It’s now possible to rent a Tesla Model S through a mainstream rental agency in Australia, thanks to Thrifty’s decision to add one to its rental fleet at Canberra Airport.
This is apparently the only Model S yet added to the firm’s fleet, though, so those looking to rent a car in Melbourne, Sydney, or elsewhere are out of luck.
Considering that Canberra is the only territory or state in Australia to offer any kind of electric vehicle (EV) purchase incentives, it seems likely that Thrifty’s management chose the Canberra airport as it starting point for Tesla deployment for that very reason.
The Motor Report provides more on that topic: “To that end, the ACT is the only state or territory in Australia to afford buyers anything close to a ‘rebate’ for EVs purchases. It’s a small gesture in reality, but with no stamp duty on EVs registered for the first time in the Capital the Model S and Model X are cheaper in Canberra than anywhere else in Australia. Annual registration fees still apply, but a very modest discount on these fees is a further offering from the ACT government to drivers of ‘green’ cars (including those running on LPG).”
Like elsewhere, Australia has its share of Tesla fans, so this new offering must be exciting to many people there. “Tesla opens the door to what the future of mobility in Australia will look like and we are thrilled to be making this available to our Thrifty customers in the ACT soon,” commented NRMA Group CEO Rohan Lund.
Continuing: “(We) call on other state and territory governments to remove unnecessary red tape, fees and charges that might hold this technology back. We are also very much committed to investing our own capital to achieve these goals and today’s announcement is just the start.”
The Tesla Model S in question will be available at the Canberra Airport starting next month.
Image via Tesla
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