when John and Shantal tried to charge their electric car Council threatened to charge them the couple facing a fine because like a lot of Australians they don't have a driveway it's not easy being green it's illegal for me to charge my car that seems crazy just ask John and seantel this is a letter what's it saying um in a nutshell is saying that next time I do it I'll be charged $330 they were for for to mcgyver a charging system for their clean green Tesla because they have no off street parking we were laying the
cable across the foot paath we were then covering the cable with a trip Hazard um protector problem solved until the North Sydney Council got involved and gave John and Sha's setup a red light labeling it unsafe we got a letter from Council threatening us a $300 um if we continue to do that I do not understand what or how we can cause a risk to pedestrians when the cables are covered with what is an approved safety um device now suddenly their car is much more expensive to run than what they bargain for if I'm able
to charge the car during the day it's free because I can use my solar panels if I charge it at night it's costing me under $5 to charge fully but if I go to a commercial um installation it can cost me $60 and then we're going to have to rely on the on the charging into in in the area which um are not easy to find John says support for drivers of electric cars is stalling I think it's an impediment to the take up of electric vehicles and we're in a climate emergency everything we can
do to make it easier to take up uh electric vehicles should be uh considered until there are more charging stations John wants a permit system to Green Light people who can prove their setup is safe and if it's acceptable issue us with a permit which then gives Council protection and gives us protection we even took a little test of our own pretty safe to be John understands the council is in a difficult position councils are being sued all the time um in relation to public liability I'm a rate payer North Sydney Council I don't want
my rates to go any higher than they are because Council has to pay legal expenses the North Sydney Council didn't address John and shantel's Circumstance it said it's working to develop an evidence-based approach to electric vehicle policy but didn't explain what that is in Melbourne private trials have been rolled out this is city of Port Phillips curbside electric vehicle charger program after a positive response it's been extended these stations will stay an extra 4 years every Council in Sydney should be trying new things the uptake of electric cars is rising exponentially with every passing year
and we do not have the infrastructure to support them unfortunately if you don't have an off street car park in Australia it's really tricky to charge your electric car Susanna gri is the consumer editor at drive.com.au this is not the first time we've seen extension cables running across foot paaths we've seen them wrapped around trees on nature strips people are trying to find Solutions and do the right thing and they're getting desperate because it is really hard to use public charging infrastructure regularly and this is the next best thing because councils aren't coming to the
table there are 2,000 public charges for the 188 ,000 electric vehicles in Australia in the UK they're using existing infrastructure like lamp poles and power poles and putting charges in there there's around 8,000 of those in London in fact the New South Wales state government is rolling out almost 700 more public charging stations Until Then John and sha tell worry the plug is being pulled on their electric dreams electric be
