City leading the charge with electric vehicles

IT seems that electric vehicles (EVs) are getting some airtime in the news lately.

I’m a proud supporter having organised the closest thing to an EV available in place of the petrol guzzling mayoral vehicle as one of my first actions when voted in as mayor three years ago.

I can personally attest to the driving pleasure and cost-efficiencies offered by a hybrid.

However, I fully appreciate EVs are relatively costly and the non-hybrid variety requires public and private charging options.

New charging stations are certainly popping up in our region and across Victoria as more people consider making the switch.

Perceptions about the distances EVs can travel and proximity to charging stations are directly related to EV uptake and, as a council, we are working to clear up confusion and inform the community about their advantages.

EVs save drivers money on fuel, running costs and maintenance, contribute to cleaner air (which is great for the community’s health) and reduce carbon emissions.

These advantages reflect the aims of council’s Sustainability Framework and Action Plan, which compels the City to consider environmental, social and economic sustainability in all actions.

EVs play an important role in this plan, and increasing community resilience to the impacts of climate change includes changing the City’s light fleet vehicles to EV alternatives by 2027.

Progress is being made and a $48,000 grant from the Victorian Government via the EV Charging for Council Fleets program will help deliver two new charging stations at our Belmont and Corio depots.

The dual port 22.5kW EV chargers allow for up to four vehicles to be charged at the same time.

This is additional to the five dual port charging stations already at the Belmont, Corio and Drysdale depots, powering up six electric vans.

New infrastructure opens up the opportunity to grow our EV fleet.

Another three EVs will soon be delivered and the City is preparing to order up to 10 more in 2022-23.

The power source behind these charging stations is another topic of interest, with all the City’s electricity until 2030 sourced from renewable wind energy through the Victorian Energy Collaboration that council signed up to last year.

We hope by leading the charge – so to speak – the community will be inspired to increase use of EVs where possible.

To facilitate this, we are aiming to support the installation of a network of publicly available charging stations powered by renewable energy by the end of 2024.

Planting more trees is another winner when it comes to sustainability as they clean the air, have a positive impact on mental health, provide habitat and cool shade.

With our tree canopy coverage currently sitting at 7-10 per cent, it’s clear there is a lot of work to do to increase coverage to 25 per cent.

Understanding the priorities of community members and exactly where they want trees planted (and what species) over the next 10 years is vital for the City to achieve this target effectively.

Engagement is open on the One Million Trees Plan and I encourage readers to have input on the topic. Head to yoursay.geelongaustralia.com.au/MTP

While online, visit geelongaustralia.com.au/sustainability to get a sense of what the City is doing as part of the Sustainability Action Plan.

Council and the City are united in the goal to create a sustainable future, as it is common sense to manage our impacts and prepare to deal with future challenges.

Cr Stephanie Asher