New NSW funding round to focus on bigger and faster EV charging stations

The second funding round of the New South Wales government’s grant program is to focus on bigger and faster charging stations in metropolitan Sydney and regional areas.

Details of the new $80 million funding round were revealed by NSW Treasurer and energy minister Matt Kean late last week, and seeks to co-fund up to 180 charging stations, all of which must be built in the next two years.

There are two funding streams, both focused on multiple stalls and very fast charging to ensure shorter charging times, and shorter waiting times.

In Sydney, each site will require a minimum of eight charging bays and two of these must be serviceable by an ultra-rapid 350kW charger (compared to the 50kW chargers that dominate most of the current network), and the rest by 175kW chargers.

This stream must be built within 18 months, and can attract support of up to $900,000 for each charging site.

The other stream focuses on regional areas, and must have at least four charging stalls and two 350kW chargers, and another two with 175kW chargers. These can apply for up to $490,000 of funding for each station, and must be built within two years.

“This investment will see the largest, fastest and most comprehensive public EV fast charging network in Australia,” said Kean.

“The ultra-fast chargers will be able to charge modern EVs from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in around 15 minutes and all stations will be fully powered with renewable energy.”

The NSW goal is to build a fast charging network with chargers no more than 5 km apart across metropolitan areas, and no more than 100km apart on major roads and highways across the state.

The successful applicants from the first round of grants – Ampol, BP, Tesla, the NRMA, Evie Networks and Zeus Renewables – are already building the first 86 stations.

They include the biggest EV charging stations in the country – 15 stalls – and will also feature Tesla chargers open to all other models – a condition of the government funding.

Round 2 applications for the construction of these stations are open until Friday March 10, 2023 and the grants will also be available to support renewable and battery support for the chargers.

The Australian EV market share has grown significantly in 2022, from making up 2% to 3.39% of all new car sales for the year to date, including 4.7 per cent in the month of November. That still trails well behind other countries.