Tenterfield will soon host an electric vehicle fast-recharging station after councillors gave the go-ahead to a request from NRMA (National Roads and Motorists' Association), who has picked the town as well-placed strategically for what promises to be a surging demand for the facility.
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Council’s northern carpark off High Street (behind Foodworks) has been identified as an ideal location, as it’s near a transformer and supports 24-hour access with good lighting and security camera coverage.
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Councillors were keen to tap the tourism potential of the exercise, and a recharging station in that location gives users ready access to the town’s CBD and amenities. In fact they put in a request for the NRMA to include a profile of the district in its Road Ahead magazine.
Use of the facility will be free to NRMA members (at this stage) via the My NRMA smartphone app, and charged for other users. NRMA says the cost of powering an electric vehicle is around a quarter of that of fuel vehicles per litre equivalent, predicting the demise of the internal combustion engine.
The electric car industry is maturing from a city runabout alternative to one which can chew up the kilometres on longer runs, with single-charge ranges of up to 450 kilometres with the latest releases.
By 2030 between 15 and 40 per cent of all car sales are expected to be electric vehicles, up from the 0.1 per cent of sales at present. In an NRMA survey 59 per cent of consumers cited ‘range anxiety’ as a significant concern.
Anticipating a surge in electric vehicle travellers, the NRMS is investing $10 million into building a fast-charging network of more than 40 stations across NSW and ACT. The network with focus on major highway routes connecting key tourism localities, making Tenterfield ideally located. It’s envisioned that the network will cover 95 per cent of NRMA members’ road trips.
The stations will cater to the two most popular standards (CHAdeMO and CCS) and will be able to charge most vehicles to the recommended 80 per cent capacity in 30 minutes.
Initially one car park alongside the transformer will be allocated to the recharging station, with room to increase that number should demand exist.
Council will provide the space on a peppercorn (nominal) lease, and the NRMA will undertaking all the site design, equipment supply and installation and manage the network. There will be minimal ongoing financial or operational obligations for council.
With new electric vehicles now coming under the $50,000 purchase point, council’s chief operating officer Andre Kompler told councillors to expect to see a lot more of them on the road.
