Western Queensland electric vehicle charging stations announced

The $1.08 million state government project will see stations at Kynuna, Richmond, Injune, Rolleston, St George and Cunnamulla.

They will join 18 other sites in the phase three rollout worth $2.75 million, including Charters Towers, Hughenden, Julia Creek, Cloncurry, Mount Isa, Goondiwindi, Stanthorpe, Winton, Longreach, Barcaldine, Blackall, Emerald, Dingo, Charleville, Roma, Miles, Kingaroy and Esk.

Works are expected to start from mid-2022, with all 24 sites expected to become progressively operational by mid-2023.

Phases one and two, which have been completed, stretch from Port Douglas to Coolangatta and then inland to Toowoomba.

Once a Cobb and Co staging post where horses would recharge, the north west Queensland town of Kynuna will soon be an EV post.

Sam Smith and her partner Corey Johns manage the town's only pub, The Blue Heeler Hotel, which includes a hotel, motel, caravan park and camping ground.

Ms Smith said she hadn't seen many EVs in the area, so the new infrastructure could change that.

"It could make a difference," Ms Smith said.

"The people that are pulling around electric cars behind their caravans might travel out here further because they can unhook their little car and then go for a drive, so you never know.

"It's the way everything is going."

In the south west of the state, Paroo Shire Council Mayor Suzette Beresford has long been in favour of securing a station in her shire and welcomed the news that Cunnamulla had been chosen.

"There was a big gap for tourists coming out this way if they happened to have electric vehicles and there wasn't the opportunity for locals to consider it really, so it's a great step forward for us to be included in this," she said.

"It will be of great benefit to us, both our visitor and tourism sector, and also give the opportunity for locals to consider purchasing those type of vehicles."

After seeing Goondiwindi, Roma and Charleville on the rollout map, the mayor took her concerns about the south west being left out to the government.

"There was no connection across the Moonie Highway and out to St George and Cunnamulla and I had concerns about that, because I think there will certainly be an uptake of electric vehicles as the prices are coming down and the charging stations become established," she said.

"It's still early days. We're starting to see some hybrid vehicles - not fully electric - but we are getting inquiries through our visitor information centre, so people are thinking about it or checking whether there are charging stations available out this way."

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Once complete, the QESH will consist of 55 fast-charging sites across the state and will complement Queensland's new Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy 2022-2032 released in March 2022, which committed $10 million for charging infrastructure.

Between 2018 and April 30 2022, more than 55,000 QESH charging sessions were logged.

'Fast' and 'ultra fast' charging can take from 10-60 minutes, while residential, workplace and destination charging - often classed as 'slow charging' - can take from two hours to more than 20 hours depending on the battery, charger and vehicle.

Popular models can achieve a driving range from 230km to 580km.

The number of EVs in the state have gone from as low as 700 to almost 9000.