Climate Change Strategy Phase 1: MidCoast Council
8.7 Sustainable transport Description
Transport emissions are a medium-sized GHG source for MidCoast Council, primarily from diesel used in Council’s vehicle fleet. Petrol, including E10 ethanol blended petrol use for passenger cars is small by comparison. Given the dominance of larger diesel-fuelled vehicles and plant the opportunities for Council to transition rapidly to low and zero-emissions fleet are currently limited. Council currently has one Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), nine hybrid vehicles (in operation or ordered) in its passenger fleet including the Mayor’s vehicle. NSW Government’s Net Zero Plan 2020-2030 is developing a range of measures that will start to shape the future of transport in the State. Current measures under development in relation to electric vehicles (EV), for example, include: • • • • •
EV infrastructure Transport Consumer Information EVs in Government fleet Financial support for purchasing EVs Electric buses/trucks
For Councils such as MidCoast, some of the key aspects that these measures will need to consider in order for EV strategies to be locally applicable will include: • • •
Real data examining performance of hybrid and EVs in regional communities, Supply, warranty and servicing issues at a local regional level, and Coordination on EV charging infrastructure development, between State Government, councils/groups of councils through JO/ROCs, and private + motoring association providers
The focus of this section of Council’s Climate Change Policy, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategy is to provide an overview of the current status of some of these key areas that will shape future transport, including current EV infrastructure, EV growth, and actions that Council can start to progress27. EV charging infrastructure In August 2020 the Electric Vehicle Council reported that there were 2,307 DC and AC chargers in Australia 28 . Locations of DC and public chargers are readily accessible, see below29, where green pins denote public chargers and orange pins denote fast, or rapid chargers. Increasing numbers of private chargers are also being installed, retrofitted to homes and businesses as well as designed into new buildings. 27
Note that this Strategy (Phase 1) report does not address the broader sustainable transport task in the community, including active transport opportunities identified in Council’s Pedestrian Access & Mobility & Bike Plan, adopted in 2021. These opportunities for emissions reduction will be discussed with the community during Phase 2. 28 https://electricvehiclecouncil.com.au/reports/state-of-electric-vehicles-2020/, p38 29 https://www.plugshare.com/
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