Adelaide City Council is offering to install green powered recharging stations for drivers of electric cars. In September, Council backed Lord Mayor Michael Harbison’s move to install the charging points at the request of electric car owners who have reserved parking in Council owned carparks across the city.
The Lord Mayor said that while only seven electric cars are currently registered in South Australia, the demand will grow.
“It’s a case of the chicken and the egg,” he said. “People don’t buy electric cars because there is nowhere to charge them outside of the home, and councils and governments don’t install charging points because not enough people own electric cars.
“The idea of this initiative is to really break that deadlock.”
Lord Mayor Harbison said that the recharge points would be installed by Council at the owner’s expense and that electricity would be metered and added to the owner’s monthly carpark account.
All electricity will be provided specifically by accredited green energy suppliers and the Lord Mayor estimates that both the cost of the lockable unit and installation is around $400 to $500.
This latest initiative complements a number of sustainable transport initiatives across Adelaide City, including Tindo – the world’s first solar electric bus, and electric motorcycles, which are used by Council’s parking inspectors.
The motorbikes run for several days before they require recharging and have been a hit with the parking inspectors that use them.
The Lord Mayor said that with Council now looking to purchase another bus, the Works Department has requested an electric model.
“They are more than happy with Tindo’s performance and have found that electric vehicles cost less to maintain than their diesel counterparts,” he said.
