Dubbo Regional Council has approved an electric car charging station and more could be on the way.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tesla has been granted approval to install a station with four Superchargers in the car park next to the Western Plains Cultural Centre, facing Wingewarra Street.
And there could be more charging stations on the way.
Council staff are also meeting with another provider about the installation of more charging stations.
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
Councillor Dayne Gumley said it was something that had been on his radar for a while.
“I spoke to staff about it a few months ago and fortunately they were already putting the feelers out. It’s good news that Tesla is on board and hopefully that will come sooner rather than later,” he said.
A Tesla charging station has already been established in Bathurst in the Town Square car park. The organisation also has plans to establish them in areas like Bendio, Canberra and Tamworth.
“Electric vehicles are not popular in regional areas but this is part of the reason, we don’t have the infrastructure,” Cr Gumley said.
Electric vehicles are not popular in regional areas but this is part of the reason, we don’t have the infrastructure.
- Dayne Gumley
He said the charging station would help encourage more people to consider electric vehicles, while also promoting tourism.
“It’ll be good to get EV owners from out of town now being able to come to Dubbo, even if it’s on the way to somewhere else. They can come to Dubbo and spend their money, whether they stay here or they’re buying lunch,” Cr Gumley said.
“We’re on the intersection of he Newell Highway and the Mitchell Highway, we’re in the middle of NSW, it seems like a pretty obvious location to put an EV charger in.”
A report undertaken by the NRMA last year found there were more than two million electric vehicles on the road, with suggestions it could rise to 140 million by 2035.
According to The Future is Electric report, between 2015 and 2016 alone the number of electric vehicles globally rose by 40 per cent.
The NRMA report recommended the government introduce incentives to encourage electric vehicle alternatives, abolishing the Luxury Car Tax, encouraging research and development in electric vehicle technologies, and prioritising domestic electricity generation to improve fuel security.