Electric vehicle rentals are booming as drivers try to avoid high petrol prices before the Easter long weekend, and one site has reported that bookings for EVs and hybrids increased by 388 per cent one day this month compared with last year.
The Iran war has fuelled surging petrol and diesel prices. The fuel excise reduction will come into effect on Wednesday but consumers have been told that in regional areas, it could take more than a week for it to take effect.
Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association chief executive Rowan Lee said busy inner-city service stations that turned over rapid fuel sales could offer cheaper petrol and diesel within days, while more remote service stations could sell more expensive fuel for 10 days or more.
“The fuel that is underground at your local servo at the moment has had the higher level of excise tax applied to it,” he said. “The faster that goes out of the ground, the faster the lower excise fuel will come in.”
Turo managing director Rob Chan said that in March, bookings for EVs and hybrids were up 70 per cent compared with the same period last year, and one day – March 15 – had an increase of 388 per cent compared with last year.
“We’re seeing a massive surge in bookings for fuel-efficient cars on the marketplace,” Chan said.
“People travelling in Australia who might never have driven an EV or hybrid before are booking them.”
Theresa Maitre, of Perth, used car rental website Turo to book an EV for a coming trip to Sydney. Her decision was largely driven by the cost of fuel.
“I currently drive a Prado, and it’s costing me around $400 to fill the car up, so I was thinking it might be a perfect time to test out an EV, and just see what it was like,” she said.
On Wednesday, the federal government’s $33 billion green bank announced it would offer discounted finance for new and used electric vehicles, offering up to a 1 per cent discount for loans issued by Volkswagen Financial Services Australia.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation says consumer loan customers buying eligible EVs priced under the $92,000 luxury car tax threshold could save more than $1900 on a typical $70,000 loan, over five years, under the offer.
Eligible vehicles include Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Cupra and Volvo, as well as other eligible EVs bought through Volkswagen Financial Services’ accredited dealer network.
Executive director Richard Lovell said the announcement was unrelated to the current energy crisis, although the price of fuels and transition to renewables was “obviously topical at the moment”.
“The reality is that the transport sector is going to be an increasing source of Australia’s emissions into percentage terms, and by 2030 it will likely be the largest source of emissions by sector,” Lovell said.
The $100 million funding pool follows a similar offer in February, when the Clean Energy Finance Corporation partnered with Hyundai Capital Australia to offer $60 million in discounted loans, and previous partnerships with Macquarie Leasing, Metro Finance and Eclipx.
The discounted loans will be equally funded by Volkswagen Financial Services Australia and the CEFC, both of which will offer a 0.5 per cent discount on finance.
Lovell said the scheme would also finance vehicle-to-grid (V2G) enabled models, which can act as mobile batteries that can charge or discharge to the grid.
“We’re making it easier for businesses to choose advanced electric vehicles, including those with future-ready features like V2G, by reducing barriers like high upfront costs and by encouraging manufacturers to increase model availability in Australia,” he said.
“This investment helps lower costs today and builds a stronger market for affordable, second-hand EVs tomorrow, making clean transport more affordable for more Australians and their businesses.”
The Albanese government this week halved the excise on fuel for three months, lowering the price of petrol and diesel by 26.3¢ a litre.
The government will also cancel the heavy vehicle road user charge of 32¢ a litre for three months to help ease pressure on the transportation industry.
The cuts, which will start on Wednesday, will cost taxpayers $2.55 billion.
The price of Brent crude oil was tracking at $US114 a barrel on Tuesday, almost double the $60 a barrel it had hovered around before the war.
Research by BloombergNEF last fortnight showed the global adoption of EVs last year had prevented the consumption of 2.3 million barrels of oil a day.
Taylor Blackburn, personal finance expert at comparison site Finder, said its consumer sentiment tracker showed the number of Australians ranking fuel as one of their most stressful bills had jumped from 11 per cent in January to 19 per cent in March.
“For many Australians, fuel has shifted from a routine expense to a major source of financial dread,” Blackburn said.
Bianca Hall is The Age’s environment and climate reporter, and has worked in a range of roles including as a senior writer, city editor, and in the federal politics bureau in Canberra.Connect via X, Facebook or email.