Electric vehicles (EVs) seem to be a hot topic of conversation lately.
Although some people simply love an argument, it’s hard to look past the savings on fuel and running and maintenance costs, contributions to cleaner air (we all love fresh air!) and reductions in carbon emissions.
These advantages reflect the aims of council’s Sustainability Framework, which we put in place in 2020, to make sure the City considers environmental, social and economic sustainability in every decision.
The framework is backed by a formal action plan and other specific, targeted strategies, such as the Climate Change Response Plan.
EVs play an important role in achieving our objective to lower transport emissions and the City is changing the light fleet vehicles to EV alternatives by 2027.
The Victorian government recently provided a $48,000 grant via the EV Charging for Council Fleets program to help deliver two new charging stations at our Belmont and Corio depots.
The dual port 22.5kW EV chargers allow for up to four vehicles to be charged at the same time.
This adds to the five dual port charging stations already at the Belmont, Corio and Drysdale depots, which provide power for six electric vans.
The team has three more EVs on the way and is preparing to order up to 10 more in 2022-23.
Our charging stations are juiced up by renewable wind energy through the Victorian Energy Collaboration.
We hope that the City’s switch will encourage more people to use EVs where possible.
To facilitate this, the team is aiming to support the installation of a network of publicly available charging stations powered by renewable energy by the end of 2024.
Visit geelongaustralia.com.au/sustainability to get a sense of what council and the City are doing to create a more sustainable region that is well placed to deal with future challenges.
