offering a range of initiatives to encourage EV adoption.
Subscription Packages
AGL Energy partnered with car subscription company Carbar and electric vehicle charging provider Jet Charge to release an EV subscription service in September this year.
With much talk of the traditional premise of car ownership evolving into Netflix-style subscription plans, AGL’s initiative is targeted for those who want to try a pure-electric vehicle without owning one.
Essentially, most of the essentials are included in the plan, including registration, comprehensive car insurance, roadside assistance, repairs and maintenance, delivery, and more. Importantly, a home wallbox charger plus it’s installation fees is also included – provided your home doesn’t need any significant structural or groundwork modifications.
As at publication, the latest Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Ioniq Electric are on offer from $299 per week. Meanwhile, you can also step up to the Hyundai Kona Electric from $359 per week or the Tesla Model 3 from $599 per week. More models are to come.
AGL says the electric vehicles are slightly driven demonstrator models and are subject to availability, except the Model 3 which is bought new.
The subscription package is no lock-in contract, meaning you can cancel at any time (from one-month) and even change your EV for another one without any fees.
However, there’s a one-off, non-refundable $800 ‘set-up fee’, any late payments will incur further charges, and there’s a $150 fee for cancelling the plan within the first six months to remove the wallbox charger.
Drivers must be within 50km of the central business district (CBD) and have access to off-street parking for the charger installation (i.e. garage, carport or driveway). Critically, the maximum distance allowed to travel is 26,000km per year; consumers are charged 14 cents per kilometre if it is exceeded – not ideal for frequent travellers.
Meanwhile, Mini’s all-inclusive purchase plan is designed to offer the benefits of a subscription package, while allowing an opportunity for traditional car ownership if you change your mind.
Exclusive to the Mini Electric, the plan comes with a home wallbox charger, cables to use public DC fast-chargers, a five-year servicing package, and five-year roadside assistance coverage.
The British marque also offers subscribers to swap the Mini Electric city car for a petrol-powered Mini Countryman to take on longer trips for a weekend – but only once a year.
It requires a $3000 deposit, then it costs $275 per week for the first 24 months to drive the Mini Electric.
At this point, the vehicle can be returned back to the company at no cost, meaning subscribers will pay $31,600 for two-years.
Alternatively, consumers can choose to stay with the plan for an additional 24 months at a reduced $98 per week rate. At the end of the four-years, $41,792 will be spent.
The Mini Electric can be handed back to Mini or subscribers can choose to buy the car at an additional $29,052 upfront fee. This means it’ll cost $69,827.36 if buyers choose to own the car – surpassing the current $59,990 drive-away price tag. It is worth noting that Mini doesn’t offer any charging or after sales inclusions at the moment if bought outright.
Meanwhile, if you’re a rideshare driver, electric charging company Evie Networks has partnered with female-only rideshare firm Shebah to offer a new EV rental service called eMentum.
The plan provides the pure-electric Hyundai Ioniq for rideshare drivers who operate for Shebah, Uber, Didi and GoCatch in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.
There are two membership levels to rent the electric car from $11 per hour or from $279 per week. The Ioniq is shared among eMentum members, meaning the emissions-free liftback must be charged more than 50 per cent and parked in a public area for the transfer to the next driver.
While these electric vehicle subscriptions are not financially sensible in the long-term, it is a positive step to encourage Australians to try EVs for themselves – even if not owning the vehicle.
Importantly, it will spark flow-on effects to enlarge the used EV car market for better affordability and accessibility to zero-emissions vehicles in the future.
Electricity Plans
Charging is a common gripe for electric vehicle adoption, but a range of Australian electricity providers are offering incentives for owning an EV.
AGL Energy and Powershop have dedicated reduced plans and tariffs for charging an electric car at your home.
AGL’s Electric Vehicle Plan offers 2 per cent less than the electricity reference price and up to $480 in bonus credits over two years, while Powershop has a ‘super off-peak tariff’ when you juice up your car overnight between 12am to 4am on weekdays.
Additionally, Red Energy’s ‘Red EV Saver’ plan provides free electricity between 12pm to 2pm every weekend – that’s for charging your electric vehicle and the entire household usage.
The company also promises to offset every unit of electricity used by utilising the Snowy Hydro (it’s parent company) to generate one matching unit from a renewable source.
According to Red Energy, charging an electric vehicle will add around 35 per cent to an average customer’s annual consumption. So, these electricity plan incentives are a great way to further reduce the ownership costs of an EV.
And there’s more to come from other providers, too.
Free Charging
What might tempt most consumers is free ‘fuel’.
The quirky battery-electric BMW i3 and i3S city car currently comes with a three-year subscription to the ChargeFox public charging network in Australia (capped at 250kW per year).
Similarly, the Tesla Model S-rivalling Porsche Taycan performance coupe comes with three-years free, unlimited charging at all Chargefox stations.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes-Benz EQC mid-sized SUV is bundled with a five-year Chargefox subscription.
The just-launched Audi e-Tron and e-Tron Sportback SUVs ups the ante with six-years of free Chargefox charging.
For context, Chargefox has more than 1400 plugs across Australia, consisting of anywhere between standard 22kW DC chargers to 350kW ultra-rapid chargers – the latter of which is completely powered by renewable energy.
The electric vehicle charging provider has partnered with state motoring bodies like the NRMA, the RACQ and more to form a network able to juice EVs up from Adelaide to Port Douglas.
Furthermore, if you’re in New South Wales, all NRMA fast chargers are available for free to the public. However, non-NRMA members will be required to pay within a few years. At least NRMA holders can still charge for free as a nice membership perk in the future.
There are also a number of locations offering free charging to encourage electric car adoption. Check crowd-source electric charging finder Plugshare for your nearest chargers.
Complementary Servicing
If free charging isn’t enough, car manufacturers are also alleviating the burden of scheduled servicing.
While electric vehicles do have less moving parts than an internal-combustion engine vehicle, EVs still need some service checkups for the 12V and high-voltage battery, cabin filter, tyres, brakes, and more.
Mercedes-Benz currently offers a complementary three-year/75,000km service plan valued at $1350 for all EQCs purchased before the end of 2020. That’s alongside other inclusions like a home wallbox installation and aforementioned Chargefox subscription.
Additionally, all Jaguar I-Paces sold comes with a five-year/200,000km service plan and five-years roadside assistance at no extra cost.
As there is less labour and time required to maintain electric models, Mini’s Service Inclusive five-year/80,000km package costs less for its Mini Electric Hatch.
The Basic Cover plan is priced at $800, while the Plus Cover is $3236 that includes a swap of brake pads and wiper blades. This represents a saving of around 46 per cent and 19 per cent respectively over the equivalent petrol Mini 3-Door.
Though, not all electric cars are significantly cheaper to service than their petrol-equivalent counterparts. Read my stories on CarExpert for a full cost breakdown for mainstream and luxury EVs.
The Connected by Henry Man 