UK-based fleet electrification specialist Zenobē has announced it has secured a $400 million financing facility which will it says enable it to rapidly accelerate the rollout of zero-emission heavy vehicle fleets across Australia and New Zealand.
Zenobē says that the debt facility it has secured has been backed by a syndicate of international banks, and is believed to be the first integrated multi-site heavy vehicle fleet electrification financing platform to be established in Australia .
Zenobē said that the platform will fund electric bus and commercial vehicle projects while also enabling operators to avoid large upfront capital costs associated with fleet electrification.
The company said that the financing model combines vehicle leasing, depot electrification, battery replacement and fleet optimisation services in a single offering, which it claims will allow transport operators to adopt electric vehicles without directly funding the infrastructure and vehicle assets themselves.
The platform launches with one operational project in Australia already in service at Leichhardt in Sydney’s inner west, as well as electric fleet depots in, Dunedin, West Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand.
The company said that centralising its financing at scale will allow it to offer customers more competitive pricing than traditional project-by-project funding arrangements.
Zenobē’s country director for Australia, Gareth Ridge, said that the platform is designed to remove some of the biggest barriers facing fleet operators.
“This platform represents a major step forward for zero-emission transport in Australia,” Ridge said.
“By combining proven operational projects with a strong pipeline into a single financing structure, we’re able to bring greater scale, certainty and cost efficiency to fleet electrification,” he said.
The company said that the funding structure draws on similar models it has deployed in Europe and the United Kingdom, where it recently expanded its electric vehicle financing platform to more than $AUD 1.9billion (£980 million).
The announcement also follows Zenobē’s $AUD 82 million truck electrification programme unveiled earlier this year which was open for heavy vehicle operators in Australia and New Zealand.
Ridge said that the integrated approach allows operators to focus on running transport services rather than managing electrification projects.
“Our model removes many of the traditional barriers operators face, from upfront capital costs to technology risk, while providing a fully integrated, end-to-end solution,” he said.
“This allows our customers to focus on delivering cleaner, more reliable transport services, while we manage the complexity,” he added.
“With strong momentum already underway across both markets, this platform positions us to accelerate investment and play a leading role in decarbonising transport across the region,” said Ridge .
The financing facility was arranged with support from Planum Partners, with MUFG Bank acting as agent and security trustee alongside lenders Credit Agricole CIB, Siemens Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Societe Generale.
