Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, in partnership with SG Fleet and Nissan Australia, is charging ahead with its Electric Vehicle (EV) Pilot Program, in a move towards the bank’s goal of reducing its carbon footprint.
In a key milestone that forms part of the bank’s Climate Change Action Plan, three members of the Bendigo Bank team sat behind the wheel of a Nissan Leaf E+, with the pilot helping to inform the Bank’s EV strategy on how it can best transition its entire sealed road fleet to EVs.
“Our EV pilot aligns with our purpose to feed into the prosperity of our customers and communities, not off them,” said Marnie Baker, CEO and managing director. “While programs such as these are small steps in the overall context of the challenges we face, here at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, we look forward to building on our green credentials. We are committed to reaching our goal to purchase 100% renewable energy by 2025 and reduce absolute emissions by 50% by 2030, and our EV strategy is going to help do just that.”
The bank has planned the integration of its EV strategy – from the purchase of the cars to the installation of charging stations at employee’s homes, all the way down to how it will reimburse employee electricity bills.
“Throughout the program, Bendigo Bank has shown a commitment to be at the forefront of this cutting-edge transition and the organisation is now well prepared for a broader roll out to their staff,” said Lincoln De Kalb, group head of product development (future mobility) at SG Fleet said. “SG Fleet is proud to deploy its deep industry knowledge of EVs to support the key decision-makers at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. Through our eStart program, we helped build the company’s transition strategy and have assisted the drivers with their move to EVs.”
“The Nissan Leaf E+, is such a versatile and practical vehicle, which has a comprehensive list of safety features and is simply fantastic to drive – so we are confident that Bendigo and Adelaide Bank will see great results from this program, including some very happy ‘pilots’ in this first wave and beyond,” said Ben Warren, national manager of electrification and mobility at Nissan Australia.
Richard Fennell, chief customer officer for consumer banking, said Bendigo and Adelaide Bank customers could also reduce emissions by applying for a Green Personal Loan with the bank.
“We’re switching to EV’s, and our customers can too, with one of our Green Personal Loans,” Fennell said. “We were the first bank in the country to reward customers who purchased goods that were energy efficient or used renewable energy sources with a lower interest rate in 2002, and earlier this year we announced our Green Loans would be discounted even further. For our Secured Green Personal Loan, suitable for electric vehicles, an additional 1% on top of the existing 1% discount was introduced. We also updated our equipment finance policy so the cost of the charging unit may be financed in the case of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.”
For more information on how to have your own EV, visit Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s Green Personal Loans page.
