A national fast-charging network for electric cars should be built in the next five years, Infrastructure Australia has declared as it outlined its top priorities for 2019.
Lack of access to charging stations is a key barrier to the adoption of electric vehicles, with Australia still having less than 800 stations nationally – only 70 of which are considered “fast charging.” The fastest charging stations under development in Australia could give cars enough power to travel 400 kilometres in 15 minutes.
It is the first time an electric vehicle charging network has been named as a “high priority initiative” by Infrastructure Australia, the federal statutory body, which on Thursday releases its biggest and most diverse annual list of project recommendations to date, naming 121 projects and proposals worth $58 billion.
Although some states have been developing regional charging networks, such as Queensland’s electric super highway, there is no national network.
“Electric vehicles are going to be a game changer in terms of improving our national productivity as well increasing our environmental sustainability,” said Anna Chau, Infrastructure Australia’s acting chief executive.
“But to take advantage of those benefits you really need the enabling infrastructure to go in and that’s really a fast-charging network that gives drivers and passengers the confidence to make the trips they need to make, especially the long-distance ones.”
Lagging other countries
Australia is lagging other countries in developing infrastructure for electric cars, with only about 2300 electric vehicles on the roads even though some car manufacturers, such as Volvo (which is owned by Chinese manufacturer Geely), are planning to phase out internal combustion engines.
Private groups such as Fast Cities Australia, which is backed by the St Baker Energy Innovation Fund, have been trying to secure funding to build a national network.
The charging network is one of four national high priority initiatives identified by Infrastructure Australia. The others are improving the connectivity and reliability of the national electricity market (including making better use of renewable resources); building and improving houses in remote areas; and improving the quality of regional roads.
Regional priorities include preserving a corridor for a potential high-speed rail network between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, which is estimated to cost $2.8 billion; improving public transport on Sydney’s congested Parramatta and Victoria road corridors; and developing more berths for cruise ships in Sydney.
Urban congestion was named as the core issue to be resolved for seven of the eight high-priority projects identified, including Western Australia’s Yanchep rail extension and Brisbane’s metro.
Infrastructure Australia is also trying to encourage projects that use so-called “intelligent transport systems,” which provide real-time information to travellers, and has put proposals to better manage traffic on Sydney’s CBD motorways and upgrade Adelaide’s north-south corridor on its list.
Extracted from AFR