Sydney takes charge in electric vehicle revolution

Australia’s first electric vehicle charging station was plugged in on Glebe Point Road on Monday.

Founder of ChargePoint Australia, Luke Grana, says his company will implement charging infrastructure for homes, workplaces, and public areas across the Asia-Pacific region.

“We’ve got pilot programs planned in each state of Australia happening later this year and next year as EVs (electric vehicles) come into model,” he said.

“The next charging station installation will actually be in Canberra next month.”

Sydney joins a handful of cities in North America and Europe hosting charging stations, including San Francisco, Philadelphia, Houston, Detroit, Vancouver, London and Amsterdam.

Plug-in hybrid electric cars will be able to drive 20 to 30 kilometres on a two to three hour charge before any petrol is used.

Existing hybrids from Toyota and Ford can be retrofitted with plugs, and every major motor company is expected to release a plug in electric vehicle within two years, some as early as this year.

Mr Grana said there are financial benefits to driving a rechargeable car.

“To drive 100 kilometres in a petrol car is roughly $10, and to drive 100 kilometres electric driving is roughly $2 to $3,” he said.

The charge station, situated next to Glebe Public School, will be powered entirely by renewable energy.

Customers buy energy using ‘Smart Cards’, which also show how much petrol and greenhouse gas emissions they have saved.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore plugged it in for public use at a media event on Monday morning.

“This trial program is going to enable us to assess electric vehicle charging stations,” she said.

“When I was in Copenhagen in December for a Climate Change Summit I committed to working with the NSW Government, car share companies and others to scale up the purchase of electric vehicles.

“The other thing the City will be doing over the next 18 months is purchasing 50 electrical vehicles for use in the City.”

City of Sydney Council aims to reduce carbon emissions by 70 per cent between 2006 and 2030.

Transport accounts for 14 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia.

Mr Grana said Sydney’s charging station is ‘level one’. A level three charging station is able to charge a vehicle in about 15 minutes.

ChargePoint is working with Standards Australia and other infrastructure providers to decide on an adopted national standard.

Mr Grana said ‘smart networked’ home charging stations would cost roughly $2000, with the ability to start charging at the right time, such as during off-peak electrical use.

A recent CSIRO project found plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could also be applied to store solar panel energy for nighttime household use.

By Lawrence Bull