A new way for businesses to access EV charging is set to roll out nationally, with a new business model supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
Melbourne-based EV charging company JET Charge has launched the $24.9 million Charging as a Service Project, offering a new way for fleet operators to pay for EV charging infrastructure.
On behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA is providing $12 million from the Driving the Nation Fund to support the delivery of the project.
Under the Charging as a Service (CaaS) model, JET Charge will install and maintain EV chargers at the customer’s site. Fleet operators will pay JET Charge a subscription fee for the service, similar to how consumers pay for streaming services.
The CaaS model will allow small businesses to fully outsource their charging needs to JET Charge through a monthly bundled payment. JET Charge can aggregate demand from fleets to access economies of scale and provide a lower cost of charging to its customers.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the project is an exciting opportunity that will make EV charging more accessible to businesses and their fleets.
“We know that access to charging infrastructure is a barrier for fleet users looking to switch to EVs, so it’s exciting to see JET Charge developing a new way to make charging more accessible,” Miller said.
“Not only will this project put over 3,000 new electric vehicles on the road, but it will also help prove the charging as a service model and hopefully lead to services like this rolling out across Australia.”