NSW Government fleet EV funding programs are experiencing strong demand as rising fuel prices and growing operational certainty around electric vehicles push more organisations to explore electrification.
Responding to a question from Fleet News Group during the Smart Energy Conference and Exhibition, Terry Niemeier, Director Transport Electrification & Safeguard at the NSW Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), said fleet funding applications have accelerated significantly in recent months.
“We’ve got a few different streams in our fleet funding program,” Niemeier said.
“We’ve run competitive reverse auction process funding as well as kickstart funding, which is designed for smaller fleets and fleets that are just kicking off their journey into EVs.”
According to Niemeier, the current “Kickstart” funding round remains open and is attracting strong interest from fleets looking to reduce fuel costs and begin transitioning to electric vehicles.
“The funding round we have open at the moment is our kickstart funding round,” he said.
“It’s been really, really hot in the market at the moment. Unsurprisingly, with the fuel crisis, there’s a lot of demand and there’s a lot of interest in fleets.”
The NSW Government has been using fleet funding programs to help businesses and councils address the higher upfront purchase price of EVs while improving understanding of whole-of-life operating costs.
Niemeier also confirmed additional funding opportunities are already planned, including another competitive funding round expected in the first half of the next financial year.
“At this stage it’s still open, we’re still seeing applications, but we’ve got more to come in that space as well as our competitive funding round expected to open in the first half of the next financial year,” he said.
The comments highlight the increasing role governments are playing in accelerating fleet electrification, particularly as organisations look for ways to reduce exposure to volatile fuel prices and meet emissions reduction targets.
