The city of Sydney, Australia has unveiled the first pole-mounted electric vehicle (EV) charger as part of a plan to install 30,000 similar stations across the country and improve EV adoption. Ausgrid, an electricity distribution company, EVX, a charging infrastructure firm, and the City of Sydney launched the EV charger on February 27th. The charger was installed on a utility pole in the inner west suburb of Glebe, following the project’s launch in Newcastle in December 2022.
Marc England, CEO of Ausgrid, said that pole-mounted chargers are faster and cheaper to deploy than kerbside charging stations, and they save urban space and cause less disruption to the surrounding communities. Ausgrid plans to roll out 30,000 similar stations across Australia by 2029.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said that pole-mounted chargers will not take up “precious road and footpath space” and help the city reduce CO2 emissions from transportation. She also mentioned that the new charging facility could help apartment dwellers feel more confident in adopting EVs.
EV owners will need to download the EVX app when using the new charger. They will also be charged a flat fee of $0.5 (US$0.34) per kilowatt hour.
The launch of the new EV charger comes as the Sydney City Council announced its plan to electrify the city’s transport system. The local government authority for the centre of Sydney and surrounding areas aims to reduce the CO2 emissions of all vehicles operating in the area to zero by 2035. To achieve this goal, the council outlined five key actions to be taken in cooperation with the New South Wales and federal governments, including boosting its fleets of EVs, reducing EV prices, speeding up the electrification of public transport, making all new developments EV-ready, and developing ways to retrofit old apartment buildings with EV chargers.