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May 07, 2023

Whyalla vet launches city's first EV charging station in bid to cut harmful fumes that affect pets

A South Australian vet has unveiled the steel city of Whyalla's first fast

A South Australian vet has unveiled the steel city of Whyalla's first fast electric vehicle charging station, in a bid to raise awareness of how harmful petrol fumes can be to pets.

The city's first DC charger is now located at the Whyalla Veterinary Clinic.

Veterinarian Andrew Melville-Smith said he was frustrated with the pace of the rollout of EV charging stations across Australia, so he installed his own.

"I would encourage [installing more stations] but at the moment, it seems like a lot of hot air," Dr Melville-Smith said.

The charging station at the clinic can fully charge a car in about 30 minutes, compared to several hours for slower chargers.

Dr Melville-Smith said he wanted to encourage the transition to electric vehicles because of the effects of car emissions on pets.

"The passion for electric cars is really about looking after our patients," he said.

"We need to move away from fossil-fuelled cars because they're killing us and they're killing our pets."

"The nitrous oxide and the sulphur and the particulates cause lung disease, heart disease and they damage the immune system."

The moves comes as the Royal Automobile Association (RAA) is rolling out 140 charging stations across South Australia.

RAA program director for the EV charging network, Andrew Howard, said the Whyalla Veterinary Clinic's charging station was an example of the private sector supplementing public infrastructure.

"When this rollout is finished there will be 140 sites around South Australia, which is really a minimum viable network to start to electrify the fleet in SA, but there will be others like Dr Melville-Smith who will come on board and install their own chargers," he said.

Mr Howard said South Australia's car fleet was roughly 10 years old, meaning even if South Australians only bought electric cars, it would take about 15 years for petrol cars to be phased out.

"We see zero emission transport as the way of the future and there's a few ways you can get there," he said.

"Battery-powered lithium battery electric vehicles are one way and are certainly the dominant mode by sale."

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