Council to push for more public charging stations ahead of predicted spike in electric car sales
A predicted massive spike in electric car ownership on the northern beaches has prompted the council to look at attracting private firms to provide charging stations on council land.
Manly
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A predicted massive spike in ownership of electric-powered vehicles on the northern beaches over the next five years has sparked the council to a push for more EV charging stations.
The council is looking at trying to attract more private charging providers, like Evie and JOLT, to set up chargers on council-owned land.
It comes as latest figures show that local EV registrations jumped by 56 per cent in the 12 months from January 2023.
And the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, using uptake projections by the CSIRO, is forecasting there will be more than 33,500 registered in the local government area by 2030.
In March this year, there were just 4173 EVs recorded.
The council will debate, at its Tuesday meeting, a motion to send out an expression of interest to private EV charging firms to set up stations on council land.
It currently has 18 chargers on council property, provided by the firms Jolt and Exploren.
There are also 24 commercial fast charger plugs at 12 different locations as well as 44 commercial “destination” charger plugs at 42 sites across the northern beaches.
Evie, for example, already three six charging stations on the northern beaches at Frenchs Forest, Belrose and Dee Why.
In a staff report to the meeting, councillors will be advised that EVs will “dominate the roads in 2038” and that most of them will be charged at the owners’ homes.
“Although most EV owners prefer to charge at home, residents in terraces, apartments and rentals are not able to do this and need to rely on parking charging facilities,” according to the report.
“Kerbside charge ports are therefore the most convenient and cost-effective charging options for these residents.”
The report suggested about 1100 charging ports would be needed to meet future demand.
It stated that the public had suggested that the most popular locations were shops, beaches, parks and car parks, “along with suggestions for charging places like boat ramps, sportsgrounds and existing service station sites”.
Mayor Sue Heins has said that said the council wanted to work with industry partners to make sure there were enough local charging stations to keep pace with demand.
“We expect it will encourage more people to make the switch from petrol and diesel powered vehicles to electric,” she said.
The council has a 30 per cent reduction target in vehicle emissions by 2038.
An EV owner who was charging her SUV at the Evie port on Monday told this masthead that she would welcome more local charging stations.
“With more people expected to buy EVs, we need the infrastructure,” the driver, who asked not to named, said.
Click here to check current locations of EV chargers on the northern beaches.
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