The rapid growth of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) is crucial for Australia to achieve its Net Zero target by 2050. Currently, there are 180,000 EVs in Australia, and if this number rises to one million by 2030 the country will require around 2.8 million charging stations - 560 times the current provision of approximately 5,000 chargers across 2,500 sites. To support this level of EV adoption, a significant expansion of EVCI is needed.
Lessons from other countries show that EVCI networks can quickly become unreliable and inefficient without proper planning and oversight. For Australia, this presents an opportunity to ensure this anticipated growth is supported by a strategic asset management approach to avoid issues such as performance degradation, high maintenance costs and premature asset failures. Effectively scaling EVCI while ensuring efficiency and reliability will require the adoption of asset management practices informed by international best practices.
In collaboration, Arcadis and UGL have examined the asset management principles for EVCI, looking at key lessons from Arcadis UK and Europe's EVCI implementation from recent years and provided recommendations to enhance Australia's approach to the asset management and maintenance of future EVCI infrastructure.
Co-author Clara Owen, National Asset Management Lead at Arcadis, said: "With EV adoption accelerating in Australia, the effective management of EVCI assets is more critical than ever. Drawing on lessons from international examples shows us we must create a robust asset management framework that supports sustainable growth, minimises risk and maximises asset performance."
"By leveraging data-driven strategies and implementing predictive maintenance, Australia's EVCI network can become a model of efficiency and reliability, ensuring it meets both current and future demand while aligning with long-term sustainability goals."
