Cheaper electric cars could be coming sooner than you think thanks to a $10 million investment

The Good Car Company says it could supply EVs as cheap as $20,000.

Australians unable to afford an electric car in the current market may soon find some relief as a significant investment is set to allow one company to import more new and near-new EVs into Australia.

The Good Car Company, a Tasmanian-founded company which imports pre-owned and new electric cars from the UK and Japan, has received a $10 million boost from self-described ‘philanthropic venture’ Boundless, which it hopes to use to increase its imports of affordable EVs tenfold.

Currently, The Good Car Company says it imports around 200 cars into Australia each year, and hopes to increase this figure to 2000.

Add CarsGuide as a preferred source in Google Search

The company says it is able to import cars such as the Nissan Leaf in 30kWh, 40kWh and 62kWh variants, or vans like the Nissan eNV200 and Peugeot e-Expert. In terms of new EVs, the Polestar 2 and Hyundai Kona Electric SUV are available for fleet purchase.

The vehicles will be available to order via the company’s website rather than via a physical dealer situation, where it says there are currently vehicles available.

So far in 2022, more than 21,771 electric cars have been sold, though a significant portion of these are relatively premium cars like the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, or highly-specified and less affordable versions of cars like the Hyundai Kona.

While the figures for 2022 so far are significantly up from 2021, where the total was 3568 at the same time last year, Australia’s uptake for EVs still stands at fewer than three in every 100 sold.

An additional 2000 electric cars each year won’t be the absolute tipping point for EVs in Australia, but it will provide affordable cars to more buyers who are keen to ditch petrol or diesel.

Importantly, The Good Car Company says its cars sold in Australia will be covered by consumer protections such as battery warranty, recall notifications, servicing, and roadside assist.

This covers recent concerns raised by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI); the industry group that represents the majority of Australia’s new car brands.

Issues like the Takata airbag recalls or EV battery recycling have been raised by the FCAI on the topic of grey imports.

Anthony Brose van Groenou, Co-founder and Director at The Good Car Company said the investment from Boundless will allow the company to expand the Australian electric car community while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

“This boosted capacity to add 2000 more affordable EVs to the Australian marketplace annually will have the transformative impact in Australian communities that we need,” he said.

“We delivered Australia’s first community EV bulk buy in 2019 and every year we witness more and more people wanting to transition to EVs and the opportunities they unlock.

“Australia is comparatively underserved by availability and affordability of EVs - We’re excited that our community model has been recognised as a great way to change that.”

On the investment, Boundless CEO Eytan Lenko said his organisation is dedicated to making investments that will make Australia “a renewable energy superpower by 2030”.

“With transport accounting for 18% of Australia’s emissions, we knew our first priority had to be bridging the growing gap between demand for EVs among Australians and the supply available within an attainable price point,” he said.