New South Wales Government Electrifies Fleet Revolution

This is news from Australia, not a US program, but it's worth knowing about if you're tracking how electric vehicles are spreading. The state of New South Wales is running a "Kick Start" fund that has handed out AU$9 million to help small businesses switch their vehicle fleets to electric, covering part of the price gap between an EV and a comparable gas or diesel vehicle. Businesses need at least 3 vehicles to qualify and can get funding for up to 15. Grants range from AU$5,000 for a passenger car up to AU$50,000 for a heavy commercial truck, and the money can also go toward installing chargers.

Several organizations have already used the funding. A refugee support service added 22 EVs to its fleet of 69 and reports lower fuel and maintenance costs plus less time spent scheduling repairs. A logistics company that works on film and TV productions started with a single electric delivery truck and plans to expand over the next two years. A port terminal operator has put six electric sedans into its fleet, backed partly by onsite solar panels, and a technical college has added 35 EVs and 15 chargers, with plans for 75 more vehicles and 47 more chargers in the next year.

None of this applies directly to US homeowners, since it's a state-level business program in Australia. But it's a useful sign of how fleet electrification is playing out elsewhere, and how governments elsewhere are structuring incentives to close the price gap between EVs and gas vehicles.