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Victoria Rolls Out Electric Car Charging Stations (Read 187 times)
whiteknight
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Victoria Rolls Out Electric Car Charging Stations
Dec 27th, 2019 at 5:14am
 
Victoria rolls out electric car charging stations to tackle 'range anxiety'   Smiley

December 26, 2019
The Age

A widespread network of highly visible electric car charging stations in Victoria is critical to prevent “range anxiety” - a fear of being stranded and unable to recharge - according to a consultation paper into how to make the state ready for zero emissions vehicles.

The Victorian government has launched a new map of existing and proposed electric charging stations across Victoria with the latest ultra-rapid charging station opening in Moe earlier this month.


"It's a totally new way of driving": Chris Stone has become a fan of electric cars after being given a company car.   Smiley

The map is intended to help Victorian drivers locate the 403 electric vehicle charging stations across the state, with another 31 expected to be constructed by the end of next year.

Victoria wants to encourage the use of electric cars as part of its strategy to tackle climate change with a long-term target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.


However the number of electric vehicles in Victoria is currently small, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2018 motor vehicle census showing that just 0.056 per cent of passenger vehicles on our roads are powered by electric motors.


The state government consultation paper says range anxiety is a commonly cited barrier to the use of zero emission vehicles even though new models in the Australian market can drive more than 300 kilometres without recharging.

“A well-planned network of widespread and highly visible publicly available charging stations across Victoria is still critical to providing public confidence of being able to go where you want without the anxiety of being stranded between charging stations,” the paper says.

Victorian Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said the Moe station - which delivers 400 kilometres of range in 15 minutes - and six other stations in Euroa, Barnawartha North (near Wodonga), Melbourne, Torquay, Ballarat and Horsham - were supported by $3 million in state government funding.   Smiley


“We’re supporting new charging stations across the state so Victorians have confidence that they can take their zero emissions vehicles right across Australia,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.

In 2018 the government announced a deal that will see a commercial electric vehicle factory open in Morwell in the Latrobe Valley in 2021, manufacturing around 2,400 vehicles a year and creating up to 500 jobs.   Smiley

The government is developing a Zero Emissions Vehicle Roadmap, to be released next year, which will set out the infrastructure and support needed to get more electric cars on the road.

It has released two papers for consultation.

One paper said just 0.1 per cent of new car sales in Australia in 2018 were fully electric vehicles. “Price is the main constraint on uptake,” it said.

Prices for electric cars were higher than those for conventional vehicles because the technology was new and Australia had a limited range of models, most of which were luxury brands such as BMW and Tesla.

Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari said Australia lacked federal policies that supported the uptake of electric vehicles, such as fuel efficiency standards and tax incentives.

In Norway, for example, electric cars are exempted from most taxes and offered benefits such as free parking and charging points. Almost a third of new cars sold in Norway in 2018 were pure electric.

“A lot of the work is looking at how we get automotive makers to bring electric cars to Australia in the first place,” Mr Jafari said. “Cheaper models exist but they are not brought to Australia because we don’t have these policies.”

One of the consultation papers said Victoria would continue to lobby the Commonwealth to implement light vehicle co2 emission standards, review the luxury car tax and fringe benefits tax and improve fuel consumption labelling.

It also warned that our current electricity network was not designed to accommodate the large increase in demand that would come with electric vehicles.

“Government will need to work closely with distribution businesses (responsible for the management and upgrade of our electricity networks) to manage this new demand and potential impacts for peak demand,” it said.

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