Small businesses willing to make the switch the electric vehicles in the next year

Earlier this year we saw propositions to make electric vehicles cheaper to consumers, and it looks like small businesses have taken note. The suggested Electric Car Discount Bill has proven extremely popular with small business owners, with 66% saying they would go green if it was approved.

Moving towards a zero emissions future with EVs

A new survey from Small Business Loans Australia asked business owners from across the country how they felt about the proposed bill. 

The majority said they would be willing to purchase an electric vehicle if the bill is passed, making EVs and hybrid vehicles more affordable. The bill would remove Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) from EVs, as one of many ways to make them more accessible.

With pressure on Australia to reduce carbon emissions, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050, this could be an extremely helpful step. With the average lifespan of a car, the next couple of years of car purchasing are crucial to what our roads will look like in 2050.

“Cars are on the road for about 15 years, which means that the cars that we sell in 2035 need to be almost exclusively zero-emission” says Senior Associate at Grattan Institute’s Transport and and Cities Program, Ingrid Burfurd. 

Thankfully, many owners of small- to medium- enterprises (SMEs) feel this bill will be enough to incentivise them towards green cars. If passed, 9% of SME owners surveyed said they would be willing to buy an EV this year, while 31% said they would buy one in 2023. Only 34% of business owners said that they would not be willing to buy an electric vehicle, regardless of the Electric Car Discount Bill.

Electric Car Discount Bill not to rule out the need for car loans

While the proposed Electric Car Discount Bill could bring about some serious savings for small businesses, it won’t serve to eliminate the need for car financing.

In fact, 63% of surveyed business owners said that they would seek financing for electric vehicles. As cars are such a significant purchase, this isn’t surprising. 

In the past few years, we’ve seen a growing number of car loans pop up specifically for green cars. These often offer lower interest rates than comparable loans for new cars, and places like Bank Australia are even aiming to phase out new car loans on petrol and diesel vehicles.

Perhaps we could soon see a similar movement in the small business loans space, moving to make green alternatives more attractive to small business owners.

Stay in the know about all things environmentally friendly at our green finance hub. Looking to switch over to an EV? Check out the car loans below, or browse Mozo’s best car loans.