One of my clients asked, the day their solar was commissioned,  “Can I charge my vehicles and run my fleet for free?”.

What a great question.

In my first role as a commercial territory manager for Mobil Oil (1978) we would offer our better clients ‘free tanks and bowsers’ to allow them to refuel their their fleet, using discounted petrol or diesel, rather than buying from the local service station at retail.  Of course, these came as a part of a longer-term supply agreement and were removed if the supply agreement was terminated.

So the answer about running the fleet for free is, of course, “It depends”.

Assuming you drive to work, stay at work for at least an hour, and have the right charging station your car will be ready for your drive home and you may never need to use fossil fuel again. Assuming you use the solar at work to charge your car, then the electricity produced will be green and your footprint on the planet will well and truly be small.

Why don’t more people consider electric vehicles?

The general opinion is that an electric car is expensive, has a restricted range, may not be available or any one of a long list of objections.

This is just not true.

For under $200 a week there are some truly stunning performers available for you to pick up at the dealer today. 

Probably the best value right now is the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug In Electric Hybrid (PHEV). This is a totally awesome vehicle, is available today ‘driveaway’, comes with a petrol backup engine to make skeptics feel comfortable, and assuming you use the petrol option every so often, may give you fuel consumption as low as 1.7 litres per 100kM.

If you charge each day at work you may never have to use the petrol backup making this a great electric only vehicle – with just a petrol emergency backup. All this with the features of the standard Outlander without the fuel costs!

Best of all, assuming your workplace has solar already, you could get away with a finance package all up for under $200 a week – including a charge point and a few extra solar panels.

As we move into 2020 there are a very large number of new electric vehicles hitting the showroom. One I am very excited about is the new MG range, in particular the 2020 ZS EV electric compact SUV which will provide an electric only range of about 260kM.

And once again under $200 a week financed including a charge point and bonus solar panels if needed.

Most electric vehicles, as construction is simple with fewer moving parts to go wrong, come with exceptional warranties and features just not available on traditional vehicles.

New car sales people just don’t get it

I walked into more than one car yard and suggested I wanted to look at their electric vehicle range. I was sure I had grown a second head as the sales people looked at me strangely. “Here is the list of stock we have today … I can do a great deal on these TODAY”.

No wonder so few electric cars are sold!

So what about the charge points?

Charge points are variable and range from the single phase 7kW Zappi, at under $1,000, to the midrange 22kW three phase models with multiple charge points from about $3,000 to $5,000 to the newer 50 kW fast charging multipoint stations in the $35,000 range. Most electric vehicle companies will also offer ‘factory fitted’ charge points.

So what can I do?

Yes, from under $200 a week, per car,  you could be adding electric vehicles to your fleet. 

Talk to your ASM Money broker today about specialist renewable energy finance and have your first electric vehicle parking in the office lot before Christmas.

You will be surprised at what a difference it will make to your bottom line, your employee motivation and marketing teams opportunities