Australia’s largest public electric car charging network, Chargefox, has been acquired by a consortium of motorists led by the NRMA in a deal that values the company at $56 million.
Australian Motoring Services (AMS), made up of the state-based membership groups NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAC, RAA and RACT, already had a roughly 40% stake in Chargefox and now has full control of the company in a deal that it is believed to be worth nearly $30 million.
NRMA is the largest member of AMS and has been at the forefront of the national rollout of electric vehicle charging, including in Tasmania, and has built 117 fast charging stations on the national road network in a deal with the Australian government.
Founded in 2017, Chargefox will continue to operate normally with plans to build more than 5,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the country by 2025.
In October 2018, the company raised $15 million to build its ultra-fast charging network. Funding included $6 million from the Australian Government’s Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), $1 million from the Victorian Government and further funding from AMS, Wilson Transformers and Carsales founder Greg Roebuck.
Rohan Lund, CEO of the NRMA Group, said his organization is ideally placed to play an important leadership role in the national transportation industry’s transition to electric vehicles.
“Australia is not immune to the global transition from fossil fuels in transportation to renewables and we need to take important steps now to ensure the nation is not left behind. That is why the current investment of the Australian car clubs is so important,” he said. .
“Between us, we represent more than 8.5 million motorists across the country and they are looking to their motoring clubs to show leadership in this area. The acquisition of Chargefox by the NRMA and its sister clubs is just the latest in a series of significant steps the NRMA has taken to help lead this transition.
Lund said Chargefox has already made an impressive impact on the industry, with over 14 million carbon-free miles charged and growing and the AMS deal will grow that figure significantly.
“It is widely accepted that electric vehicles will appear on Australian roads in much greater numbers in the coming years and the NRMA is committed to ensuring the country has the infrastructure it needs to make this transition a reality,” it said. he.