Home Property Australia Which Australian cities are best prepared for an electric vehicle influx?

Which Australian cities are best prepared for an electric vehicle influx?

  • June 07, 2023
  • by Property Australia
Australia is still behind in the uptake of electric vehicles, but adoption is on the rise.

Australia’s office towers may not be as ready as its major shopping centers to accommodate the anticipated increase in electric vehicles (EVs), according to a recent report by CBRE.

Retail establishments have taken the lead in EV charging station availability, with a penetration rate of 78 per cent, while office buildings lag behind at just 20 per cent, according to the report.

CBRE report author Sophie Plumridge said Australia’s office EV charging stock appears to be underdeveloped, with just 60 charging stations across the buildings they surveyed.

“On a city-by-city basis, Perth property landlords are leading the way in both the office and retail stakes, with Brisbane lagging in the office sector and Melbourne needing to play catch-up on the shopping centre front,” she said.

The electric vehicle market has experienced remarkable growth in the past five years, with EVs accounting for 6.8 per cent (23,967) of new vehicle purchases in the year leading up to April 2023, but falling short of the global average of 12-14 per cent.

CBRE conducted an assessment of EV charging stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth to evaluate the readiness of their infrastructure.

The survey focused on 20 premium/prime office buildings in each city, selected based on their NABERS Energy rating of 5.5 or 6. Additionally, 10 major regional and sub-regional shopping centers were included in the analysis.

Among the surveyed cities, Perth boasts the highest penetration rate of charging stations in office buildings, with approximately 35 per cent of the office buildings equipped with charging stations, and the city accounted for 43 per cent of all charging stations across the four cities.

Ms Plumridge said this could be linked to the state government’s Charge Up Workplace program, with grants being offered to small businesses, non-government organisations and local governments to offset 50-75 per cent of EV charging station installation costs.

Perth also has the highest proportion of car drivers as method of travelling to work out of the four cities surveyed at 45 per cent according to the 2021 Census.

At a retail level, 31 of the 40 centres that CBRE surveyed nationally had EV chargers with Perth again leading the way, with a 100 per cent penetration rate. By contrast, Melbourne’s retail centres are relatively undersupplied with only 40 per cent containing chargers.

Natasha Mulcahy, the Head of ESG for CBRE’s Pacific Property Management business, they are seeing a sharp increase in tenants, and particularly government tenants, requesting EV charging infrastructure from their office landlords.

“The first step for landlords should be to conduct an EV Charging Assessment, which will examine electrical infrastructure, historic and projected electricity use, and create a capacity plan for EV infrastructure,” she said.

Neil Glozier, Director – Energy and Sustainability for CBRE’s Pacific GWS business, noted that property owners and managers were having to quickly understand and develop their strategies for EV infrastructure, with key considerations including asset ownership and commercial structures, ongoing operations and maintenance and aligning end users’ requirements alignment with electrical infrastructure.