<
https://thedriven.io/2025/04/23/the-transition-needs-to-happen-quickly-the-australian-bank-financing-only-evs/>
"Bank Australia sees an opportunity to grow its currently small vehicle lending
division with the radical-in-Australia shift towards electric car loans in
February.
The mutual bank introduced a ban, telegraphed in 2022, on lending for new
petrol, diesel and hybrid cars on 20 February.
“Bank Australia is a smaller lender and car lending is a much smaller portfolio
than our home loan portfolio, so we do see a much larger growth opportunity
from a small base,” says Bank Australia’s head of impact Jane Kern.
“We are really hoping to carve out a market in future in lending to electric
vehicles.” Kern says there has been a small uptick in electric vehicle (EV) car
loans since February.
Bank Australia is the only bank in the country to completely remove the option
of car loans for new ICE vehicles.
It’s lending at 6.95 per cent interest for new and used EVs, but is still
offering loans at a higher interest rate of 8.95 per cent for second hand and
demonstration internal combustion (ICE) vehicles.
The bank says this allows Australians to still access a wide range of vehicles
but doesn’t contribute to new ICE cars on the road.
“We know that not everyone can afford an electric car at the moment,” Kern told
The Driven.
“We chose 2025 because we knew the transition needed to happen quickly and
there was an expectation that a large range of affordable vehicles would be
coming on to the market in 2025.”
The years-long expectation that 2025 would be the year of the cheaper EV is
being borne out, as manufacturers slash prices to gain market share around the
world.
In Australia, AusEV debuted utes that are cheaper than the beloved Hilux,
Hyundai launched its cheapest town runabout yet, newcomer Zeekr unveiled an
entry level wagon for $44,000, and giant Chinese carmaker Nio released a
hatchback with a swappable battery where the top spec variety is priced at just
$27,000 – and this is just in April."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
