Electric vehicle charging infrastructure has supplanted housing as the most divisive topic this week. On Ku-ring-gai Living there are so many residents for or against!
My comments as follows.
1 Public charging infrastructure will help us collectively move towards Net Zero 2040 or earlier. While Council requires new apartments to be built with the electrical conduits for household charging, residents of old apartments (as well as visitors to the LGA) are particularly reliant on public infrastructure.
2 With the increased uptake and demand for EVs, many of the previously free chargers are now on a paid model, with our closest chargers at Lindfield and Chatswood available at 22-30c per kw.
3 The fast chargers that are being explored by council will also be on a paid basis – my guess is 64c per kw. It’s higher cost than the slow chargers, but you pay for the convenience and the energy is still a third of the price of buying the equivalent in petrol.
4 Most of these chargers are also on 100% renewable energy, while those chargers that are reliant on fossil fuels still lead to lower emissions – with large scale power stations more efficient at converting energy than small scale internal combustion engines.
5 The 5 locations currently being considered by Council are much more sensible than those that were proposed to councillors a few months ago. (I was quite critical at the previous proposal, with some really crazy ideas like chargers being built on roadways and blocking future bike paths.)
