Introduction

Electric vehicles powered by Tasmania’s renewable energy have the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of the State’s vehicle fleet through reduced transport costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Electric vehicles may also help improve the State’s energy security by creating further market demand for the generation of locally produced renewable energy in Tasmania.

Under Climate Action 21: Tasmania’s Climate Change Action Plan 2017-2021 (Climate Action 21) the Tasmanian Government is committed to supporting the uptake of electric vehicles. This includes supporting the rollout of a statewide electric vehicle charging network.

As part of this commitment, the Tasmanian Government is providing up to $450,000 in funding to support the market to install chargers that are accessible to the public.

The Department of Premier and Cabinet’s Tasmanian Climate Change Office (TCCO) is seeking feedback on the possible approaches the Tasmanian Government could take in providing this funding support. The key aim of which is to stimulate the market to install charging stations.

The feedback received will inform the development of a strategy to ensure the funding achieves the greatest benefit for Tasmania by increasing public electric vehicle charging opportunities statewide and providing the best possible user-experience for Tasmanians and visitors to the State.

The purpose of this paper is to seek community feedback and TCCO welcomes comment on any matters considered relevant.

TCCO is seeking feedback from all interested stakeholders, particularly potential suppliers of electric vehicle charging infrastructure and potential users of the installed electric vehicle charging stations. Stakeholders may include but are not limited to:

  • local tourist organisations, local government and chambers of commerce;
  • local business and industry;
  • private/commercial vehicles fleets;
  • potential electric vehicle charging infrastructure suppliers/providers/partners;
  • electric vehicle tourists; and
  • the general public.

Following consultation, a procurement process to deliver the Tasmanian Government’s commitment will be developed. As part of this process, any technical specifications relating to charger installation (eg relating to charger capacity, charging socket type and electrical works etc) will be developed by TCCO in consultation with representatives from the Department of State Growth and TasNetworks. This Paper is not part of the procurement process and has not been issued for the purpose of establishing technical specifications or selecting a supplier.

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