Solar Citizens is calling on the NSW Government to commit at least $10 million per year over the next three years towards electric vehicle charging for apartment buildings across the state.
While year-on-year electric vehicle (EV) purchases have grown, people living in apartments need access to the convenience and lower cost of electric vehicle charging in their buildings.
A former $10 million program from the NSW Government towards the assessment and installation of EV infrastructure upgrades for apartment buildings received a positive community reception and applications closed in less than five months of the program going live.
It also offered grants to cover a percentage of infrastructure and software costs if upgrades went ahead.
Solar Citizens CEO Heidi Lee Douglas said “Apartments have been overlooked for electric vehicle charging infrastructure in NSW and have been put in the too-hard basket.
“Our message for the NSW Government is you already have an EV charging upgrade program that was very popular with the community, why not lean into this and continue the program over the next three years?
“Electric vehicles are cheaper to run, return money to household budgets, ease the cost of living for drivers, and reduce pollution and emissions for decades.
“People living in an apartment should not be locked out of getting behind the wheel of electric vehicles and reducing their ongoing costs and emissions.
“The demand for electric vehicles is there in the community and it’s now about making sure the apartments we live in are kitted out with the charging infrastructure needed to meet the current and future demand of residents,” Ms Douglas said.
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Background
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Details of NSW Government’s previous Electric vehicle-ready buildings program here
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About 16 per cent of Australians live in apartments.
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Sydney leads the nation in high-density apartment living, housing nearly half of Australia's high-rise population. About 45 per cent (247,506) of the people who live in high-rise flats reside in Greater Sydney, where there are nearly 120,000 apartments, or 32 per cent of the national total.
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The demand for electric vehicles is growing - with Australians purchasing a record 87,217 electric vehicles over the past 12 months, a rise of 161 per cent from the previous year.
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Recent Roy Morgan polling shows up to 607,000 Australians plan on buying an electric vehicle in the next four years, up 37,000 from a year ago.
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The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, passed by Federal Parliament in recent months, means there are likely to be more, and more affordable, electric vehicles and hybrid models entering the Australian market next year.
📸: Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson/AAP