Commuters in Sydney’s western suburb of Rooty Hill are now able to recharge their electric vehicles (EVs) at the train station’s car park, powered and shaded by a new solar roof.
Part of a multi-million dollar project to improve accessibility at NSW train stations, the Rooty Hill station upgrade includes 750 new car parking spaces in total, 10 of which are designated solely for use by charging electric vehicles.
They are complemented by 1,140 solar panels that supplement the car park’s energy needs while also doubling as a shade structure for cars parked at the station.
This will enable residents and visitors to the area to recharge their vehicles while parking at the train station, adding up to 50km of driving range for every hour they are parked and plugged in at the designated charging spots.
Overall, the NSW Berejiklian government has earmarked $2 million for electric vehicle charging points at commuter car parks, on top of a $3 million in co-investment to install DC “fast chargers” in key regional corridors.
Installed by leading EV charging infrastructure provider JET Charge, and hosted on the Chargefox network, the AC “destination chargers” installed at the Rooty Hill train station charge at a maximum rate of 7kW and are free to use for an initial period.
To use the chargers, electric vehicle owners will be required to bring their own Type 2 compatible charging cables and download the Chargefox app.
This article has been updated to include installers of the EV charging units, JET Charge.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.