By 2025, the local government is adamant, the ACT will have at least 180 publicly available chargers for electric vehicles across the city. They are “now well on [their] way” to meeting that target, Shane Rattenbury, ACT Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction, declared today.

The opening of the north Canberra suburb of Casey’s first public DC fast chargers brings the total to 160 – 20 short of their target.

The four electric vehicle (EV) charging bays are at Casey Market Town – a convenient location, Chris Mills, CEO of the government’s partner, Evie Networks, said.

“It meets all of our criteria with regards to customer experience. It’s really easy to get to. It’s safe and secure; no matter what time of the day or night you’re here, there’s good lighting, there’s good people around you; you feel safe coming in at two o’clock in the morning, coming into charge, and you’ve got good amenity. You’re going to be here for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, so you might as well do your shopping. It’s a paradigm change from petrol, where you went to the petrol station to get your petrol. Now you do your shopping; while you’re there, you get a charge.”

The charging bays are powered by two DC fast chargers from Evie Networks, in partnership with ActewAGL, and are suitable for all types of EVs. Both CCS2 and CHAdeMO plugs are available.

Because the ACT has “the greatest take-up of EVs per capita in the country”, as Mr Mills pointed out – 17 per cent of new vehicle registrations in 2023 – the chargers will be a boon for their drivers.

“What we’re seeing is a changing preference amongst customers where they don’t worry about the range anxiety of the of the vehicles, the vehicles have got plenty of range, but they are worried about availability anxiety,” Mr Rattenbury said. “They want to make sure that when they turn up, is the charging spot available?”

To that end, Mr Rattenbury continued, the government is keen to make sure there is “a good spread of charging opportunities across the city”, from town centres to smaller shops like Casey.

“Bearing in mind, most people charge their vehicles at home,” the minister said. “But it is important to have public sites either for visitors to town, or for those people who suddenly find themselves to be caught short.”

The Casey chargers were among 46 public EV charging bays installed since late 2022, funded through a $1.5 million grants round. Other ACT Government-funded DC fast chargers are at the Royal Australian Mint and at Hotel Realm in Barton.

The government is commissioning a second round.

“We’ve got a clear target to get more charging infrastructure out there,” Mr Rattenbury said. “We’re seeing growth in vehicles. So we need to keep increasing the amount of charging as well.”

Nevertheless, he believes government funding is only short term.

“This is a situation where there’s definitely a role for government early in the process to invest, to kickstart, to build up the sector, and to crate public confidence in the ability to drive an electric vehicle. My anticipation in the long term is that this will become a viable private business, and the companies that are involved now will not need to see so much government support. There will be a genuine commercial programme out there of people rolling out charging stations.”

Mr Mills believes that Australia reached the “tipping point” for electric vehicles last year, when 5 per cent of new vehicles nationwide were EVs. Already, he said, more than half of the population is thinking of buying an EV as their next car.

The government would encourage Canberrans to transition to zero emissions vehicles through stamp duty exemptions, free registration, and interest free loans, Mr Rattenbury said.

“This is all part of our commitment to reduce transport emissions, which currently make up over 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the ACT, as we electrify our city’s transport system and transition away from fossil fuels towards our goal of net zero emissions by 2045.”

Find out more about public charging in the ACT on the Everyday Climate Choices website.