Cindy and Collin James pleased with electric vehicle purchase, despite Wagga charging fears

But three months after making the purchase, her expectations have been well and truly surpassed and she is pleasantly surprised at how viable the vehicle is for driving around the Riverina.

"The charging has been much simpler than I was expecting," Mrs James said.

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"I was really thinking we would need to get an electrician in and get something fitted at home as a separate power source, like a fast-charger, but this just plugs into the wall and it has been great."

Mrs James and her husband Collin spent about $45,000 on a BYD Atto 3, which they have been using on a daily basis since mid-December.

The couple, who work as a primary school teacher and draftsperson respectively, bought the car due to their environmental values despite some concerns about the lack of fast-charging ports across the Riverina.

Mrs James said while it would be difficult to use the car if they did weekly trips to Sydney, it was perfect for driving around Wagga and occasional day trips to other Riverina towns.

"You can still do the Sydney trip but you've just got to be a bit more mindful and really plan your rest stops around fast-chargers," she said.

The biggest hurdle for many Australians looking to enter the EV world is the relatively expensive cost of the cars, but Mr James is confident prices will drop as the market expands.

He has crunched the numbers and found their electric vehicle will cost $2454 less to run each year than their other vehicle - a Toyota Camry.

"We've got some solar panels on the roof so if we're home on the weekend we can even charge it for free off the sun," Mr James said.

With sales number rising each year, it appears to only be a matter of time before EVs become commonplace on Riverina streets.

Data from PlugShare.com shows there are just six public charging stations across Wagga, including the free NRMA super-charger at the Playhouse Theatre.

Wagga City Council has announced plans to bring this tally to 10, by installing chargers at Apex Park, the Visitor Information Centre, the O'Reilly Street car park and Bolton Park Stadium.

The council's manager of environment, Mark Gardiner, said the local network of chargers is slowly improving, as the city prepares for increased demand in coming years.

"At this stage there are limited chargers within the city and this is seen to be an expansion of the network to encourage people to come to the city," he said.

"We're at the stage where electric vehicles are increasing in sales and there's an identified need to be able to support that development."

The chargers are expected to be installed by September.

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