The eight new electric vehicle charging bays are now in operation at the Sunbury multi-deck car park, with Hume council setting a usage fee of 35 cents a kilowatt-hour.
This GST-inclusive fee will be reviewed in the 2025/26 council budget to ensure that the operational and electricity costs are covered for the eight 22 kilowatt AC rechargers.
In an officers’ report presented at the latest council meeting, it stated that as it was difficult to predict usage rates of the charging bays, the selected fee was recommended by the supplier.
According to the report, the fee covers the operational and electricity costs while being not low enough to outcompete other private electric vehicle charging options in Sunbury.
It said that the one other recharging bay in Sunbury is at the Gap Road Hungry Jack’s, which provides recharging at a cost of 25 cents a kilowatt-hour.
Councillor Jarrod Bell said that installing the eight bays addressed a need in Sunbury to match the year-on-year increase in electric vehicle purchases in Australia.
“EVs … don’t form the only solution to our future transport challenges, but they certainly form part of the solution,” Cr Bell said.
“Do not believe the hyperbole, do not believe the misleading headlines out there … they are cheaper to run, they are perfectly safe,” he said.
The bays are now in operation and are open for public use.
Oscar Parry
