Among the strawberry rows and lamb paddocks, commuters can now find a free electric vehicle charging point.
Belstack Strawberry Farm owner Peter Tacey installed the charging point six weeks ago and quickly had a local family pull in to recharge — and they bought drinks and played mini golf while waiting for their car to ‘fill up’.
“The driver found it through an app. These people with these things (EVs) know where to go,” Mr Tacey said.
“Hopefully they start stopping here more and we can talk to them about what else is in the area so they can bring outside dollars which may have gone to Bendigo or Echuca here.”
The charger is the only one in Kialla and the only charging point near Shepparton-Mooroopna apart from the four in front of the Shepparton Art Museum.
Outside Shepparton, the next closest chargers are a Tesla-only one at Tallis Winery and three points in Euroa to serve the Hume Hwy traffic.
Mr Tacey said he got the idea from his electrician, who he said was “right into electric vehicles”.
“When we put the power to the cabins our sparky said to us ‘you need a EV charging point’. . . when the City of Greater Shepparton said there was a grant to ‘enhance visitor experience’ at the bottom of the grant they said ‘example: an EV charging point’. I thought — I’ve heard this twice now.”
The charging point is free of charge and is only accessible when the Belstack Strawberry Farm shop is open.
“We’ve got solar on the shop and house, and the charge is only open during the day, so it’s only drawing when power is being generated,” Mr Tacey said.
Mr Tacey said it was a good investment considering the Victorian Government wanted half of all new cars sold to be zero-emissions vehicles by 2030.
Extracted from Shepparton News