Massive win for Aussie electric car owners

Blackrock, one of the world’s biggest investment firms, has invested more than $100m in Australian electric vehicle charging start-up Jolt Charge.The $100m investment is to fund a massive expansion of charging infrastructure in Australia.Jolt plans to roll out more than 5000 public charging stations nationwide.According to the Australia Electric Vehicle Council, Australia currently has more than 3000 public chargers, but only 470 of these are ultra fast DC chargers that can add hundreds of km of range in under an hour.Jolt offers the first 7kWh of charging free everyday, which the company said is equal to about 45km. Users then pay for any energy used after the first 7kWh.Doug McNamee the founder of Jolt said that investment was critical in developing Australia’s lack of charging infrastructure and it will help drive the uptake of electric cars and reduce emissions.“Australia has a critical role to play in advancing towards a net zero emissions future. We’re excited to be leading the way forward by building the vital infrastructure needed to power our roads, address range anxiety and help get more Australians behind the wheel of an EV,” said Mr McNamee.Charlie Reid, managing director of Blackrock renewable power, said there’s a huge amount of growth potential in electric vehicle charging in Australia in the short and long term.“We believe the electrification of transport plays a pivotal role in advancing Australia’s energy transition and we look forward to harnessing this through our investment in Jolt,” said Mr Reid. Electric vehicle sales are expected to accelerate in the near future, which would put stress on the limited number of public charging stations currently available.About 8700 electric vehicles were bought in the first six months of this year, which is close to 2000 more than were sold in all of last year. This still only accounts for about 1.5 per cent of all new cars sold in the first half of 2021.Tesla’s Model 3 makes up the vast majority of these sales.The sales boost could also be attributed to a number of more affordable options coming to market such as the MG ZS EV, new Nissan Leaf and the Hyundai Kona Electric.Several state governments have also begun offering thousands of dollars in rebates and stamp duty discounts. Victoria has introduced a new tax on electric vehicles.

via Technology | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://ift.tt/3gv01tM