Regional communities are being encouraged to take advantage of the growing electric vehicle market and invest in charging technology.

In New South Wales, the NRMA is setting up a network of 40 fast-charging stations at a cost of $10 million. Some car owners have even converted their own petrol-fuelled cars to run on electricity.

Private enterprise was also taking the lead, with arguably the most well-known electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla, expanding its network of chargers.

One business to house such a charger is Cassegrain Wines, near Port Macquarie on the mid north coast of NSW.

Cassegrain Wines is hoping to attract more visitors with its charger. ( ABC News: Kerrin Thomas )

Six Tesla Superchargers were installed in 2016 after several years of discussion with the company. The winery said that had opened up the region to a new market.

"It opens up our grounds, our vineyard, the cellar door, the restaurant to a new demographic of customers that may not have stopped off here," wine club manager Joshua Moses said.

"In our cellar door we have a lot of local produce, local products, local honeys, chocolates, things of that nature.

"If they haven't decided to take a detour into town and stopped here they're still getting exposed [to Port Macquarie] … they're tasting some of the macadamias from nearby and blueberries and olive oils and things like that — and we do have a guide and map of all of what's happening in Port Macquarie.

"People stop here and they see that maybe Port Macquarie's got something a bit fun, a bit exciting."

The chargers were installed after years of discussions with Tesla. ( Supplied: Joshua Moses )

Senior winemaker, Alex Cassegrain, said the proximity to the Pacific Highway helped secure the charging station, but the experiences available were crucial.

"We're not just a winery, we work with someone who has horses just across the road so they can take the family and the kids can go for a riding lesson or track around the winery or the grounds, while the parents have time for a tasting or a tour, and they can all come back and have lunch and be on their way," he said.

If the popularity of the charging station continued to increase, Cassegrain would consider expanding the restaurant's trading hours to include dinner.

Charging takes time so there's time to fill

Peter Gorton with his electric BMW. ( Supplied )

It can take an hour or more to recharge an electric vehicle — something Peter Gorton from Millingandi on the NSW South Coast knows all too well.

His early-model BMW electric vehicle has a relatively low range of a little more than 100 kilometres, and he said that meant spending more time in small towns than he ever did while driving a petrol-powered vehicle.

"If somebody stops for half an hour or maybe an hour, they're probably going to spend some money, they're at least going to buy a cup of coffee, they might buy something more," he said.

"And also you get people walking around in the street and finding out all those little craft shops and things like that, which are quite easy to bypass."

He encouraged community organisations to get involved.

"It's possible to recharge anywhere that there's a three-pin socket, or if you can go to a showground or a camping area, you get a shorter charge time there because there's more power available," he said.

"None of us driving electric cars want a free ride, we're quite happy to pay for our electricity and bear in mind that to completely fill my car takes about $6 worth of energy and on that I drive about 120 kilometres."

Government offers encouragement

The State Government's Minister for Tourism, Adam Marshall, has seen the benefits of electric vehicle charging first-hand with towns in his northern NSW electorate taking the plunge.

"Glen Innes … often used to get overlooked because people would continue driving another 100 kilometres down to Armidale which is a major city," he said.

"But now with the charging station they've installed in the CBD, a lot more tourists are pulling off the highway, pulling into town and charging their cars.

Glen Innes is reaping the rewards after installing electric vehicle chargers. ( Supplied )

"[They're] going down the street, shopping and having a coffee, the local tourism operators and Chamber of Commerce have reported since the charging station was installed they're seeing a big boost to the numbers stopping."

He said the State Government would encourage more people to stop by including the details of charging stations in marketing material and visitor guides.

"Also [by] providing funding opportunities for councils to obtain money to cover the cost of installing these charging stations in their local parks and CBDs," he said.

"The charging stations are not cheap but they are very much a smart investment by the council and by the community because what it costs to construct it will certainly be repaid and then some by the sheer spending by the extra tourists those communities will attract."