The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has committed up to AU$22 million to back Australia’s largest electric truck rollout, partnering with electric fleet specialist Zenobe Australia to transform last-mile grocery deliveries.
The funding injection will allow Zenobe to acquire a fleet of up to 148 Foton T5 battery electric trucks (BETs).
The zero-emissions vehicles will be leased to Woolworths for home delivery services across New South Wales and Victoria, with additional deployments planned for Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. The full fleet rollout is scheduled for completion over the course of 2027.
Under the leasing model, Zenobe will retain ownership of the vehicles, operating as a one-stop-shop that covers maintenance, warranties and upgrades.
This allows Woolworths to scale up its clean energy transport operations without absorbing end-of-life battery or technology risks.
CEFC Head of Infrastructure Julia Hinwood said the investment reflects the increasing commercial viability of heavy electric vehicles, helping to bring them closer to price parity with diesel counterparts.
“With fuel price volatility and supply risks increasingly material for freight operators, early large‑scale deployments are critical to generating the real‑world performance data and operating benchmarks needed to underpin a secondary market for electric heavy vehicles,” Hinwood said.
The investment forms part of a broader CEFC focus on the decarbonisation of Australian transport, alongside commitments across passenger vehicles, fleet electrification, and charging infrastructure.
While passenger electric vehicle uptake has surged across Australia, heavy transport has lagged; electric options accounted for just 0.9 per cent of the 12,003 trucks and heavy vans sold nationally in 2026 so far.
Transport currently generates up to 23 per cent of Australia’s national emissions, with road freight activity projected to grow by 35 per cent by 2040.
Gareth Ridge, Zenobe’s Country Director for Australia and New Zealand, said the project proves that electrification can be commercially viable.
“Together with Woolworths and the CEFC, we’re proving that large-scale zero-emissions logistics is no longer a pilot, it’s commercially viable and operationally proven,” Ridge said.
The deal brings the CEFC’s total direct investment in transport decarbonisation projects past AU$260 million.