Leading electric vehicle charging station provider and installer Global Electric Technologies (GET) has welcomed new and additional measures to support and incentivise the transition to electric vehicles announced at the weekend by the Victorian Government.

As part of the government's pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a raft of measures was announced to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, including targets to increase zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) sales by 50% within 10 years. To achieve this target, the government will invest $100 million in the transport sector, including $19 million for infrastructure for charging stations, tripling the number of government-funded fastcharging stations throughout the state.The $3000 subsidy provided to Victorians who purchase a ZEV will also continue, with a further 20,000 subsidy payments allocated in stages.

Transitioning the Victorian Government fleet of vehicles towards ZEVs will also be accelerated, with 400 new vehicles to be purchased over the next two years.GET Founder and Executive Chairman Srecko Lorbek commended the Victorian Government for supporting the transition to ZEVs but indicated other legislative and regulatory changes should be considered to support a growing market of EV drivers.

It is essential that we have a commercial and residential EV charging infrastructure network that can support the proliferation of EV drivers and ensure the grid can handle additional power requirements to keep EVs charged, he said. Tripling the number of government-funded fast charging points is a terrific start, however we need to start planning for new commercial and residential buildings to be required by law to have a sufficient allowance of EV charging points, and that they be capable of expanding the number of charge points as the transition to EVs grows. Planning laws for new builds must include minimum standards for charging infrastructure so that people can charge their EV wherever they park.

Lorbek also encouraged the government to re-think its proposed mechanism for collecting a soon-to-be-legislated levy on EV drivers to fund ongoing road maintenance.

"The fairest way to collect a road user charge from an EV driver is to make it electricity consumption-based and not distance-based, which is requiring people to submit a picture of their odometer every year and make an annual payment," Lorbek said.

GET has the technology to calculate the equivalent of the current fuel excise at the charging point, with the levy able to be remitted straight back to the government. This is the modern and efficient collection model that should be implemented, not an antiquated paper-based system that is expensive to administer and open to rorting.