The New South Wales Government is investing $39.4 million to build more than 500 new fast and ultra-fast charging bays across the state, to recharge electric vehicles (EVs) in just 15 minutes.
The funding comes as part of the first round of Fast Charging Grants, which is set to co-fund 86 new fast and ultra-fast EV charging stations, each with four to 15 bays.
The successful applicants from this round are Ampol, BP, Evie Networks, Tesla, the NRMA and Zeus Renewables, and all stations will be built over the next 24 months, with a mix of highway and inner-city sites.
New South Wales Treasurer and Minister for Energy, Matt Kean, said “This investment will see the largest, fastest and most comprehensive public EV charging network in Australia.
“Each of these stations will contain a minimum of two ultra-fast EV charging bays of 350kW capacity, and two fast charging bays of 175kW, with some stations containing up to 15 bays.
“The ultra-fast chargers will be able to charge modern EVs from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in around 15 minutes and all stations will be fully powered with renewable energy.
“This is the first of an expected three funding rounds, with hundreds more stations set to be built over the coming years.”
The NSW Government has a target to add approximately 250 fast and ultra-fast charging stations in total across New South Wales, ensuring chargers are no more than 5km apart in metropolitan areas and no more than 100km apart on major roads and highways across New South Wales.
The second round of co-funding is expected to open towards the end of this year.
That’s great. What about the power line infrastructure to actually have enough power for all these sites. Going to cost a whole lot more (billions I would think) and a long way to go for that to happen.