AGL offers electric cars in “Netflix for EV” subscription deals

The Driven

AGL Energy has launched an electric vehicle subscription service that offers its customers access to a fully registered, serviced and insured EV and fully installed home charging system, starting at $299 a week.

The first-of-its-kind service for Australia – dubbed by AGL as the “Netflix of electric vehicles” – was formally launched on Wednesday by AGL as the first order of business for the gen-tailer’s brand new innovation arm, AGL Next, and to coincide with World EV Day.

To roll it out – starting with a pilot program limited to customers within 50km of Sydney or Melbourne – AGL is partnering with existing Melbourne-based car subscription service, Carbar, and EV charging equipment supplier JET Charge.

AGL says the service will offer a range of leading electric vehicle brands, although according to the website that is currently limited to just four models: the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Ioniq for $299 a week, the Hyundai Kona ($359/w), and the Tesla Model 3 ($599/w). You can find more here.

This limited menu is a direct reflection of the limited range of electric vehicles currently being offered in Australia, which is, in turn, a reflection of the distinct lack of federal and state policy support to drive the uptake of EVs.

(And if you are wondering why the Tesla is that much more expensive it is because the other cars are low mileage used demos, except for Tesla because used ones are not available. As that changes and supply increases, the cost will go down).

But AGL says the range of EVs offered through the service will grow alongside Australia’s market, and the hope is that initiatives like this one will help to speed up the so-far glacial pace of that growth.

“We know that costumer interest in EVs is growing exponentially, but there is a lot of uncertainty still there, particularly around price,” AGL’s newly appointed executive general manager of future business and technology, John Chambers told The Driven.

To read the full story, please go to our EV-focused sister site, The Driven, and click here.