Yarragon keen to charge the future
by Jack Morgan
Electric car owners and Yarragon businesses are coming together to advocate for electric car chargers in town.
Traders say restaurants and cafes would receive a huge boost as people plug in and wait for their vehicles to charge.
Yarragon South car enthusiast Jim Whiley bought a Tesla model 3 in April and said there is only one Tesla charger in the Baw Baw Shire – in Walhalla.
“Charging infrastructure is quite amazing, but it’s something that worried me a couple of months ago,” Whiley said.
Returning from a trip to Europe in 2019, Whiley was stunned by the infrastructure overseas. Particularly by the fact that there are more EV chargers than petrol stations in the UK. He said it’s a stark contrast to Australia.
“There is pretty much nothing between Dandenong and Moe in terms of charging, so if we could get a charging station here we’re pretty much the first stop outside of Melbourne,” he said.
Ever since buying the car, Whiley has thought Yarragon would be the perfect place for an EV charging station, a stop-off from the Princes Highway.
“We’re in the middle of a really good tourist district, you can go down to the coast from here, you can go up into the hills from here,” he said.
Driving the initiative for a local charging station, Whiley approached Yarragon Business Association president Michael Fozzard, who helped organise community consultation sessions last week.
Dozens of residents attended the sessions, who voiced interest in EV chargers on public land. One proposed location was the old school site on Rollo Street.
Yarragon businessman Michael Fozard said
the chargers would attract a different clientele to the town.
“What is happening in other parts of the world is that [charging stations] are a great drawcard for people to come and spend money,” Fozard said.
It usually takes about 30 minutes to charge an electric vehicle to full battery from a standard charger, which gives EV owners the chance to spend at local businesses.
Fozard said Yarragon businesses showed interest in charging stations 18 months ago but ruled out installing them with private funds because of their high cost.
He hopes that financial incentives will be made available from the federal government.
And if a fast charger was installed, it would
also benefit local EV owners who typically only have regular chargers at home.
“To have a resource like this where I can plug in, fast charge, and head out to the airport that would be great,” Whiley said.
As EV’s grow in popularity, Whiley said infrastructure was developing quickly. He believes that if the community does not get behind a public charging station in Yarragon, a private business will develop a station out of town.
There were concerns last year when Jasbe Petroleum submitted a planning permit to council for a petrol station outside of Yarragon, which was rejected.
“We want to do it in the town, for the town, not for some big Shell or BP or something like that,” he said.