Car power recharge for shoppers
WA will get its first shopping centre with electric car charge stations next month in a move that advocates hope will be replicated across the State.
In what is believed to be a WA first, the $100 million redevelopment of Cockburn Gateway shopping centre will include a wind turbine-powered station where electric car owners can recharge their vehicle while they shop.
Popular across Europe, electric car charging stations at privately owned shopping centres have not caught on in WA.
WA has about 70 original electric vehicles on the roads and another 40 converted electric vehicles, according to the Department of Transport.
The electric car charging stations are part of a major redevelopment that will expand the Perron Group-owned Cockburn Gateway from 30,000sqm to 50,000sqm.
Perron Group general manager of property investment Andrew Byars said the group hoped to be "at the forefront of promoting environmentally friendly decisions".
The stations will be available from October 30.
With a maximum output of 30 amps, a one-hour charge would extend a car battery by up to 40km.
Australian Electric Vehicle Association Perth secretary Antony Day welcomed the move, which he said was visionary and would complement the existing public network. "Electric cars are the future," he said.
"I think that Cockburn Gateway's decision to put in a carbon-free charging point is a visionary idea."
