The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has committed up to $6 million to support the rollout of 60 battery electric trucks (BETs) for Woolworths deliveries, using a leasing model developed by fleet specialist Zenobē. The model is designed to remove the upfront cost barrier and ease the transition to electric vehicles in the freight and logistics sector.
The trucks will be used for last-mile grocery deliveries in New South Wales and Victoria, replacing diesel vehicles and cutting emissions from Woolworths‘ home delivery fleet. Zenobē will lease the vehicles to Woolworths through its “Electric Vehicle as a Service” (EVaaS) model, which bundles trucks and charging infrastructure into a fixed-price service.
Gareth Ridge, Zenobē’s Country Director of Electric Vehicle Fleets, explains: “This support from the CEFC enables us to deliver electric trucks and charging infrastructure for Australia’s largest supermarket retailer.”
“Through our Electric Vehicle as-a-Service model, we handle the upfront cost and complexity of fleet electrification and manage the entire transition so our customers can focus on their core business,” he said.
The CEFC’s Julia Hinwood said that decarbonising freight is essential to meeting national climate goals, and called the investment “an innovative model that can be adopted by the broader freight and logistics sector.”
Hinwood added that shared infrastructure and fixed-cost leasing could offer a way forward for operators who may not have the capital or capacity to build their own charging and maintenance systems.
The CEFC funding is part of a $19 million project with Zenobē and ARENA that also includes Australia’s first off-site, multi-user charging hub for BETs in Mascot, Sydney. Around 20 of the 60 CEFC-backed trucks will be based at this new hub, with the rest distributed across multiple Woolworths locations in NSW and Victoria.
Woolworths has committed to shifting its home delivery fleet to electric vehicles by 2030 and sees shared infrastructure as a way to accelerate that transition.
Transport is Australia’s fastest growing source of emissions, making up just over 22 per cent of the national total. Without change, it is expected to become the country’s largest source of emissions by 2029. Despite the potential of BETs to reduce emissions, uptake remains limited compared to diesel trucks, largely due to costs and infrastructure issues.
The CEFC has now supported the financing of over 14,000 electric vehicles, with more than $900 million in total investment including private sector capital. It has also backed other fleet electrification projects, including support for Team Global Express and funding for electric bus fleets with Zenobē.
