Page 724 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 5 April 2022
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been converted from diesel with a swap-and-go battery. It was really, really good to see that kind of easy solution coming through. EVs and battery transport have come such a long way in such a short space of time. We really need to support the community, business and infrastructure to make sure that we are using all of that technology in a really smart way.
This week Minister Rattenbury launched the Fleet Advisory Service, which helps businesses make the switch to an electric vehicle fleet. It helps them to realise how much better off they will be and how much money they are going to save at the bowser when they do that. Minister Steel’s bill today is another great example of government support for that really practical transition to zero emissions.
Many people charge their EVs at home. That is easy enough to do if you live in a house. All you need is a socket, for most of us, and you have 100 per cent renewable electricity to charge your EV that way. But for people in apartments it can be a bit harder. We have made some changes to our planning laws to help people make those sustainability upgrades in their apartment buildings. You just need to talk to your body corporate and they should help you to do that.
But some people are still going to find it a bit hard to charge at home. Tourists and travellers in particular are going to find it more convenient to charge on the run. Overseas what we are seeing is that a lot of shops and destinations are finding that offering a charging facility is a really, really good way to attract customers to your business. They will need to spend half an hour or an hour on site while their vehicle charges, and they are probably going to buy something in your shop while they are there. It is a really great commercial drawcard and it gives a business a real edge.
The ACT government is also rolling out public charging stations. We have 50 of those rolling out to support tourism and to support our apartment dwellers in particular. Minister Rattenbury recently released plans for that in the electric vehicle Public Charging Outlook for the ACT.
But in order to make all of those charging facilities work, we need to make sure that they are there for EVs to use them when they need them. At the moment, what is happening is that some petrol and diesel cars will park in the specially designated spot for EV charging. It is known as ICEing, because those petrol and diesel cars run on internal combustion engines, the old-fashioned engines, so they are called ICE vehicles. It is a real barrier to the uptake of EVs.
It is also an issue for our just transition to a safer climate. The people who do not have charging facilities at home—and that is particularly true for those who live in apartments or maybe older houses that just cannot cope with the electricity—are the people who really, really need access to convenient charging wherever they are and whenever they are out. If you do not know that you can reliably charge your car, you are not going to buy a new or a second-hand EV; you are going to stick with an old-fashioned ICE car. You will buy a petrol or diesel car, you will be locked into really high petrol and diesel prices and Canberra will be locked into high climate emissions. It is a really, really stark barrier for anyone who is apprehensive about
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