By Tyler Wright
A group of fast-charging electric vehicle stations in the Yarra Ranges is near completion.
50-kilowatt charging stations in Belgrave, Healesville and Yarra Junction are soon to be opened with Evie Networks at the helm of the state government’s Destination Charging Across Victoria program.
“The charger that’s going in at Belgrave is typically what we do in metro areas and regional towns,” Evie Networks’ head of emerging technology Ed Lynch-Bell said.
“What that means for a driver is that in the 20 to 30 minutes you can get, it very much depends on the car, but about 150 kilometres of driving range into the vehicle.
“The chargers are compatible with every electric car that’s on the road in Australia today.”
Mr Lynch-Bell said the charging station at Belgrave, located at the car park on Reynolds Lane, has been built but is still taped up awaiting power supply.
The charging station in Healesville, located at 177 Maroondah Highway near the Aldi store is also built but awaiting power connection.
The location of the charging station in Yarra Junction is to be decided, pending a power application.
“We won’t stop there,” Mr Lynch-Bell said.
“Every site we build is a learning experience, and what we know is that people to want to go out and buy an electric vehicle, they have to know that there’s an available, reliable network out there.”
Dandenong Ranges Renewable Energy Association (DRREA) president Peter Cook said the organisation has been pursuing the possibility of getting a charging station in Emerald.
“We obviously would support that happening in any town or suburb in the Dandenong Ranges,” Mr Cook said.
“We think it would be very beneficial to tourists, people planning a day trip to the Dandenongs in their electric car.
“Knowing that there’s a charging point in Belgrave would give them confidence that they would have sufficient range to get from home to the hills and back again.”
Mr Cook said he would like to congratulate the state government on the initiative, encouraging it to “do more”.
“One good innovation would be to see some of these EV charging points be solar powered, so they’re not using coal power from the grid, they’re using solar power from up above,” he said.
According to the Electric Vehicle Council’s yearly recap, the number of EVs purchased increased by 86 per cent in the last year, with 3.8 per cent of all new cars purchased being electric.
Australia is on track to soon pass the milestone of 100,000 electric vehicles, with more than 83,000 EVs estimated to be on the country’s roads, the new research contained in the Australian Electric Vehicle Industry Recap revealed.
Mr Lynch-Bell said Australia is settling into a “single plug type”, or CCS, which is on 99 per cent of electric vehicles currently sold.
“We’re sourcing 100 per cent renewable energy to power these charges, because that’s obviously very important, and our aim as a business is we’re looking to give coverage, so we will be in almost every regional town in Victoria pretty much by the end of this year, and then in urban areas up and down the country.
“We’re looking for everybody to be no more than five minutes from one of our chargers.”
Mr Lynch-Bell said the charging stations in Belgrave are set to be open within the next month or so, with the station in Yarra Junction set to be open by summer 2023/2024.
“One of the great things for the local community and local businesses is once you’ve got somebody plugged into a charger, you’ve got them for 20 minutes and they’re going to be looking for say, that coffee, that sandwich, or to pop into the shops,” he said.
“It’s a really great asset for the community because it’ll draw people in.”
The program is supported by Yarra Ranges Council.
