Au: New South Wales to ramp up its electric vehicle fleet
In Australia, the New South Wales government has tripled its procurement targets for new hybrid and all-electric vehicles as part of its passenger vehicle fleets, according to local media.
Last year the NSW government set itself a target that should mean that at least 10 per cent of its fleet would be electric or partly electric by next year. Now this target has been reached earlier than anticipated, the stakes have been put higher: the government will now adopt a 30 per cent procurement target by 2023.
This means that the NSW government will be purchasing around 900 new hybrid or electric vehicles each year, with around 300 of these vehicles being all-electric models. The NSW Treasury said that they actually achieved their 10 per cent fleet target last year. This means that of the 2,891 vehicles purchased, 692 of these were either hybrid or fully-electric vehicles.
The government will have the task of facilitating the purchase of electric vehicles by means of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and Model Availability Program. These vehicles will be used by local councils and private operators. For charging infrastructure, the government intends to support the deployment of charging infrastructure. This seems likely to take the form of co-funding for electric vehicle infrastructure investments, which is what the government says it is currently considering.
For charging infrastructure for businesses and new homes, the government aims to boost access by means of regulatory reforms. “The cost of installing a charging station depends on the particular product that the consumer chooses. This can vary based on a range of factors, including the speed at which the charging station can recharge a vehicle and the number of charges it needs to do each day,” an NSW government spokesperson said.
“The changes proposed to ensure that new buildings are electric vehicle ready may simply involve ensuring that there is a standard powerpoint available for a carpark. Regulatory changes will be subject to community consultation,” the spokesperson added.
Indications are that “regulatory reforms” involves, for example, making changes to building codes to make sure that new buildings are ready for electric vehicles.
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