Plug and Play

Range anxiety is disappearing as more charging stations open

Range anxiety was a real issue in the past for electric vehicle owners, but those days are fading into the background as more charging stations open throughout Australia. Our wide brown land will soon be dotted liberally with easily accessible places to charge our electric Porsches. Australia has just over 3,000 EV public charging points, including an 85 percent increase in EV fast chargers. As of January 2022, there are 293 fast charging locations (50kW or above) around Australia and 1580 regular charging stations (below 50kW) – a 29 percent increase.

According to the Electric Vehicle Council, 700 new fast charging locations will be added across Australia over the next five years. Each location will have multiple charging points to accommodate a range of vehicles. There are many EV charging infrastructure providers operating within Australia, including Chargefox, Jet Charge, Tritium, EVSE, EVIE, Schneider Electric, Keba, EVERTY, NHP Electrical Engineering, and eGo Dock. Following a major funding injection from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Evie plans on installing 400 new EV chargers across Australia. The company is also partnering with AMP Capital to deliver fast charging sites in shopping centres across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, and New Zealand. In Stage One of the rollout of Evie (the name given to Australia’s largest ultra-fast charging network), the network will expand across 16 shopping centres with two charging bays per site, with the ability to scale up in the future as more EVs hit the road.

Evie has already partnered with fast food giant Hungry Jack's, where it has begun installing fast chargers at its restaurants; as well as partnering with Ampol to install ultra-fast charging stations. The first of these is at Ampol’s Caltex-branded Avenel site in Victoria, with two bays for EV owners offering charging in around 15 minutes using Evie Network’s ultra-fast 350kW Australian-made Tritium technology. The first of six ultrafast charging sites, Avenel will form part of the ultra-fast charging network connecting Australia’s east coast from Cairns to Adelaide.

Called AmpCharge, the network will also see these chargers installed at service stations in Alexandria and Northmead in NSW, Altona North in Victoria, Belmont in WA, and Carseldine in Queensland. Alan Stuart-Grant, Ampol’s Executive General Manager, Strategy and Corporate Development, says the pilot would provide an opportunity to test how EV charging can be integrated into a traditional service station forecourt.

‘Ampol’s national network of retail sites, along Australia’s major highways and close to existing high-traffic road infrastructure in metropolitan areas, makes us uniquely placed to play a key role in the delivery of EV charging,’ he says. An agreement was reached between Ampol and ARENA to roll out charging infrastructure to its existing retail network, believed to be a first for a local petrol retailer.

The Victorian state government is also investing in new electric vehicle initiatives, with $5 million going towards a fast-charging network and $3 million available in charging grants. The Destination Charging Across Victoria Program will mean drivers in any Victorian town will be one hour away from a fast charger, with 141 electric vehicle fast-charging stations being installed across the state. Destinations include shopping complexes, public parks, community centres, libraries, and tourist hot spots such as the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne Zoo, the MCG, and Queen Victoria Market. The initiatives − part of Victoria’s $100 million Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Roadmap − will significantly ramp up the state’s charging infrastructure and make it easier for Victorians to purchase an electric vehicle. A free app for iOS, Android and the internet called PlugShare allows users to find charging stations in Australia and worldwide. Around 300,000 monthly active users plan their trips by finding charging stations on the way, paying directly for their charging through the platform. Google Maps in Australia is expected to soon roll out the EV charging station finder, which has already been released in the UK and US, making it even easier for Australians to plug in. •