Wollongong’s EV push is ramping up even more as council starts its switch to an all-EV fleet and the NRMA opens two new fast chargers in the area.
Council is waiting for its first electric fleet vehicle, a Hyundai Kona, to arrive, but planning has already started on establishing a bank of electric vehicle fleet chargers in Council’s administration building carpark to support more EV fleet vehicles in the future.
A WCC spokesperson said the council has already started swapping to hybrid EVs when a vehicle is due for replacement.
“Already 12 percent of our pool car fleet runs off a combination of electricity and fuel. We are looking at opportunities to transition plant and heavy fleets with trials underway involving electric mowers.”
According to Transport for NSW figures, as of 31 December 2022 the Wollongong local government area has 122,662 registered passenger vehicles; of these, 420 are EVs and 14 are PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle).
Wollongong has the highest electric vehicle uptake for any NSW city, outside of Sydney, which has 1407 registered EVs, 13 of which are PHEVs.
WCC policy recently enabled the installation of two new charging stations at Council’s Stewart Street East carpark.
The two chargers, one of which is a 150kW super-fast charger and claimed to be able to fully charge an EV in 15 minutes, are the result of a Transport for NSW-NRMA partnership project.
The Stewart Street location forms part of a local network with fast chargers in Berry and Batemans Bay in the south, and Picton and Mittagong in the Southern Highlands.
Austinmer's John Buchelin, the EV owner who organised last year's EV Open Day in Thirroul, says: “More super-fast charger will make longer trips much easier, especially for the EVs that can only do 200km to 300km on a single charge.
“Ideally, we need EV chargers to be so common that you don’t have to plan your trip, just get in your car and know that you will see one along the way.”
He agrees that more fast chargers will result in increased EV uptake.
“Absolutely. It will mean that more people are comfortable to make the switch to EVs and also make older EVs with lower range more attractive.
“The other benefit is that it will give more people a chance to chat to an EV owner – I am constantly approached at public charging stations to chat and ask questions about EVs.”
Council’s all-EV fleet plan is a positive move, but John says more needs to be done.
“To future-proof our region the council needs to be piloting a range of different chargers in car parks and on curb-side parking. We need to allow people to charge during the day when we are generating excess renewable energy, we also need the council to be maximising the solar on every public building and making spaces for EV chargers at destinations like libraries, sporting fields and commuter car parks.
“A big shift we need to make is to change our habits from infrequent, large top-ups like we do with petrol cars to charging our cars when we aren’t using them. These chargers don’t have to be big super-chargers, so they will not cost as much and can be rolled out a lot faster to get ahead of the significant surge in EV purchases around the region.”
Six more fast chargers are expected to be installed in Wollongong over the next two years as part of the NSW Government’s $149 million Fast Charging Grants.
Transport for NSW and the NRMA have partnered on the installation of more than 20 regional EV charging sites across NSW.
Wollongong City Council's Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Policy is on exhibition until March 6.
To have your say on the draft policy, visit the Our Wollongong site, email engagement@wollongong.nsw.gov.au or write to: General Manager, Wollongong City Council, Locked Bag 8821 Wollongong NSW 2500
