Technology entrepreneur and Tesla electric vehicle collector Simon Hackett is backing the expansion of Evoke, a Tesla-only limousine service, in Sydney and into Melbourne.
Mr Hackett, the chairman and chief executive of novel technology battery company Redflow, has bought a 10 per cent stake in Evoke, which was started in Sydney by Pia Peterson.
Ms Peterson wants to add three Tesla Model X SUVs to privately-owned Evoke's fleet of five Tesla Model S vehicles and expand into Melbourne with three cars by the middle of year.
She said the SUVs would be "fantastic" for transporting larger families and provide more flexibility for corporate clients.
Evoke claims to have avoided more than 110 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions since being launched by Ms Peterson – the wife of maths app developer Mat Peterson – in May last year.
Adelaide-based Mr Hackett, whose family owns three Teslas with two more on order, uses the service whenever he is in Sydney and said he had invested to back its growth.
He sold his internet company Internode to rival iiNet (now part of TPG Telecommunications) in 2011, and has steered the proceeds into Redflow, Tesla and a Melbourne aviation software company.
