Bendigo's first trams were battery powered. Could our cars be next?
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Battery-technology has come a long way since the 1800s.
And the Bendigo Sustainability Group is encouraging residents to consider electric vehicles, as newly released models begin to be able to travel further without charging.
Electricity generated in Bendigo could possibly even be used to power the vehicles - in their entirety - into the future.
Bendigo Sustainability Group member Chris Corr said most electric vehicles are able to do a Bendigo-Melbourne return trip without needing to be charged.
If the BSG achieves its goal of 100 percent renewable energy for the city, the vehicles could even be powered by locally generated energy, he said.
The group is encouraging residents to consider electric vehicles, and working to integrating charging points into its community power hub program.
Mr Corr said Australia was lagging behind electric countries in terms of uptake of electric vehicle.
He attributed this to a lack of government incentives to develop and sell the new technology.
While the upfront costs of an electric vehicle might be greater, the running costs would be substantially lower, Mr Corr said.
Read more: Benefits in Bendigo from renewable focus
"Ultimately they'll be cheaper, greener, cleaner and we'll be able to charge them up at home or at work or in public place charging stations," he said.
"Vehicles are coming out with longer and longer ranges. The early ones definitely had short ranges. Most of the vehicles coming out now will be able to do a Bendigo, Melbourne return trip."
There are several charging stations in Bendigo, but no supercharging station.
Mr Corr said the charging infrastructure would grow rapidly in the next few years.
The average electric vehicle would be able to do a whole week's worth of trips on a single charge, Mr Corr said.
"It just requires you to have a slightly different way of thinking than we've been used to for the last 100 years," he said.
"It'll actually be a lot more convenient when we plug our car in at home, just like we plug in our phone or our laptop."
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