More than one in three drivers are thinking about buying an electric vehicle in the next five years, and the Albanese Government is accelerating the rollout of public chargers to meet this growing demand.
With the help of $2.4 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Australian EV charging company EVX Australia will install 250 kerbside chargers providing 500 charge plugs, on existing power poles across towns and cities in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia over the next two and a half years.
Using the power network already in place, the Australian-designed and made chargers will improve community access to reliable EV charging infrastructure in metro areas as well as around regions including for example Orange, Wagga Wagga, Bellingen, Forbes, Queanbeyan, Wingecarribee, Goulburn and Eurobodalla.
The new infrastructure will support Australians who choose to make the switch to an EV, cut hundreds of dollars a year from their running costs, and reduce emissions in the process.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said having more chargers in convenient easy to access location on streets in high density residential areas and around shopping, sport and recreation precincts, would encourage more Australians to take up the benefits of electric vehicles.
“These chargers are a key step to unlocking cleaner, cheaper-to-run EVs for Australians who aren’t able to charge them at home,” Minister Bowen said.
“When we came to government, one in 50 cars was an EV. That’s now one in ten. And we’ve tripled the number of fast-chargers around Australia.
“But we need a mix of solutions, not just fast-chargers, but more convenient kerbside options around our cities and towns.
“Projects like this, supported by ARENA funding, are helping develop the answers we need to scale.”
The funding is part of the Albanese Government’s ongoing work to accelerate the rollout of EV charging infrastructure across Australia through its Driving the Nation program.
More than 1,100 fast charging stations with more than 3,500 plugs are now available nationwide, up from 356 charging stations when we came to Government.
The Albanese Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard introduced last year and opposed by the Coalition is already helping to increase choice for buyers, with more than 122 EV models available, some for less than $35,000.
