Electric vehicle charging stations to spring up in Wollongong’s public car parks

Wollongong City Council is looking to lease out parts of its public car parks to allow electric vehicle charging stations to be installed, as part of its push to help residents drive down carbon emissions over the next 10 years.

Under a new policy, which will go on public exhibition, the council is hoping to minimise “range anxiety”, which they say is one of the major road blocks stopping people from buying electric cars.

At present, there are just five electric car charging locations in Wollongong, and all are located on private land, leaving people worried about their ability to recharge.

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“The current locations … require EV owners to go to the UOW campuses or a shopping centre to charge their vehicle,” a report to councillors says.

“None of these existing stations are located on accessible, public land. Nor are they complementary to destination charging, which provides opportunities for both residents and visitors to the city to charge their vehicles in key locations and explore, dine and contribute to the local economy.”

To fix this, the council’s new policy will allow infrastructure providers to enter into leases with the council to use its public land, preferably existing car parks, to set up charging stations at popular places throughout the city.

In a report to councillors, staff have acknowledged that the current uptake of electric vehicles in Australia is relatively low compared to other developed countries.

However, in 2019 the council says sales across the country increased threefold with 6700 vehicles being sold compared to 2200 vehicles in 2018.

And this uptake is expected to increase to 70,000 vehicles by 2023, with distance range improvements and competitive pricing of vehicles, the council said.

“Consumer research has identified high purchase cost (with no current government subsidies or benefit) and range anxiety as two of the biggest factors contributing to the low uptake rate,” the council said.

The council said transport emissions account for 19 per cent of residents’ emissions across Wollongong, meaning any extra take up of self-charging hybrids and electric vehicles “has the potential to reduce our transport emissions”.

“The provision of electric vehicle charging infrastructure will support the move away from internal combustion engine vehicles,” the council said.

“Longer term, the use of renewable energy to supply the charging stations may reduce our emissions footprint even further.”

Existing electric car charging stations

1. University of Wollongong (1 station)

2. UOW Innovation Campus (1 station)

3. Figtree Grove (2 stations)

4. Wollongong Central (3 stations – 2 Tesla)

5. Warrawong Plaza (2 stations).

Source : illawarramercury