Bank reports 224% growth in EV loans
Businesses are leading the switch to electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia, with recent data from National Australia Bank (NAB) showing a remarkable 224% year-on-year growth in its EV loan book.
According to Julie Rynski (pictured), NAB executive for business banking metro and specialised industries, the data indicates the increasing trend of business owners investing in EVs to lessen their environmental impact.
“We’re seeing more business owners choose to make investments that help reduce their carbon footprint,” Rynski said. “A popular option being EVs, especially now that we’re seeing more models from more manufacturers become available here in Australia.
“Just last year, we were providing funding for around 16 different EV models – with Tesla being the most popular – now it’s 25.”
The uptake of business finance for EVs has seen the most significant increases in South Australia, Victoria, and West Australia, with growth rates of 629%, 393%, and 281%, respectively.
NAB’s research indicates that one in five small and mid-size enterprises has a strong intention to invest in sustainability improvements within the next two years.
“It’s our job to make cutting emissions easier for our customers,” Rynski said. “And as Australia’s largest business lender and leading equipment finance provider, we’re focussing on practical solutions – such as business finance for green equipment – to help businesses work towards and achieve their transition goals.
“Last December, we launched our business finance product for green equipment, and since its introduction, we’ve seen demand for EV finance soar. The product has clearly made financing electric vehicles more attractive as many business owners look to electrify their fleet to reduce their carbon footprint and business costs.”
Peter Sowinski, chief financial officer at car hire company SIXT Australia, shared their experience using NAB’s green equipment finance to transition their commercial vehicles to electric.
“SIXT’s rental fleet of 500-plus electric vehicles are one of the largest fleets of EVs for rent in Australia, we’re embracing the change to eco-friendly and sustainable driving,” he said.
“With the help of NAB’s business finance for green equipment, 10% of our hire vehicles are now electric, and we’re looking to grow this to 50% by 2027 to further expand our EV network.”
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