Wheelchair-accessible EV chargers and battery planned for Melbourne’s inner suburbs

Local non-profit Yarra Energy Foundation is to install a neighbourhood battery and two wheelchair-accessible EV chargers in the inner Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill.

Set to be located adjacent to the Collingwood Leisure Centre in Clifton Hill, Yarra Energy Foundation hopes its newest project will address the lack of EV charging facilities in the Clifton Hill area as well as explore the connections between a neighbourhood battery and EV charging infrastructure.

Led by the Yarra Energy Foundation (YEF), in partnership with Yarra City Council, and backed by a $750,000 grant from the Victorian Government’s Neighbourhood Battery Initiative, the project is expected to be operational by year’s end.

Clifton Hill currently lacks any public EV charging infrastructure, though the demand is definitely there, as demonstrated by the EV chargers located at neighbouring Collingwood Library.

Yarra Energy Foundation – which was established by the Yarra City Council in 2010 as a non-profit aimed at helping the community reduce carbon emissions from energy down to zero – hopes that the Clifton Hill project will help reduce barriers to EV adoption and provide more public EV charging infrastructure in line with community demand.

Further, the group hopes to use the project to “explore the synergies” between a neighbourhood battery and EV chargers.

Located adjacent to the Collingwood Leisure Centre, the EV chargers will also address the continuing need for wheelchair accessibility.

Unlike traditional petrol stations – virtually all of which are designed around accessibility for all abilities, with waist-height access to pumps, ramps to the shop, and pull-through access – deployment of EV chargers in Australia has often failed to consider accessibility issues.

The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA) announced in late-2022 one of the few Australian efforts at improving wheelchair access to EV chargers, a trial which would provide access for people with varying levels of mobility.

“Drivers with accessibility needs are often left behind when it comes to infrastructure development,” said Charles Mountain, RAA senior manager safety & infrastructure, speaking in 2022.

“In delivering the first Statewide EV charging network for South Australia, we have the unique opportunity to get this right from the beginning and develop a standard for charging site designs.

“The trial will ensure drivers with accessibility needs will be able to use our rapid and ultra-rapid charging sites across the State’s electric vehicle charging network.”

The new wheelchair-accessible EV chargers planned by Yarra Energy Foundation have been well situated, located adjacent to the Collingwood Leisure Centre and its existing accessibility options – which include disability parking, ramp access, a pool pod lift, and accessible change rooms including one with a hoist and lift bed.

This will not be the first community battery developed by Yarra Energy Foundation, having launched Victoria’s first inner-urban community battery (110kW/309kWh) in the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy in mid-2022.

Yarra Energy Foundation also announced in May 2023 that it had been awarded $500,000 to develop a 120kW/360kWh community battery in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond.

Meanwhile, just last month, the City of Yarra and Yarra Energy Foundation announced that Clifton Hill and Fitzroy North – both boasting the postcode 3068 – would be used as part of the group’s Wired for Tomorrow initiative, which will create a template for how the City of Yarra can achieve net-zero emissions across the community by 2030.

“Transitioning Yarra to an all-electric precinct is a massive task, and one that requires everyone to do their part,” said Dean Kline, CEO of the Yarra Energy Foundation, speaking in January.

“Through the Wired for Tomorrow initiative we’re looking to develop knowledge and support local communities on the journey to all-electric precincts.”