Energy company, AGL, announces $1 a day charging for electric vehicles

AGL Energy has announced plans to offer owners of electric vehicles unlimited charging for just $1 a day, as a part of a new initiative set to come into effect on November 1.

That’s a grand total of $365 for year-round, unlimited charging.

The deal will apply to all electric vehicles on the market, from the luxury Tesla Model S and BMW i3, to more budget examples such as the Toyota Prius or Nissan Leaf.

Those that sign up will be able to keep a clean conscience, with AGL Chief Executive Andy Vesey telling the Australia Energy Week conference the cars will be supplied with ‘carbon offset’ electricity.

This means the energy giant will plant trees or invest in similar carbon offset plans in Australia to match the carbon dioxide emissions.

"For a dollar a day if you have an electric vehicle and you have an AGL smart meter and a charger, you can get energy for that car for $1 a day, as much as you like," Mr Vesey said at the conference on Tuesday.

The finer details of the offer are yet to be nutted out, but it is expecting charging two vehicles would, naturally, cost $2 a day.

AGL will either supply users with a charger, or connect to recharging set-ups which customers already own. Electric vehicle chargers can be bought for around $1000.

The company has also committed to having 10 percent of its own fleet comprising electric vehicles or hybrids within two years’ time. Currently, it has a small number of Mitsubishi Outlanders and extended-range BMW i3s.

Tesla Australia told Gizmodo last year it estimates charging a Model S from 0 to 100 percent power capacity would cost $20. This is also dependent on factors like on and off-peak rates charged by energy companies, as well as any green-energy measures available to customers.