Freda D. Cuevas
Hertz Australia conducted an electric car survey during September 2022 of 1,004 Australian Driver’s Licence holders aged 18+ and it revealed that the car rental industry could be a useful “try before you buy” road test option to ease Australian Electric Vehicle (EV) anxiety prior to purchase.
Electric car adoption rates in Australia remain low, with just 2% of respondents stating they currently own an EV and fewer than 5% having ever driven one.
The research revealed the top three deterrents to EV ownership among Aussies, are:
- Price: 70% of motorists perceive EVs as too expensive
- Infrastructure: Half (52%) believe there is a lack of charging infrastructure across Australia
- Know-how: 28% of motorists say they don’t know enough about EVs
Eoin MacNeill (Hertz APAC Vice President) believes his company is perfectly poised to break down some of the stigmas and drive up EV adoption as a result:
“As a business, we’ve significantly invested in the global electrification of our fleet and its supporting infrastructure. We believe this is the future and are doubling down on our efforts”.
“As a car rental business, the bulk of our customers are repeat ones, whether that be for business or leisure. What has changed is we’re now seeing a new customer segment emerge that simply want to trial a Tesla or Polestar vehicle”.
“At Hertz, we’re prioritising providing our customers with the opportunity to travel more sustainably and the response to date has been excellent”.
“We’re finding that customers that try our EVs, love them. Not just because of the environmental benefits, but also because the experience is helping them to dispel some of the predetermined myths they may have had about driving one”
