Electric vehicle drivers will be able to charge up in more places within months, after the Queensland government revealed a deal with Ampol to turn service stations into EV hubs.
More than 30 Australian petrol stations, including six in Queensland, will be part of the latest electric vehicle (EV) charging rollout as part of Ampol's plans to install 360 recharging bays in Australia over the next two years.
The announcement came as the state government launched an EV study showing their numbers doubled in Queensland over 12 months and EV owners were travelling 20 per cent more than petrol and diesel car drivers.
Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said there had been a "massive" uptake of electric vehicles in the state, with more than 8500 EVs registered between February 2022 and January this year, putting more than 16,700 electric cars and motorbikes on the state's roads.
"Queensland motorists are voting with their wallets," he said.
"They know that switching to electric saves them money. It also helps us ensure we're able to reduce emissions and tackle climate change."
But Mr de Brenni said rising EV use had increased demand for public chargers as many drivers sought to top-up vehicle outside their homes.
The new rollout will see Ampol work with publicly owned renewable energy firm Yurika to install 34 ultra fast charging stations across Australia, six of which will be installed at Queensland petrol stations, including Morningside, Reedy Creek, Sippy Downs and Caboolture.
The charging sites will operate as early as June.
Ampol chief financial officer Greg Barnes said the rollout would be part of the company's commitment to install charging stations in 140 locations over the next two years.
"We're putting a lot of time and effort into making sure we're giving customers the opportunity to charge at the destination or at a forecourt of their choice," he said.
"Six months ago you'd be unlikely to see two or three EVs queued up at a set of lights, and you're now starting to see that."
Mr de Brenni said findings from the EV SmartCharge Queensland Insights Report, conducted by Energy Queensland, proved their uptake was rising and disproved myths and conspiracy theories about the transport technology.
The study found Queensland EV drivers typically recharged their cars at home during off-peak hours, were charging at home only 60 per cent of the time, and travelled longer distances.
"The report found that electric vehicles, in fact, travel 20 per cent further than do their internal combustion engine equivalents," Mr de Brenni said.
"That means that people who rack up a lot of kilometres each and every week, whether it's going to work or taking the kids to and from school, are making the decision to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle.
"That explodes the myths that we hear around electric vehicles not being able to serve that market."
Even though their numbers doubled in Queensland, electric vehicles made up 3.8 per cent of new car sales during 2022, according to figures from the Electric Vehicle Council.
The number of public chargers also jumped by 44 per cent last year to more than 4900 charging stations in more than 2300 locations.
