Renters and apartment dwellers will have an easier road to choosing electric vehicles when 500 kerbside chargers roll out to council areas in Sydney and Newcastle.

Twenty-six local government areas with the least access to off-street parking have been invited to apply for $3 million in funding for charging infrastructure.

While EV ownership explodes across Australia and governments view electric cars as key to reducing emissions, 30 per cent of drivers in NSW have no access to off-street parking.

Sydney renter Nicole Tutton lacks off-street parking for her unit and that would be a deterrent to her buying an electric car, she said.

“Being confident I had easy access to a charger near home would make me far more inclined to buy an EV,” she told AAP on Tuesday.

“There are a lot of people who would be willing to buy but are not so interested to get a charger.”

As of December, the state had 715 of Australia’s 2400 public chargers – compared to nearly 10,000 petrol stations nationwide.

Charge point operators can also apply for funding, which will cover up to 80 per cent of the total installation and equipment costs of an EV charger and other costs.

Eligible council areas were chosen based on population density and housing type.

The funding is the first stage in a $10m charging program in NSW’s EV strategy.

NSW wants half of all new car sales in 2030 to be fully electric cars, making rollout of charging infrastructure critical.

Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said passenger vehicles made up 10 per cent of NSW’s emissions in 2020.

“Reducing transport emissions is crucial to meeting our net zero target,” she said.

Battery electric cars make up one in 12 car sales in June while the Tesla Model Y moved past the Ford Ranger to become second best-selling vehicle, behind the Toyota HiLux.

Luke Costin
(Australian Associated Press)