City of Sydney accelerates switch to electric vehicles

According to Moore, installing chargers in apartment blocks would significantly reduce the need for chargers in the city, where more than 75 percent of residents live in apartments.

She acknowledged that this would be complicated as the increasing number of owners looking to install electric vehicle chargers would have to “juggle complex meters, demand management and efficiency, safety standards and insurance and of course questions about who pays and how”.

“We will conduct a comprehensive research project across a range of different building styles and ages to determine how to overcome these challenges and outline best practice options for residential buildings to be retrofitted,” Moore said.

The City Council is also proposing to update its planning controls to require all new developments to be “EV-ready” and include parking lots with charging points.

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Fred Tuckwell, chairman of the Owners Corporation Network, said apartment owners looking to future-proof their apartment blocks by installing electric vehicle chargers often face significant obstacles, including cost and opposition from other residents.

“I think it’s important for communities to get involved,” Tuckwell said. “Leading is important”

The community, which procured its first electric vehicle in 2010, also wants to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles in its fleet and favor contractors with green fleets in their procurement processes.

Around 1400 new electric vehicles were registered in the city of Sydney between 2019 and 2021, according to the council. If EV adoption aligns with the state government’s plan that 52 percent of new car sales should be EVs in 2032, in a decade 17,000 EVs would be owned by the city’s residents.

The council expects that the EV strategy will have to be reviewed in five years.

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