In the lead up to the 2022 NSW Budget on Tuesday, the state government has announced a big boost for EV chargers.
As originally reported by The Guardian, $38 million from the 2022-2023 state government Budget will be dedicated to charging infrastructure. It was also confirmed in a press release today.
“Rolling out extra chargers will allow more EV drivers to benefit from their cheaper running costs and a cleaner, quieter and more sustainable road network,” said NSW Treasurer Matt Kean.
“You’ll never be far from a charger on our major highways, in regional destinations, apartment buildings and on kerbsides in metropolitan areas with limited off-street parking.”
The fund is comprised of three major parts:
- Firstly, $10 million will go towards co-funding 500 kerbside charge points, to offer on-street charging in residential streets (specifically where private off-street parking is limited). This seems to apply to densely populated inner-city suburbs without many garages or on-property car parks.
- Moreover, $10 million will go towards co-funding around 125 medium-to-large scale apartment buildings with more than 100 car parking spots, to allow for electric car charging upgrades. This directly targets building infrastructure, allowing for integrated charging technology (beyond the scope of a wallplug charger).
- Finally, $18 million will go towards fast charging grants, to speed up the fast charger rollout in the state. This section of the funding also notes that charging points at charging stations will also be increased, from four to at least eight, in high-density urban areas.
If you’ve been following our coverage of the NSW government’s EV charger rollout, you’ll know that they’re pretty passionate about it. In February, the state government announced an ambitious plan to roll out ultra-fast chargers throughout the state, and in May, they followed up with another plan to roll out chargers in regional NSW.
Keep in mind, though, that these plans rely on co-funding from private businesses. We’ll likely see more chargers on the Chargefox, NRMA and EVIE networks, along with others.
EV charger uptake has actually been a pretty big focus of the new Labor government too, with a plan to map out highways of EV charging stations across the country.
But, as we’ve said many times, while more charging stations are very welcome (there’s simply not enough across Australia as I type this) another big problem EVs currently face is price. The cheapest EV in Australia currently costs above $40,000, which makes it quite an unobtainable car for many people, despite government incentives.
If you’d like to read the press release on EV chargers and the 2022 NSW Budget, you can find it here.