Elsie Lange
Hume council would welcome further government support for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to be installed, with just four stations across the municipality.
Jacksons Creek ward councillor Jarrod Bell has been vocal about the need for greater EV infrastructure in Hume and has seen a noticeable increase in the number of EVs in Sunbury.
However, he said a friend in Sunbury who owned an EV “sold his car due to lack of infrastructure”.
“I was encouraged to see EV charging points installed recently at Hungry Jacks in Sunbury, however I do acknowledge there is still a long way to go to support an electric car future,” Cr Bell said.
Hume council said it was aware of more than 10 additional recharging sites in the municipality to have received funding support from the federal and Victorian governments.
Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) energy and infrastructure head Ross De Rango said at a state level, EVC was advocating for the deployment of public charging equipment – but Victoria was falling behind New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
“If we consider Victoria, and the public charging arrangements in place, there are large black spots on Victorian road networks where there is no availability of public charging,” he said.
He echoed a report by the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University which found that in the near future, charging at home and having fully charged EV batteries in the morning was “likely to be a priority”.
Mr De Rango said EV owners in Sunbury, whose cars have a 400 kilometre range, were more likely to need public fast charging out in the places they were travelling, rather than in town.
Cr Jarrod Bell said council was “doing its bit”.
“The new multi-deck car parks at both Sunbury and Broadmeadows [are] designed to be charge point ready and [there are] investigations into how council can support EV use across the city,” he said.
“Council is also about to embark on the renewal of our climate change action plan, the document that outlines how we will minimise our climate impact.
“It is my hope that non-fossil fuel powered EVs will play a key role in this plan and will shape council’s transport and fleet solutions moving forward.”
