NSW government triples EV fleet target, to ease regulations for charging infrastructure

The Driven

The NSW government has tripled its procurement targets for new hybrid and all-electric vehicles as part of its passenger vehicle fleets, and will tackle regulatory barriers to the roll out of charging infrastructure in new properties.

The boost to NSW’s own electric vehicle procurement targets will be a major boost to the local market. The NSW government procures around 3,000 new vehicles as part of the government wide vehicle fleet each year.

In 2019, as part of the NSW government Electric and Hybrid Vehicle plan, the NSW government set itself a target of ensuring that at least 10 per cent of its fleet would be either hybrid models, or all-electric models by 2020/21.

Having met this target early, the NSW government has now significantly ramped up this target, effectively tripling the number of new hybrid or all-electric vehicles that will join the NSW government fleet.

According to a Department of Planning, Industry and Environment spokesperson, the NSW government will adopt a 30 per cent procurement target for hybrid and electric vehicles by 2023, with at least 10 per cent of the government’s fleet to be all-electric vehicles.

This will see the NSW government purchasing around 900 new hybrid or electric vehicles annually, with around 300 of these vehicles being all-electric models.

According to data provided by the NSW Treasury, the NSW government smashed its original 10 per cent fleet target in 2019, purchasing a total of 692 hybrid or all-electric vehicles out of a total of 2,891 fleet vehicle purchases.

This saw almost a quarter of NSW’s were either hybrid, or all-electric models, with the NSW government purchasing unspecified numbers of Hyundai Ioniq and Kona all-electric models, as well as a range of hybrid models.

Fleet purchases can play a crucial role in supporting the uptake and availability of new vehicle technologies, and are a key supplier of the second-hand market.

With a large number of fleet vehicles sold into the second hand market after just a few years, the increased use of electric vehicles in fleets can help expand the availability of affordable electric vehicles in the market.

The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and Model Availability Program will see the NSW government facilitate electric vehicle purchasing on behalf of the state government, local councils and private operators, as well as running a competitive process to support the deployment of charging infrastructure.

The NSW government has flagged that it will consider providing co-funding for electric vehicle fleet infrastructure investments.

The initiative has been earmarked for priority funding under a bilateral deal struck between the NSW government and the Federal government, in return for boosting the state’s gas production.

To read the full version of this story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, please click here.

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