Electric vehicle uptake: Woollahra council report says residents would buy EV if charging stations were available

The overwhelming majority of residents in Woollahra want to buy an electric vehicle. However, there is one thing holding them back – and it is not the cost.

The affluent eastern suburbs don’t have a problem affording the $100,000 price tag for an electric vehicle (EV). But a lack of charging stations is holding residents back – with fears about keeping the engine running and fully charged eclipsing other barriers such as cost.

A recently released report by Woollahra Council found 79 per cent of residents said an increased availability of publicly-accessible EV charging stations in the eastern suburbs would influence their decision to purchase an electric car.

About four out of five residents were considering purchasing an EV as their next car and 86 per cent want council to facilitate more EV charging stations.

Council’s Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Policy was adopted in late September and outlines its plan to support development of an Electric Vehicle Strategy for the Woollahra, Waverley and Randwick LGAs.

Woollahra Council’s researched barriers to EV uptake in the LGA. Picture: John Appleyard

The council has released a draft plan which includes targets of installing two new public electric vehicle charging stations per year, and for 10 per cent of all new carparking spaces to have a charger installed.

While the LGA has the highest rate of EV ownership after the Sydney CBD, with a large population of affluent early adopters, residents say they would be racing to catch up to comparable nations if it was easier to maintain an electric vehicle.

A report by KPMG projects Sydney will outpace Melbourne and Brisbane in EV uptake, with 11 per cent of total cars expected to be EVs by 2031. It found Neutral Bay in the lower north shore, which has an average income of $131,000 is set to see its EV share increase from 0.31 per cent to 23.4 per cent by 2031.

Vaucluse resident Nancy Georges told the Wentworth Courier she looked into buying a Tesla for her family but discovered her apartment building didn’t have capacity to add a battery due to a faulty refurbishment.

“I know there’s a lot of people in our situation,” Ms Georges said.

Vaucluse resident Nancy Georges decided against buying a Tesla because of concerns about available infrastructure. Photo: supplied.

“Everyone we know with a Tesla is like; ‘you’ve got to get one, you’re insane [not to]’,” she said.

Ms Georges said at a recent out of town wedding she saw about “four cords hanging out their bedroom windows” to charge their EVs.

She has since purchased a hybrid Toyota to meet her environmental objectives, without the risk associated with an EV.

Electric Vehicle Council head of energy and infrastructure Ross De Rango told the Wentworth Courier the eastern suburbs was a prime example of a high-income and high density area where infrastructure was holding back uptake – more than cost and availability.

Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra councils unveil the first of many electric vehicle charging stations that will be rolled out in the Eastern Suburbs in 2019. Picture: Toby Zerna

“For consumers that don‘t have that kind of built environment, which is a lot of people in those sorts of suburbs in Sydney [where] there’s a lot of apartments and terraced housing, the transition to an EV requires the availability of public charging infrastructure,” Mr De Rango said.

“Given that the local council has control over local roads, and owns a lot of facilities that are connected to carparking spaces, local council definitely has a role to play.”

The past 12 months have seen an increase in EV infrastructure across the eastern suburbs.

There are currently five charging stations at Norwich Rd, Rose Bay, Kiaora Pl and Redleaf car park at Double Bay, Goodhope St, Paddington with a charging station recently installed at Old South Head Rd, Vaucluse.

Picture: Toby Zerna

Waverley Council recently partnered with Tesla to install EV charging stations at Westfield and Eastgate shopping centres.

Mr De Rango said the Australia-wide uptake was contingent on lower prices. A Tesla Model X costs somewhere north of $100,000 but an increasing number of EVs now available in the market cost below $50,000-$60,000, which will eventually drive a second-hand market.

Ms Georges said certainty around access to public charging stations and potentially new council rules such as mandating new developments including battery charging stations, would make the decision a no-brainer.