Electric car charging stations power up in NSW with NRMA set to add 40 around the state

In Newstead in Victoria, locals used their initiative and made a charging station from an old petrol bowser.

If you have an electric car, you would be hard pressed to take it on holiday, with only 50 charging stations across the country and just 11 in New South Wales.

The state's peak road user group, the NRMA, is set to change that with plans to establish a network of fast-charging stations for electric and hybrid cars in NSW.

The plan involves a phased introduction of at least 40 stations at a cost of $10 million.

Photo An extra 40 charging stations are being built for electric cars in NSW. ABC News: David Spicer

The NRMA and the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) believe vehicle price and a lack of charging infrastructure are barriers to growth in the uptake of electric cars in Australia.

According to the EVC, sales of electric vehicles across the nation slumped 23 per cent from 2015 to 2016.

The council's chief executive officer, Behyad Jafari, said Australia had about 5,000 electric and hybrid vehicles on the road, and in 2016 about 1,300 such vehicles were sold, or 0.1 per cent of new car sales.

"As a result we haven't had enough investment in the availability of different vehicle models as well as the infrastructure rollout right across regional and metropolitan New South Wales," he said.

Do you think electric car charging stations should be established across Australia? Leave your thoughts in the comments.Australia 'not ready for the electric transition'

A number of countries and manufacturers are actively transitioning to electric vehicles and some governments have even threatened to ban petrol and diesel-driven models in the not-too-distant future.

Photo It takes about half an hour to charge an electric car at a station. ABC News: Katrin Long

The NRMA and EVC believe Australia is not ready for the changes that are coming.

"Unlike the rest of the world, what we don't have is any clear government policy to support the transition from petrol and diesel towards electric vehicles — that is something we are seeing around the world," Mr Jafari said.

"We need to prepare ourselves, that means preparing ourselves in terms of electricity generation, infrastructure, and ensuring that we have chargers out on our roads so that people can recharge their vehicles as they drive."

Half an hour to charge

NRMA chairman Kyle Loades said the network would help unlock Australia for electric vehicles.

"We are unprepared for the incoming increase in electric cars," he said.

"There has been underinvestment in the electric vehicle market in Australia, so the NRMA is stepping in to develop a network to support the adoption and rollout of electric vehicles."

The fast-charging stations would allow a typical electric car with a range of 500 kilometres to fully charge within half an hour.

The first of the fast-charging stations will be rolled out across Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the ACT, the Illawarra, the Mid North Coast and Newcastle.

Source: Electric car charging stations power up in NSW with NRMA set to add 40 around the state