Motorists in the western Sydney city of Blacktown will be the first in Australia to drive electric cars to smart poles and charge them up as the local council prepares to sign off on a $30,000 licensing deal.
Blacktown City Council, which represents 350,000 people, is expected to finalise an agreement with infrastructure group ENE-HUB within weeks and start installing 10 smart poles with charging points on local streets as well as in car parks and shopping centres.
Electric vehicle drivers will be able to charge their cars for free at the poles - which will also provide Wi-Fi and LED street lighting - for three years, but will then be asked to pay. The poles are expected to be ready for charging within six months.
Blacktown mayor Stephen Bali said he encouraged other councils to install the poles.
"Part of the resistance to using electric cars is that you can't charge them easily, there aren't many places to charge them...if you were to have those throughout the city, you'd have more people saying 'I can drive an electric car.'"
Blacktown already has three electric vehicle charging stations, including one in a library carpark, and the council owns six plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Behyad Jafari, chair of the Electric Vehicle Council, said Blacktown's investment in the smart poles showed there was support from all levels of Australian government, community and businesses for "action on electric vehicles."
"It's now crucial for the federal government to step in and play a role as national leaders and co-ordinators of the action we're already seeing at the local level," Mr Jafari said.
Sales of electric cars remain very low in Australia, with just 235 fully electric passenger vehicles and 313 electric SUVs sold in six months to June, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. But more charging stations are emerging around the country as projects like Queensland's "electric super highway" kick off.
Blacktown council said it would like the regulatory process for installing the smart pole charging stations to improve after having to resolve various issues with NSW's Roads and Maritime Services.
"We're happy to be the icebreaker for other councils who want to do it," Mr Bali said. "We feel we've done a big thing for the cause of electric cars in Australia, and particularly NSW."
