Northern Beaches Council says hundreds of EV  drivers have charged their vehicles at pole-mounted charging stations since seven were installed across the LGA as part of a trial that started last month.

The Northern Beaches is one of nine local councils taking part in the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s EV Streetside Charging Project.

ARENA announced last August $871,000 in funding for energy tech company Intellihub to install 50 street side EV chargers on power poles across NSW.

The trial aims to confirm that there are no current regulatory barriers to using existing infrastructure that already has power running to it, such as street power poles, and also aims to investigate the impact of EV chargers on the electricity network.

Intellihub’s $2.04 million project is supported by Schneider Electric who is providing the EV charging infrastructure, and EVSE who is managing the charging service.

Councils taking part in the project include Waverley, Woollahra, Randwick, Lake Macquarie, Ryde, Singleton, Parramatta, Northern Beaches and Inner West.

“We look forward to seeing the results of the trial from Intellihub and hope to see it rolled out right across Australia.” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said.

Renewable energy

Northern Beaches’ seven 22 kilowatt chargers, installed on powerpoles throughout the LGA, are connected to the overhead electricity supply.

Drivers are able to park and charge at any of the sites using an app, with the typical EV getting more than 200km of driving from a two hour charging session.

Energy used to charge the EVs is replaced back into the grid by GreenPower supplied by Origin Energy.

There are currently more than 3,100 EVs registered in the Northern Beaches LGA.

Encouraging EV takeup

Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins says the initiative is making EVs accessible for people who don’t have onsite charging options and encouraging the uptake of electric vehicles as the council moves towards its target of a 30 per cent reduction in vehicle emissions by 2038.

Intellihub CEO Wes Ballantine says the company is pleased to working with Northern Beaches.

“The new chargers are displayed on all public EV charging maps, so every EV driver, whether they live here or are just visiting, will know they can more easily charge their EV on the Northern Beaches,” he said.

Results of the 12 month trial will be reported to the Local Traffic Committee in early 2025.

If the trial is successful Intellihub aims rollout chargers to more local councils on a commercial basis.

In separate trials of pole-mounted chargers Australian start up EVX has agreements with councils including City of Sydney, Wollongong City Council, City of Newcastle and MidCoast to deploy pole-mounted chargers across their local areas.