‘Electric Car Club’ Australian shared EV scheme launched

Melbourne co-working space CreativeCubes.Co has launched shared EV scheme the “Electric Car Club”.

The move at its Collingwood location follows a High Court decision to axe Victoria’s controversial electric vehicle tax.

A Tesla Model Y is now permanently based at the workplace for members to book and use when they need to go offsite, either for business or run an errand – and ultimately avoid driving their own cars to work.

The Tesla is also available for personal use on the weekend if members want to take it for a weekend away.

The scheme is being facilitated by tech transport provider Outbound through its dedicated app for on demand EVs – much like Uber, except the user does the driving.

Additional Tesla EVs are expected to be added to the other CreativeCubes.Co workspaces soon.

The Collingwood hub could be the first co-working space to offer a shared EV scheme in Australia with the location doubling as Outbound’s first in Victoria.

“We are thrilled to share this Australian first with our CreativeCubes.Co community,” says co-founder and commercial head Gawin Fernando.

“A large number of our members rely on public transport or cycle to work, but we’ve noticed they often need to venture out to meetings and appointments during their day,” he explains.

“With the introduction of the Electric Car Club located conveniently at the hub, our members now have access to eco-friendly, hassle-free transport that is in their control.

“This aligns perfectly with our commitment to create Australia’s most enticing work environment and our shared vehicle initiative reflects our ethos of sustainability; a pillar of the flex office industry.”

The Tesla is available to all CreativeCubes.Co members, not just those based at Collingwood; however, the EV must always be returned to that location, initially.

CreativeCubes.Co has five coworking spaces in Melbourne with more than 4000 members who will have access to the scheme.

“This is a very exciting initiative, not just for CreativeCubes.Co, but Melbourne as a city,” says Outbound chief executive Luke Rust.

“The concept really lends itself to Melbourne, where parking can be a struggle, not to mention expensive.

“This allows users to perhaps catch public transport or walk or ride to work, and if they do need a car during the day, can simply grab the Tesla.”

Outbound is pioneering the Electric Car Club concept in Australia with other locations on the Gold Coast and Sydney in hotels, residential communities and commercial high-rises – including Salesforce Tower in the Sydney CBD.

Its goal is to reduce people’s dependency on their personal cars and ultimately, eliminate the need to own one altogether.

Rust says the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that more than 20 million registered vehicles are on the road- almost one per person.

“On top of that, the Australian Automobile Association says Melbournians are spending A$460 per  week, or 16% of their income on owning and operating a car – that just seems absolutely ridiculous to me.”