Adelaide launches roadmap for EV transition

The Australian city of Adelaide has endorsed a roadmap to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles (EV) and cut emissions.

The roadmap provides immediate actions which can be delivered by the council within three years and identifies priority charging locations across the city.

Last year, transport emissions were responsible for more than a third of Adelaide’s carbon footprint and the council’s fleet cars accounted for around eight percent of total corporate emissions.

Having already endorsed a Climate Action Plan 2022-2025, the council now aims to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles by installing 100 public electric vehicle and bicycle chargers by 2025, and has set a target to make 75 percent of its light fleet vehicles fully electric by the same date.

“As a council, we want to support our community to transition to a low carbon economy through education, incentives and appropriate community infrastructure,” said Adelaide Lord mayor Jane Lomax-Smith.

“If we can encourage 10,000 households to make the switch to EVs, it would reduce carbon emissions by approximately 22,000 tonnes annually, a reduction of 2.3 percent of the total community emissions.

“We aim to provide infrastructure which is functional but elegant without narrowing footpaths or creating unsightly clutter.”

Sydney expansion

Elsewhere in Australia, Sydney’s Inner West council has applied to the state government for funding for an EV charging station project.

The council wants to install a minimum of 45 kerbside electric vehicle chargers around the densely populated inner Sydney neighbourhood, stating that the application came after a community consultation.

There are currently just seven public fast charging stations in the Inner West district, mostly within shopping centres.

To target high density housing, where residents don’t have easy access to a parking space to charge their electric car, the kerbside model is being rolled out to encourage drivers to adopt electric vehicles.

With over 180,000 residents, the Inner West is the fifth-most densely populated Sydney district, and the council hopes the charging stations will be “strategically placed” across the district by June 2026.

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