Charge of the EV brigade postponed

“Electric vehicle ownership is growing and the number of EVs registered in Port Phillip has almost doubled since 2019 with almost 340 EVs registered in 2022.
Independent consultants estimate that there will be around 11,000 EVs in Port Phillip by 2030.”
Report to Council 1 May

A decision to discontinue a pilot program of Private Kerbside EV chargers has been deferred until June to collect more information.
Since 2021, 10 private chargers have been installed in nature strips at residents expense (about $6500 each) in a pilot program.
It’s a contentious issue because EV ownership is rising yet an estimated 90% of households will not have the space or technology to charge at home. This will make them reliant of public charging facilities – which are currently almost non-existent in Port Phillip.
Supporters of private kerbside charging spoke passionately at Council urging continuation of the program. They said their private investment made owning an EV possible and convenient even though they could not guarantee access to their charger. ‘Neighbours have been co-operative’ they reported.
Council supporting a network of charging options
Council is investigating ways to increase provision of public charging to meet a range of demands. In a rapidly evolving technology, the current thinking is that EV owners will rely on a mix of public rapid charging (>30 minutes to full charge on a road trip), incidental charging (say 1 hour in a shopping centre carpark) and public kerbside (7Kw) charging (2 – 5 hours) – giving results similar to home charging.

Public pole chargers look promising (NSW picture)
Council is working with Intellihub, who were awarded a grant of $1.35M by the Victorian Government’s Zero Emissions Vehicle Emerging Technologies (ZEVET) program to install 100 EV chargers mounted on power poles across three inner city local government areas, including Port Phillip. This program is due to be completed by end of 2024. Council is also working with EVX Australia Pty Ltd to investigate pole mounted chargers.
Councils across Melbourne are grappling with the complexities of EV charging, both for the public and their own fleet. A large hurdle is the cost of installing electricity supply for fast charging as it needs more than the domestic network currently supplies.
Watch this space