Charging ahead with more electric vehicle charging stations

Despite the pandemic, the sale of electric cars (EV) continues to grow, and Council is supporting the installation of more infrastructure to support this more sustainable mode of transport.

This week Council adopted the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Plan following consultation with the community about the strategy.

The plan makes it easier for EV take-up by canvasing business models for both private-operated and Council-owned EV charging stations in strategic locations like carparks, on-street sites and at key hubs on the peninsular.

New car sales data released this week reveals 8688 battery and plug-in EVs have been sold in the first half of 2021, which is more than in any calendar year* and of those more than 2,100 Full Electric or Hybrid Vehicles are estimated to be on the Northern Beaches alone.

Currently, there are 10 public EV charging stations in the LGA, nine of those on private property in commercial carparks, with the other at the Council-owned PCYC carpark in Dee Why.

Council has eight electric vehicles and 10 hybrid EVs as part of its 379-vehicle fleet.

Investigations are also underway into the cost of transitioning the entire fleet to electric cars by 2023 and exploring other technologies such as hydrogen electric.

There are two location planned for installation in Mona Vale in September with more to follow in the coming months across the Northern Beaches Area.

*Electric Vehicle Council – State of Electric Vehicles 2021