While you’re unlikely to get stranded with a dead electric car due to a lack of available chargers, Australia still needs much, much more availability before many will considered them a serious alternative to their petrol-powered stalwarts. For electric car drivers in NSW and the ACT, the situation should improve significantly, with the NRMA looking to construction “at least 40 chargers” across the state and territory.
Announced last Friday, NRMA chairman Kyle Loades thanked a “strong financial performance in 2016-17” as the main driving force for the initiative.
Research conducted by the organisation also strongly suggested that uptake of electric cars in Australia was hampered by a “lack of charging infrastructure”:
“There are simply not enough chargers in public places to make electric vehicles viable for longer journeys and the NRMA’s investment will change this forever,” [says Loades] “The NRMA’s core purpose is to keep people moving, and this initiative to remove obstacles to the adoption of electric vehicles and give motorists peace of mind will do exactly that.”
A total of $10 million will go to building the network, which will “double” the network’s current size, according to the NRMA announcement, with chargers to be first established in the Blue Mountains, Sydney, Newcastle and Illawarra, among others.
If you live in NSW or the ACT and are keen to have a convenient charger installed, the NRMA is “calling for potential partners”. Can’t hurt to ask, right?