Boost for EVs

By Marcus Craft

2023 has started on a promising note for electric vehicles (EVs) in the Illawarra, with new charging points and ‘green car loans’ by a local bank.

Figtree Grove Shopping Centre has become part of the growing Tesla Supercharger network as a new vehicle-charging site. The shopping centre now has six Tesla Superchargers and two universal vehicle chargers. The charging stations – available for customers to use 24/7 – are in the carpark near MyCar, with recommended access off The Avenue, Kmart entrance.

In other EV news, the Illawarra’s Horizon Bank is now offering Green Car Loans for electric and hybrid vehicles, and at discounted rates.

Nationwide two serious issues remain: there aren’t enough functioning and available vehiclecharging stations on major routes and those on minor routes are scarce; and EVs are still not quite as affordable as their internal combustion engine rivals. For example, something like a small all-electric SUV, the MG ZS EV, has a price tag starting from $43,990 (excluding on-road costs).

Austinmer resident and EV owner John Buchelin – organiser of last year’s EV Open Day in

The students studied the history of the 75 Aboriginal children who came to Otford school in 1942, during the Second World War. These children were part of the Stolen Generation, living with missionaries on Croker Island. The children and their carers were evacuated as Darwin was being bombed. At the start of their travels, the children waved to Japanese planes flying overhead – the planes were on their way to bomb Darwin. The missionaries who travelled with them were part of the Methodist Church Mission Society. The trip took 42 days, because of transport problems.

The children were taken to Otford as it had buildings owned by the Methodist Church where they could stay. The smaller children attended school at Otford and the bigger children went by train to Scarborough. The children returned to Croker Island in 1946 when the war was over.

Earlier in the year I had given a talk to the Otford school students on this topic. When I spoke to them, they were very knowledgeable about this part of local history.

The history prize presentation was made at the 2022 school prize-giving. The 42 students, their parents and friends were there for this happy event.

This year the history prizes will be awarded to students at Helensburgh Public School.

Thirroul – says more needs to be done to encourage EV take-up.

“The introduction of fuel efficiency standards in Australia is critical to increasing the supply [of EVs]. This will then bring more variety to the market which will reduce prices.”

John says there are plenty of positives about EV ownership.

“Apart from saving money, we really enjoy the quiet ride and not burning petrol anymore.”

He does also say, however, there is a minor downside to owning an EV.

“At the moment, long trips require a bit more planning. There are some great apps like PlugShare and A Better Route Planner which make it easier. This won’t be a problem in future when more charging stations are installed.”