By Margaret Maccoll
The atmosphere was electric on Saturday for what Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey described as “an historic event – the first ever electric vehicle event” held in Noosa on Saturday.
Electric cars, scooters, bicycles, trikes and charging stations were on show for the Zero Emissions Noosa Expo and crowds gathered to see what was on offer.
Noosa Mayor Tony Wellington said the Council was aware that the modal shift to electric vehicles was inevitable.
“We have provided an electric charger at Cooroy as part of the State’s electric superhighway scheme,” he said. “Our transport strategy is also considering electric vehicles and other new technology.
“Major vehicle manufacturers across the planet are all designing and making electric vehicles. Ford has committed $11 billion on technology to build no less than 40 different models of electric and hybrid vehicles by 2022. Daimler said it would spend a similar amount creating 10 purely electric and 40 hybrid models. And, as the ZEN Expo revealed, there are local independent manufacturers popping up as well.
“When I first bought my Prius hybrid car 13 years ago, there was a lot of scaremongering about batteries failing and other nonsense. Just today, driving between Cooroy and home, the car’s speedo ticked over 300,000kms. It’s still on the original battery. In fact, it hasn’t had a hiccup in 13 years.”
The Queensland Government last week announced the release of a guide to installing EV chargers for property owners, planners and developers.
Minister Bailey said sales of electric vehicles in Queensland were growing and with new, more affordable models entering the Australian market, EV charging infrastructure would grow in importance.
“In January 2018 the Palaszczuk Government successfully completed the Queensland Electric Super Highway (QESH), which stretches from the Gold Coast to Cairns,” he said.
Charging stations on the electric super highway are free for the first year, he said.
