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We aired Part 1 on Monday 6th May, host Caroline Falls and Tim Washington talked about why Australia is set to buck trends of the US and UK where EV sales are slowing.

This time, they talk about the Charge-as-a-Service business model JET Charge has dreamed up and won support for — a three-year trial — from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

“The trial is designed to break down the last barrier for transition. Essentially, what we're trying to do is to get the cost of infrastructure and the cost of electricity below the cost of refuelling your petrol or diesel vehicle. We know that for more modern electric vehicles, especially affordable electric vehicles, total cost of ownership over a five-year period is at parity or lower now for a lot of fleets. But charging infrastructure is still one of those things where there's quite a bit of expenditure upfront. 

“And so what we're trying to do is to basically get that cost down and take away those reasons to not transition.”

Tim Washington, Co-founder and CEO of EV charging provider JET Charge, talks to Fleet News Group about the rapid rise of EVs in Australia, the start-up’s growth and evolution since it began more than a decade ago as an installer for Tesla home charging stations in Melbourne, and its trial of a charge-as-a-service business model.

 

When we spoke in late April, the latest data showed EVs sold in Australia in March was almost 10 percent of all new car sales for that month, a startling change from 1-2 percent of sales just a few years ago. Meanwhile EV sales in the UK and the US are slowing.

 

“I think Australia will be one of the countries that really bucks the trend in relation to EV uptake,” said Washington, adding, “ And the main reason for that is because we are far more receptive to Chinese-made vehicles than the US and Europe, because we have no manufacturing to protect.” 

 

And, he continued, “They've only just started exporting to the rest of the world. The reason you haven't seen most of these brands is because they've been basically satisfying demand in China. As competition increases, and they look to grow their market share, they will start exporting. Australia is one of the Western countries that accepts these vehicles. And so I actually think we're going to see Australia outpace the rest of the world in vehicle adoption.”

Noel Toribio Ilao, Director IV Equipment Bureau at the Department of Public Works and Highways in the Republic of Philippines, speaks with Fleet News Group podcast host Caroline Falls about a fleet of land vehicles, barges and boats that cater for infrastructure and rescue in the 7000-island nation.

The Philippines is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world,” said Ilao, adding, “ I think we're number three. We are visited by different calamities — on the natural side, we have typhoons, we are lying in an earthquake belt, which is the Pacific Ring of Fire.”

Daron Brinsdon, integrated development solutions manager at Teletrac Navman Australia, talks about key findings from a global survey the fleet management telematics group released in March.

Teletrac Navman has some 700,000 vehicles connected to its technology, spanning the globe. It surveyed about 500 fleets finding some two thirds of them currently operate electric vehicles. But they are still in transition and facing challenges.

“This two thirds has varying rates of onboarding,” said Brinsdon, adding, “We're still getting a lot of people who suffer from range anxiety, and worry about whether adopting EVs will allow them to perform the work they need to.”

 

He said the higher capital expenditure needed to acquire electric vehicles compared with traditional internal combustion powered vehicles was also a constraint on wider EV adoption.

Fleet News Group editor, Marc Sibbald, guest hosts the latest podcast with Jonny Parker, CEO and founder of EV Infrastructure group Thundergrid in New Zealand.

Sibbald caught up with Parker on the sidelines of the EROAD’s Fleet Day, held in Christchurch in late February. They talk about how NZ followed the Norwegian model to support EV adoption and how now EVs are going to help power NZ.

“We’re basically here to protect the grid,” said Parker describing Thundergrid, adding, an explanation of how increasing demands on the island nation’s power grid could lead to increased brownouts. 

Dundee is a bit of a star for EVs in Europe, notably for public transport and its innovative charging hubs.

Award winning fleet leader Fraser Crichton, Corporate Operations Fleet Manager at Dundee City Council in Scotland, tells Fleet News Group podcast host Caroline Falls all about a transformation spurred by an enthusiasm to clean the city’s air.

Dundee, half way between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, is nestled in a volcanic seat. Air is trapped hanging over the bowl cradling a city 8 miles by 5 miles. 

“It just like sits like a soup in the city,” said Crichton. “13 years ago, I went to an air quality meeting and discovered all these issues that we had with transportation. I just thought we're going to have to change this, we're going to have to do something about this. So that was the start of the journey,” said Crichton, adding: “We moved slowly but surely.”

Today more than quarter of the council’s 800-asset fleet is electric powered. And the whole city is networked with charging hubs and infrastructure, from pop-up street chargers, in all quarters and across disadvantaged and advantaged precincts.