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Wagga Wagga City Council has installed EV chargers at four locations across the city, including Apex Park in Lake Albert. Photo: Wagga Wagga City Council.
Electric vehicle owners now have more points around town to charge their cars with the addition of four charging stations by Wagga Wagga City Council.
The new chargers, located at Bolton Park, Apex Park, Civic Centre and the Wagga Wagga Visitors Information Centre car park, are available to the public for a nominal fee.
Wagga Wagga City Council environment and regulatory services manager Mark Gardiner said the chargers were funded in part by a grant council received from the NSW Government.
“Council received $23,700 for the installation of the charging stations under the first round of the NSW Destination Electric (EV) Charging Grant,” Mr Gardiner said.
“In order to meet the requirements of the grant, the charging ports needed to be built in popular and easily accessible locations for tourists and locals.
“Having them located at places like the visitors centre and Bolton Park means that people travelling from Sydney or Melbourne won’t need to travel too far off the highway.
“There has been a rollout of these EV charging stations across NSW and Canberra. The ACT has very much been on the front foot in terms of rolling out EVs and we’re looking to follow them in that process as the number of electric vehicles increases.
“Regional areas haven’t quite taken to the transition to EVs just yet, but there are a lot of people who travel between cities using them more and more.
“As a halfway point, it is important that we have them accessible. The locations of the new chargers mean they are close to town as well, so as people charge their cars, they’re able to go shopping or get some food or play at a park.”
Council has also made a recent change to its corporate vehicles as it looks to meet net zero targets by 2050.
“All of our vehicles are now electric,” Mr Gardiner said.
“We made the change earlier this year to help meet the corporate net zero 2050 targets set by the Federal and State Governments.
“We will continue to support government targets and making the jump to electric vehicles is one way to do that.”