Charging your electric vehicle (EV) will soon be easier thanks to a new EV charging trial funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Local street side power poles will be turned into charging stations for electric vehicles, under an Australian-first trial, being rolled out by Intellihub.
The nine local councils taking part in the Intellihub EV Streetside Charging Project include Northern Beaches, Waverley, Woollahra, Randwick, Lake Macquarie, Ryde, Singleton, Parramatta and Inner West local councils.
Origin Energy will supply 100% GreenPower for the project, so for all the energy required to charge electric vehicles from the new chargers, the equivalent amount of certified renewable energy will be put back into the grid.
The chargers will be supplied by Schneider Electric, with around 5 EV chargers expected to be installed on the Northern Beaches.
Currently 8 out of 10 existing electric vehicle owners charge their car at home, according to the NRMA, but this project will make EV charging stations more accessible for those who live in apartments, townhouse or units with no on-site EV charging facilities.
If the trial is successful more poles will be rolled out across the country to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles.
According to the Australian Government, the transport sector is responsible for a whopping 19% of Australia’s total carbon emissions. Encouraging uptake of electric vehicles is a great way to reduce our carbon emissions.
Data from the Australian Energy Market Operator suggest that one in 10 new vehicles purchased by Australia by 2025 will be electric. That’s equal to 120,000 new vehicles sales.
We want to see more electric vehicles on our local roads and has a plan to increase EV charging infrastructure across the Northern Beaches.
Our MOVE Transport Strategy sets a target of a 30 percent reduction in vehicle emissions by 2038 and our Climate Change Action Plan sets out our actions to achieve this, including installing public EV charging stations.