September 2nd, 2023EV charge station vandalised, Creswick

The Hepburn Shire Council has confirmed that it is working on possible security measures after the new electric vehicle charge station at Creswick was vandalised recently, rendering it currently offline.

Damage is understood to have been done to at least one of the charge guns and Hepburn CEO Bradley Thomas has described it as “very disappointing”.

“The Creswick EV Charger was vandalised a couple of weeks ago and is currently offline while we wait for a quote on repairs and undertake the works,” Mr Thomas said.

“The damage is very disappointing. Council is working on possible security measures given increasing incidences of damage at our facilities and to the EV charger. “

The damage comes as the rate of electric vehicle uptake continues to grow at a significant rate. The number of EVs on Australian roads almost doubled last year, growing from 44,000 at the beginning of 2022 to more than 83,000. Global electric vehicle (EV) sales increased more than 50 per cent from 2021 to 2022.