REGIONAL Victoria is set to receive more electric vehicle charging stations with grants now available to councils, businesses and community organisations to see through their installation.<\/p>\n
The State Government announced $5 million in funding for around 100 charging stations as part of the Destination Charging Across Victoria Program, with 80 per cent of the money to going to regional areas.<\/p>\n
Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D\u2019Ambrosio said expanding the charging station network would help meet the needs of the growing number of electric vehicle drivers on Victorian roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will make it easier for electric vehicle drivers to make the trips they need, knowing that there will be a charging station when they need, where they need,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The State funding comes off the back of a regionally focused project to install chargers across 20 sites in partnership with 12 local governments and led by the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance.<\/p>\n
Executive officer of the CVGA Rob Law said the installation of two EV chargers at the Queen Elizabeth Oval carpark as part of the Charging the Regions project is \u201ca good start\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Bendigo, it\u2019s okay if you\u2019re a Tesla driver because there\u2019s a Tesla station but\u2026 I drive a Hyundai and we can\u2019t use the Tesla stations so there\u2019s very few options for charging at the moment in Bendigo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an EV driver myself it\u2019s really difficult to get around the regions without really planning ahead about where a charger will be.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a lot of regions in Victoria to date it\u2019s been slow chargers which take a very long time and usually require at least four or five hours stop over.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a greater network of fast chargers means there\u2019s a lot less stress when you\u2019re driving around as an EV driver, and you don\u2019t get that same level of range anxiety about where you can go.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s creating that network of chargers no less than 100-kilometres apart and that\u2019s really vital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think over the years we\u2019ll see a constant need for the infrastructure to keep up with the demand but at the moment the infrastructure that\u2019s going in will address the demand I imagine in the next couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
REGIONAL Victoria is set to receive more electric vehicle charging stations with grants now available to councils, businesses and community organisations to see through their installation. The State Government announced $5 million in funding for around 100 charging stations as part of the Destination Charging Across Victoria Program, with 80 per cent of the money […]<\/p>\n