By late 2022, there were approximately 3,000 public EV charging stations around Australia, with 450 of those in Victoria*.  

Ventia has recently added to those numbers, installing four twin EV charging stations in the Austin Health complex, with two installed in the Austin Tower carpark and two in the staff carpark at Martin Street (enabling charging of eight cars simultaneously).

Based on the usage data, individual chargers can service up to five vehicles a day, depending on the length of time the owners are attending the hospital (i.e. how long they are parked there).

By using these chargers, motorists are helping reduce harmful air pollution from exhaust emissions and reducing their vehicle's operating costs. 

Project Director Phil Treeby explains:

It costs around 40% less to charge your car with electricity from these stations compared to filling it with petrol, based on the same distance being travelled.

More charging stations

Executive General Manager Rhys Barker and Austin Health's Chief Information and Services Officer Ray Van Kuyk caught up on site recently to check the charging stations out. 

"Like many organisations and individuals, Ventia is on the journey to transition our fleet across to hybrid and full electric, so it's important that we all have access to charging stations," Rhys says. "So from a purely practical level, the more of these stations that are installed the better."

"However, it's also key to Ventia both in our own climate risk and resilience goals and in the support we provide to our clients to ensure that we're looking for ways to reach our collective goals sooner." 

Ray agrees and says that enabling their employees and the visitors to their facilities to access charging stations all contributes to Austin Health's sustainability goals. 

We embed sustainable practices and projects into everything we do. This helps us reduce the environmental impact of health care.

As asset manager for the Austin Health portfolio, including Austin Hospital in Heidelberg (north eastern Melbourne), the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre, Ventia has provided 24/7 facilities and asset management services since 2011. 

"Ventia has donated and installed these chargers in keeping with sustainability initiatives built into the contract, and also because we share our client's vision for a clean future," says Phil. "Working together, we want to create a lasting legacy for people and the planet by playing our part to reduce climate emissions and manage climate risk and resilience." 

*According to RACV.

^{Pictured at top: Executive General Manager Rhys Barker and Austin Health's Chief Information and Services Officer Ray Van Kuyk checking out the EV charging stations.}