Sydney’s EV drivers have more on-street chargers with nine low-impact plug-in sites (with a total 18 plug-in points) available for residents and visitors.
The trial with Ausgrid and EV charging infrastructure partner EVX highlights how the City of Sydney is taking early action on its Electrification of transport strategy and action plan.
“Drastically lowering transport emissions is critical to meeting our net zero targets,” says Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore.
“We are making great inroads by improving active and public transport options, but ensuring remaining private vehicle use is as green as possible is also incredibly important.
“That’s why the city is working with energy providers and our diverse communities to lower the barriers to electric vehicle use, particularly through access to charging facilities.”
Moore says research shows most EV owners will be able to charge at home, work or a public off-street charging point but, given the city’s urban fabric, not everyone there has access to private parking.
“We’re meeting the challenge of providing on-street charging capacity without obtrusive infrastructure taking up precious road and footpath space,” she explains.
Ausgrid Group distributed services executive Rob Amphlett Lewis says the eight additional power pole-mounted chargers recently installed across the City of Sydney’s area showcase how Ausgrid is helping to make the transition to EVs easier.
“Power pole-mounted chargers are faster and cheaper to deploy than other kerbside charging units and reduce urban clutter, causing less disruption to our surrounding communities,” he says.
“We believe as the community sees more charging infrastructure close to their homes, they will feel confident making their next vehicle purchase an EV.
The Australian-made EVX pole charger has been designed to meet the challenges utility providers and local governments face in building EV charging infrastructure sustainably.”
EVX chief executive Andrew Forster says inner Sydney areas with little or no off-street parking will greatly benefit from this service.
Fourteen dedicated EV charging spaces at the eight new locations will be available free from the City of Sydney, although drivers need to download an app to access and pay for the charging service (50 cents a kWh) directly with EVX.
“This charger is a game changer for our area,” says Millers Point resident Melanie Tait.
“We’ve already seen an increase in residents making the switch which will only continue as more chargers are rolled out throughout the city.
“The houses here were built in the early to late 1800s when everyone was getting about by horse, so we are reliant on street-based infrastructure. The same can be said of the apartment blocks which were mostly built pre-electric cars and lack the necessary infrastructure to facilitate fast charging.”
The EV chargers are at 16 Kent Street, Millers Point; 12 Trinity Avenue, Dawes Point; 55 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont; 8 Brown Street, Newtown; 15 Carillon Avenue, Camperdown; 3-19 Yurong Street, Darlinghurst; 2 Huntley Street, Alexandria; 27 Morley Avenue, Rosebery and 75 St Johns Road, Glebe.
Sydney’s first power pole-mounted EV charging point, also powered by EVX, has been operating in Glebe since February, complementing more than 100 publicly available charging points across the area.
“We are all in a climate emergency,” says Moore, adding the city must continue working to reduce emissions across the board (the EV chargers are powered by 100% renewable electricity).
The unit is an AC dual 22kW (total 44kW) ready charger. At this stage, the charger has a maximum capacity of 11kW per socket. As vehicle manufacturers increase the AC charging capacity of their vehicles, EVX’s software can allow for updates to the capacity remotely. Charging time will depend on the vehicle specifications and battery utilisation.
More than 8% of new cars sold in Australia are EVs.
EV drivers can look at the NSW Government’s EV charging map for a comprehensive list of public charging sites.
Drivers download the EVX Australia app, scan the QR code on the charging point and start charging. The EVX app shows which chargers are available (chargers cannot be pre-booked).
Users will need to bring the charging cable associated with their individual vehicle (EVX’s chargers utilise the industry standard type 2 charging cable available for all EVs).
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