Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP opened the first public electric car charging station in Australia yesterday.

The on-street charging spot is located in Derby Place, Glebe. It is managed by ChargePoint and installed by Visionstream. The station uses 100 per cent Origin GreenPower and can recharge converted plug-in hybrids such as a Toyota Prius in three hours.

Ms Moore said that Sydney has joined other cities around the world that have installed electric vehicle charging stations, such as Amsterdam, Houston, San Francisco, London and Vancouver. Over 700,000 vehicles travel throughout the Local Government Area in Sydney every day, contributing significantly to pollution, smog, greenhouse gases, noise and congestion.

Vehicles that are part of the car share scheme GoGet, such as the converted Prius, have an electric motor range of 30kms and cover two kilometres more than 80 per cent of GoGet’s regular trips. Moore said that electric vehicles contribute zero exhaust emissions and added that a shared vehicle substituted up to 10 privately owned cars.

Moore also said that in order to have a healthier city, it is necessary to take action to lower the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from motor vehicles. Electric vehicles are a part of Sydney’s solution for climate change, along with cycling, walking and public transport.