Hundreds more electric vehicles will be able to power up in less than 15 minutes as part of an $80 million boost to Australia's car-charging network.
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The investment, the second round of the NSW government's Fast Charging Grants program, will see as many as 180 rapid charging stations built over the next 24 months, with each able to recharge eight vehicles.
The news comes one day after Lendlease revealed plans to install electric car chargers in its shopping centre and office complexes around Australia, and two weeks after a new national policy cut taxes on the vehicles to encourage their adoption.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said the new investment round was designed to create the "largest, fastest and most comprehensive public EV fast-charging network in Australia".
The stations will be able to charge modern EVs from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in around 15 minutes and all will be fully powered with renewable energy, Mr Kean said.
"This is the second of an expected three funding rounds, with hundreds more stations set to be built over the coming years to modernise our fast charger and electric vehicle network across the state," he said.
The charging stations will be located across 202 NSW areas with identified high demand. They must be no more than 5km apart in metropolitan areas and no more than 100km apart along major roads and highways in regional areas.
The latest round of applications comes weeks after the NSW government co-invested $39.4 million to build 86 electric vehicle charging stations with partners including Ampol, Tesla and the NRMA.
The NSW program has a target of co-funding 250 fast and ultra-fast chargers by 2025.
The investments could make a significant impact on Australia's electric car infrastructure, which boasted 3669 public charging stations in June 2022 according to the EV Council, an increase of 15 per cent from early 2021.
Figures from the council's State of EV report also showed NSW already hosted the greatest number of chargers, with a network of 647 charging locations compared to 455 in Victoria, 368 in Queensland and 294 in Western Australia.
New sales figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries this week showed electric vehicles accounted for 4.7 per cent of all car sales in November this year, up from 3.39 per cent for the year to September.
Australian Associated Press
