Sydney Installs First Public ChargePoint for Electric Vehicles

“Electric vehicles have zero exhaust emissions, while car sharing replaces up to 10 privately owned cars for each shared vehicle. Each day more than 700,000 cars travel throughout the Sydney local government area, significantly contributing to smog, greenhouse gas pollution, congestion and noise. Anything we can do to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions caused by motor vehicles is a step towards a healthier city. Together with public transport, walking and cycling, electric vehicles are part of the climate change solution,” Sydney’s Lord Mayer Clover More said. “Today, Sydney joins other cities including San Francisco, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, Houston, Detroit and Vancouver who all have installed charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. When I was in Copenhagen in December for a Climate Change Summit I committed to working with the NSW Government, car share companies and others to scale up the purchase of electric vehicles. Today is a first step in supporting a cleaner mode of transport.”

There are about 3,000 individual members of car share companies within the City of Sydney area, the majority with GoGet, including 500 small businesses. The City provides 120 dedicated on-street car share spaces, four times more than any other Australian city. Worldwide, car share membership has risen from around 50,000 users in 1997 to 550,000 in 2009.

Car share schemes provide a network of vehicles that members can book to use for short periods of time (from one hour to several days). Costs associated with fuel, insurance and maintenance are usually included in the operators’ car hire fees.

GoGet co-founder, Bruce Jeffreys said members will be able to drive the plug-in electric hybrid at the same price as the rest of the GoGet hybrid fleet. “It’s great to see a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle in a safe and convenient location with a world-class charging station ready to go,” said Jeffreys. “We’re looking forward to the introduction of additional electric vehicles into the GoGet fleet as demand grows.”

Luke Grana, CEO and founder of ChargePoint Australia said the Sydney installation is a public demonstration of the viability of charging stations with preparations underway for a national rollout. “ChargePoint is preparing to conduct charging station pilot programs later this year in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. The Glebe charging station will provide behavioral and energy usage data which will be vital for effective and efficient energy management and future infrastructure planning.”

Ms Moore said the City of Sydney is investigating the purchase of retrofitted plug-in Hybrid EVs and new EVs for its vehicle fleet, as part of its goal to reduce carbon emissions by 70 per cent from 2006 levels by 2030.

ChargePoint Pty Ltd, with headquarters in Sydney, is considered a pioneer in the e-mobility industry. The ChargePoint Network enables electric vehicle drivers the convenience of charging their battery at home, and public locations including curbside, workplace and shopping centers.

Consumers subscribe to the ChargePoint Network and receive a ChargePoint Smart Card that allows them to charge their car at any ChargePoint Networked Charging Station Australia wide. The ChargePoint Network includes charging stations, consumer subscription plans and utility grid management technology for electric utility companies to smooth electrical demands on the grid.

www.chargepoint.com.au