The thought of electric car owners stopping, relaxing and perhaps spending money at the city’s businesses while charging their fuel-free cars, has inspired the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Council.

City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor John Bowler today plugged the first electric car into Hannan Street’s newly installed public electric car charging station and described it as a “very big day” for the city.

“I think it’s the future — I’m so glad we now have this here and I think in the next two or three years, we will have a lot more,” he said. “The council will also be looking at a faster charging system. When we first started this process a few weeks ago, the cost was considerably higher, but it is coming down.

“It is good business sense to get into this market.

“If we don’t have these facilities in years to come, tourists will be skipping Kalgoorlie.”

Australian Electric Vehicle Association member Rob Dean has travelled across the Nullarbor in his Tesla vehicle and said he would love to see more people going electric.

“People will stop and spend money in regions with electric car chargers,” he said.

“Most owners will charge their cars at home, but when they are travelling, cities with chargers will be the priority.”

Speaking after a Goldfields Voluntary Regional Organisation of Councils meeting last week, Mr Bowler urged other Goldfields councils to consider investing in electric-vehicle charging stations in a bid to create an electronic highway in the region.

“This is clearly a market that is moving faster than we all even thought it was going to move, which is great,” he said.

“If we could get all these councils from Wiluna down to Ravensthorpe, and up to Laverton, it would be fantastic.

“If we had an electronic high-way throughout our region and if we became the first major region to have this, I think those in Perth with electric cars would want to come up to the Goldfields.

“Once they come to the Goldfields, people usually get surprised by how beautiful and different it is and come back again.”

Twelve charging stations are based between Perth and Augusta on motoring services provider RAC’s South West electric highway.

Mr Bowler said a highway similar to the South West concept which included stations based in the major Goldfields-Esperance towns, would promote tourism in the region.