'Expect Similar Moves Here': Australian Bank's Decision About Car Loans Will Hasten Transition to EVsLeah Barkoukis
Aug 23, 2022
In Australia’s push to follow other developed nations’ transition to electric vehicles, one bank in the country said it will stop giving out loans for new gas or diesel vehicles beginning in 2025, including hybrids.
According to Sasha Courville, Bank Australia’s chief impact officer, the date was chosen “because the change to electric vehicles needs to happen quickly.”
"We think that the responsible thing for us to do next, is to ensure that our vehicle lending doesn’t lock our customers in to higher carbon emissions and increasingly expensive running costs in the years ahead," Courville said in a statement on Friday.
"Ultimately, our announcement today is the beginning of a conversation with our customers and a signal to the wider market that if you’re considering buying a new car, you should think seriously about an electric vehicle – both for its impact on the climate and for its lifetime cost savings."
The announcement comes as the government in Australia said it was “significantly behind the pack when it comes to electric vehicles.”
To ensure that trend doesn’t continue, “national leadership is needed,” the government added. “In this context, we believe that now is the time to have an orderly and sensible discussion about whether vehicle fuel efficiency standards could help improve the supply of electric vehicles into the Australian market, to address the cost-of-living impacts of inefficient cars, and to reduce emissions from the transport sector.”
The idea of cutting off financial support for combustion engines is not new, according to CNBC.
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Source:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2022/08/23/australian-bank-plans-to-stop-giving-out-loans-for-gas-vehicles-by-2025-n2612113
