Office tenants pushing for more EV infrastructure

Australia needs to increase its electric vehicle (EV) charging stock to prepare for an expected influx of EVs in coming years, according to new research from property group CBRE.

To gauge infrastructure readiness, CBRE conducted a stocktake of EV charging stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth by analysing:

• 80 major premium office buildings with a NABERS Energy rating of 5.5 or 6.
• 40 major regional and sub-regional shopping centres.

CBRE found an EV charging station penetration rate of 78% for shopping centres and 20% for office towers.

“There has been exponential growth in the electric vehicle market over the past five years, with 6.8% (23,967) of new vehicles purchased in the year to April 2023 being EVs. However, Australia is still behind the global growth rate average of 12-14%, with the Electric Vehicle Council estimating that Australia will need to support an EV fleet of 1 million vehicles by 2027 – up from the current total of 83,000 – to achieve 2050 net zero targets,” CBRE said.

“Charging station infrastructure will be key to supporting the market’s expansion, but even at current levels office landlords have their work cut out for them according to CBRE’s analysis.”

That said, office landlords may be forced to invest in EV charging infrastructure if they want to fill their buildings.

CBRE has noticed “a sharp increase” from office tenants, particularly government ones, for EV chargers.

How to finance an EV purchase

There are 70 different EV models available for purchase and nearly 5,000 public charging sites in Australia, according to the Electric Vehicle Council.

“State and territory governments are now actively supporting the adoption of EVs, recognising they're critical in achieving emission reduction targets.”

Contact me if you’d like to buy an EV. I’ll compare loans on your behalf and manage your finance application.