Electric cars arrive, but nowhere to plug them in

Electric cars are arriving faster than Australian governments and councils can install infrastructure to recharge them in public places.

Last Friday morning Mitsubishi Australia took delivery of two pure electric i Miev small cars on the shipping docks in Brisbane, ready for a public trial starting there next week, before touring other capital cities. Queensland's Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, the honourable Kate Jones was on hand with retiring CEO, Robert McEniry, to present the miniscule Mitsus to the press (pictured). Mitsubishi hopes to have the i Miev in local showrooms and available for the public to lease by the end of 2010.

And today in Sydney, at Redfern's Technology Park, the pure electric Nissan Leaf hatchback made its first local appearance. It is due on sale locally in the next 18 months as "the world's first affordable electric car", priced about $30,000.

But to date there is not one public recharge point in Australia.

All electric cars sold in Australia will all have a common plug, it was confirmed today, but so far there's no way to recharge them other than via a portable charging pack supplied by the car makers.

Speaking at the Nissan Leaf launch this morning, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, announced her support of electric cars, but admitted the first public recharge point will not be installed in Sydney for another six months.

"The City of Sydney will have its first public charging point by the end of this year," she told the media gathering. But when asked later where it would be located, she said the information was not to hand. "We are working on it, but I can't give you that detail," she said.

Although the speech was made at a Nissan event, it's likely the first car to use the as-yet unnamed recharge point will be the Mitsubishi i Miev, which will be trialled by government agencies in most Australian capital cities over the coming months.

The Lord Mayor also admitted electric cars don't necessarily make financial sense but it was important to lead by example to ensure Australia was not "left in the dark ages".

The City of Sydney currently has 40 hybrid cars and intends to purchase 50 pure electric cars as they become available in the coming years.

"In strictly dollar terms, it's not necessarily the most economic solution for us but it's an important signal for other fleet owners and the community to start greening our transportation."

The Lord Mayor added: "There is no silver bullet solution. We need a new spirit of co-operation between traditionally discreet silos. All three levels of government, the private sector and the community need to act together."

Sydney is one of 14 cities signed up for the C40 electric vehicle network. Others include London, Chicago, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Seoul. "Under this agreement, our cities are committed to planning infrastructure and co-ordinate a range of incentives for the public and fleets to buy electric vehicles."

Also present at the Nissan Leaf preview was the NSW Minister for Energy, John Robertson.

Now that the car industry has delivered the zero-emission car, he was asked how long it would take for Australian energy providers to introduce zero emission energy?

"Governments can do so much," he told the Carsales Network. "The market has pushed the car industry to change its view, now we need the same to happen with energy providers.

"Energy generation is a much larger market and frankly the technologies haven't advanced for solar, wind and wave [power] the way they have for batteries and electric cars.

"Our solar uptake has been very slow for a country that's so full of sunshine... it's one of the things we've got to do better.

"As energy minister I'm acutely aware of the opportunities and challenges. If we get the policies right, electric vehicles have the ability to transform the electricity industry."

Despite the fact that most EVs in Australia will initially be powered by coal-fired power stations, which account for approximately 50 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions (compared to 9 per cent for cars and 27 per cent for agriculture, according to Federal Government data), Minister Robertson said he's still a fan of pure electric vehicles.

"There is a lot to like about electric vehicles. They have zero tailpipe emissions, zero petrol consumption, the promise of quieter streets and, if they run on 100 per cent renewable energy, they have zero greenhouse gas emissions.

"While there is some debate about the uptake of electric vehicles, it seems inevitable that over the next 30 years we will see them emerge as a mainstream vehicle option."

Minister Robertson said he is a big believer in vehicle-to-grid technology.

"The key thing about electric cars is that they can feed back into the network.

"On the one hand, EVs will increase demand, but on the other, as giant batteries on wheels, they have the potential to provide the missing piece of the renewable energy puzzle.

"Electric vehicles are sometimes described as having the potential to be for wind power what off-peak hot water services have been for the coal fired electricity industry.

"You can't control when the sun shines and when the wind blows. Peak generation times don't always combine with peak demand."

Clover Moore agreed that vehicle emissions were only a small part of the overall greenhouse gas debate.

"The next step is buildings," she said. "With over half the world's population living in cities, and a much higher percentage here in Australia, cities are major contributors to greenhouse emissions. But cities are also the source of our greatest greenhouse savings."

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