Osher Gunsberg
Electric vehicle advocate and Australia’s Bachelor and Bachelorette TV series host Osher Günsberg helped launch a new charger network for New South Wales eastern suburbs councils.
Gunsberg, who drives a Nissan Leaf and has an electric scooter, compered the June 5 launch of public on-street EV charging stations installed through the Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra councils in a first for NSW councils.
EV owners can now charge up at Bondi Beach, Double Bay, Coogee Beach and Randwick, and soon at Bondi Junction and Maroubra.
The pioneering project was officially launched at Bondi Beach with mayors Kathy Neilson (Randwick), John Wakefield (Waverley) and Peter Cavanagh (Woollahra), with industry representatives also attending, the Randwick City Council says.
It comes after the tri-councils signed a joint agreement last year with EV charging provider JetCharge to install and manage the stations.
The network will help reduce carbon emissions from transport in Sydney’s east, and encourage EV uptake, Neilson says.
“This project is an example of our shared determination and efforts to enact change at a local government level to help the environment for future generations.”
Wakefield says they’re proud to be EV pioneers in Sydney and NSW.
Cavanagh adds the charging stations are in convenient locations where residents and visitors do business, run errands and socialise.
“We want purchasing an EV to be a more viable option for people, and our councils are leading the way by providing handy charging locations,” he says.
The charging stations are booked and paid for using the Chargefox app, with charging costs between 10c-25c/kWh, depending on the time of the day, and designed to cost less than home charging.
The project is internally funded by Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra’s Tri-Council Environment Program.
