Forum –
A recent article noted that the Council was considering the development (at taxpayer expense) of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
There are numerous reasons why that is a wrong thing to do.
Does the Council run petrol stations? No.
So why would they get into the business of charging stations?
If EV owners chose to have one, there are several options for recharging their vehicles.
But first a brief tutorial on EV charging.
The cars have onboard inverters to change alternating mains current (AC) to direct Current (DC) which the batteries can use.
The inverter allows the car to be plugged in to a simple charging receptacle at home outdoors (for safety per GM) during overnight slow charging.
An alternative, typically for an apartment house, is a shared multi-vehicle charging network; still slow.
Commercial “public” charging stations akin to petrol pumps use large inverters which bypass the vehicle system to supply high ampere DC to the vehicle thus decreasing the charging time.
Those station inverters cost $50,000 each plus installation, probably not a good use of tax money.
As for the up to seven different vehicle plug configurations which a charging station needs to address; well we won’t go there.
The business of government is to do the best for the many with public funds and to stay out of commercial ventures.
If entrepreneurs see an opportunity to “make a buck” that is their business but certainly not the Council’s.
Email, Dec 6
T. Bard, Tascott