Driving EV charging into regional tourism hot spots
Residents in regional NSW and tourists can now drive their electric vehicles with greater confidence as the Minns Government delivers more EV chargers through the Destination Charging Program.
Applications are now open for small to medium regional tourism businesses and councils to install EV charging infrastructure.
Successful applicants will receive 75% of the cost of purchasing and installing up to 4 charge points at each site.
The $10 million allocated for round 2 of the Destination Charging Program is expected to support the installation at least 1,500 EV charge ports at tourism destinations. Destinations could include motels, wineries, cafes, restaurants, natural attractions, visitor information centres, museums, zoos and local government facilities.
Following the successful rollout of the chargers, a series of EV tourist drives will be developed to promote EV travel across New South Wales.
The Destination Charging Program is part of a $209 million investment in charging infrastructure which also includes $10 million in grants to retrofit apartments with EV chargers, $10 million for more kerbside charging and $149 million for ultra-fast charging infrastructure.
The NSW Government has also committed an additional $260 million in the 2023–24 Budget to underpin the rollout of a new NSW EV Strategy being delivered in partnership with industry stakeholders which is a key driver to achieving our state’s Net Zero emissions targets.
More detail can be found at: Electric vehicle destination charging grants
Quote attributable to Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe:
“Providing EV charging plugs at regional destinations across our state will help make ‘range anxiety’ a concern of the past and give more drivers to confidence to make EV purchases.
“More EVs on the roads is an important part of the decarbonisation of our transport system and essential to meeting our net zero by 2050 target.”
Quote attributable to Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty:
“The destination charging grants are another example of this Government putting the needs of regional people at the heart of its decision making.
“Regional residents as well as tourists deserve to have the confidence to be able to purchase EVs knowing the required charging infrastructure is available to them locally.”
