The Sustainability Fund of Victoria has contributed $96,000 to the trial of seven electric vehicles in local government organisations.

Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Ballarat and Bendigo local councils will use the seven electric vehicles for the short local trips undertaken daily by staff in local laws, aged care and community services.

Maribyrnong City Council have estimated they will save approximately 13 tonnes of greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) emissions per year with the use of three newly purchased electric vehicles for Council’s Traffic and Local Laws operations over the 12 month trial.

Mayor of the City of Maribyrnong, Cr Michelle MacDonald said the purchase of the electric cars that produce no emissions is “a significant move as we will be the first Council in Australia to operate such a fleet.”

“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a local level will have a significant positive environmental impact with council continuing to offer a high level of service to the community in times of rising petrol costs,” he said.

The project is just one of many the council will be undertaking to achieve its committed goal of carbon neutrality by 2015 for the organisation and the same for the community by 2020. 

Council purchased three retrofitted electric Hyundai Getz cars at a cost of $50,000 per vehicle, that we be delivered for full use in three months.

.Along with three other Victorian Councils, Maribyrnong will participate in an extensive study conducted by Ballarat University, whose aim will be to carry out a quantitative analysis of the potential benefits of running an electric vehicle fleet.

Electric Cars Facts

– A fully charged electric car will have enough power to travel 100kms.

– Electric cars are charged by energy from a regular power point.

– If the battery is empty, an electric car will take approximately four hours to charge.

– A full charge consumes 10 kilowatt hours of power, which equates to $1.40 of Council’s green (eg. wind, solar, renewable) electricity.

– An operator of a petrol powered car spends on average $11.50 to drive 100kms.

– Electric cars use no petrol – they are 100% charged by electricity as the energy is stored in the battery.

– Using Council’s fast charger, the electric cars will take one hour to fully charge from empty.