Electrifying Australia - AUSEV is on a Mission to Reboot the Country's Automotive Industry

While electrification has hit the Australian shores, one company has been playing a pivotal role in furthering the country in its electrification journey - AUSEV. A subsidiary of Australian multi-industry company BOSSCAP, AUSEV has formed several strategic partnerships to create an ecosystem to help boost the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

“AUSEV was established to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in Australia, with a focus on RHD 4×4 EVs and has evolved to incorporate not only pick-ups but also different segments of trucks,” Brendan Kenny, Head of Operations at AUSEV, tells Auto Futures.

"The company is committed to offering an end-to-end solution, including servicing, charging and fleet management. AUSEV aims to leverage BOSSCAP’s experience in RHD manufacturing and distribution of ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles to now offer OEMs a solution to either partially or fully manufacture RHD electric vehicles locally in Australia,” he says.

AUSEV has set out to create a holistic ecosystem. To that end, it has formed a strong strategic partnership framework with international OEMs and service providers to assist customers with transitioning their vehicles to electric. The company’s list of partners include companies focused on fleet management, telematics, EV Infrastructure, servicing, carbon credit generation, and financing, among others.

Today, AUSEV utilises BOSSCAP’s manufacturing facilities, where it currently manufactures and distributes a range of American Light and heavy-duty ICE pickup trucks for the Australian market. AUSEV’s current product line-up includes pick-up trucks, vans, as well as light, medium and heavy-duty Trucks. AUSEV is also in advanced discussions to sign a MOU agreement with a new EV passenger and SUV manufacturer, with details to be released in the near future.

“Currently, BOSSCAP’s manufacturing facility focuses on ICE vehicles, while our advanced manufacturing and vehicle certification subsidiaries are focused on prototyping and homologating a range of future EV products for the Australian marketplace. We are also exploring export to international RHD markets.”

Speeding up EV Adoption

Kenny stressed on the fact that adapting EVs to Australian conditions is very important to BOSSCAP, which is why it has invested so heavily in its advanced manufacturing subsidiary (Advanced Manufacturing Queensland) and its vehicle certification subsidiary (Australian Vehicle Certification) for both engineering and homologation into the Australian marketplace.

For any country that’s set out on its electrification journey, there are bound to be roadblocks along the way. Things are no different for Australia.

“Australia has typically been behind the transition of electric vehicles when compared to the rest of the world, however our electric uptake has been growing year on year. In 2022, Tesla has doubled its sales since 2021, with a total of new electric vehicle sales reaching close to 4% of the total market share last year,” explains Kenny.

Australia's Path to Electrification

Speaking about the challenges that the country faces, Kenny adds: “There are several roadblocks and challenges that Australia faces – we are a RHD marketplace, and the R&D cost for RHD development outweighs the return for OEMs to enter the market. Australia has also seen a decline in the automotive manufacturing industry in this country, as a result we have had to invest in engineering and manufacturing expertise ourselves without government support. There is also currently no cohesive strategy in rolling out EV infrastructure, resulting in anxiety about charging locations in Australia.”

But, as Kenny explains, AUSEV is allaying some of these concerns.

“AUSEV is committed to educating customers on the EV industry and has strategic partnerships with multiple companies to assist in making the transition to EV’s easier. AUSEV is also committed to electrifying the automotive industry in Australia. As such, we know we can’t achieve this overnight. Therefore, even though we are still involved in ICE manufacturing, we are utilising our experience to transition by focusing on hybrid vehicles and electric platforms in our path to electrification.” 

Although not the company’s primary area of focus, AUSEV is also set on offering a full solution to commercial fleet owners in Australia. To this effect, the company has partnered with multiple charging suppliers and manufacturers in Australia to assist with building this EV solution.

“We do realise that charging anxiety is a very relevant issue here in Australia, along with concerns over location of service centres, among other things. Having already partnered with Mycar for after sales service and warranty support with our ICE operations, it was a natural progression to partner with Mycar for EV. Their 270+ sites give AUSEV customers the best nationwide vehicle service coverage.”

The company has also partnered with HEVO, which would allow AUSEV to retrofit its EVs with wireless charging. This establishes AUSEV's aim to be a leader in the EV space in Australia, with a full range of consumer and commercial wireless charging options.

Decarbonising Fleets

Earlier in March, AUSEV signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work with renewable energy platform Evansa to bring sustainable and innovative solutions to the Australian market, starting with the supply of commercial EV’s and the generation of ACCUs (Australian Carbon Credit Units) for customers wishing to decarbonise their fleets.

While Evansa will generate ACCUs for AUSEV’s clients transitioning to low and zero-carbon emission vehicles, AUSEV will work with its customer base to provide Evansa with historical fleet data for vehicles that will be replaced by low-emission or zero-emission vehicles, as well as ongoing access to telematics data for all vehicles participating in carbon projects.

“This partnership will help us achieve our goal of reducing carbon emissions and promoting a greener future for Australia,” says Kenny. “We are excited to work with Evansa to bring full EV solutions for our customers to the market, and this is a significant value add for fleet and asset owners looking to decarbonise.”

Moving forward, AUSEV is looking at the Asia Pacific region as well as other RHD markets as a potential opportunity to export its products.

“AUSEV sees a future where we are manufacturing RHD vehicles in Australia by rebooting the automotive industry and giving customers a speed to market advantage of EVs that would otherwise be left behind,” Kenny concludes.