Free EV charging is unfair, resident tells Murray Bridge council

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Should electric car owners be able to charge up for free at the Murray Bridge council while so many locals are struggling to make ends meet?

At least one local resident says it’s not fair.

Robert Roach addressed councillors at a meeting on Tuesday night.

“Letting people charge for free, when there are so many residents of Murray Bridge are struggling to put food on the table and pay electricity bills … sends the wrong message,” he said.

“If you want to provide a free service, it should go to a more needy group.

“The average car is $50,000-200,000, and I don’t see too many of them people rocking up to the food hub to get food.”

The charging station outside the Murray Bridge council office, on Seventh Street, was installed in 2018 to attract tourists with electric vehicles, and to demonstrate the council’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change.

The stations were powered by the solar panels on the office’s roof, council CEO Michael Sedgman said.

But Mr Roach argued that the subsidy would still be better spent on someone else.

“If people want to spend the money to buy an EV and drive around … they should be more than privileged (enough) to pay for their own electricity,” he said.

Electric car batteries could also cause environmental problems at the end of their lives, he argued.

Several councillors conceded that he had made a good point.

Karen Eckermann said Mr Roach had “got me thinking”, while Tom Haig said he was very interested in the resident’s comments.

“Every service has a cost,” Cr Haig said.

Motorists must pay to charge up at each of the other two fast-charging stations in the Murraylands: a Chargefox station around the corner on Mary Terrace and an Evie station at Tailem Bend.