Electric vehicle charging stations are available throughout Australia. Still, according to experts, several locations only have one or two outlets, and this needs to change if people want to avoid long lines next summer.
According to many charging companies, substantial government investment in regional EV infrastructure is essential to ending the frustrations that many holidaymakers have experienced in recent weeks.
Other businesses, however, are more optimistic, believing that the people queuing mentioned in late December and early January will be less severe by 2024 because they clearly show where more chargers are required.
Increased demand for charging stations
The NRMA, which handles 55 charging stations throughout New South Wales, mentioned a 50% spike in demand in the initial week of January. The increase was even more significant in the busiest areas of Homebush and Mittagong.
It has obviously led to delays – it is going to take time to build the network to a point where you see a drop in these delays,
the challenge is getting the charging stations in the right location, getting them working, but also making sure we can scale up in the right places when we need to
Peter Khoury, NRMA Spokesperson stated on charging points location in Australia
The NSW government has committed to constructing over 1,000 electric vehicle charging stations vehicles for four years, creating the country’s most extensive network.
Additional 100 charging stations by 2023
BP Pulse has 22 rapid-charging stations across Australia and plans to construct 100 by the end of 2023. According to Josh Hoevenaars, the company’s business development manager, the current delays reflect the rising popularity of EVs.
At the moment, we’ve got a fairly vast network of charging stations, but it is quite shallow,
It covers most of Australia, but lots of locations only have one of two chargers. Because we don’t have the depth of charging or redundancy of charging at those locations, a lot of people have to wait, but that doesn’t happen very often throughout the year, only on one or two days at peak periods
Hoevenaars stated on lack of charging points in Australia
Insufficient number of stations
According to Luke Chippindale, general manager of the Caravan Industry Association of Australia, some holidaymakers had to delay their return home by up to eight hours due to a lack of charging stations.
We know that a lot of the charging infrastructure is based on downtime, where people have the ability to pull up for a night,
But from a tourism perspective, when you start to look at range anxiety and battery capabilities, the reliance on a fast-charge network is really critical
Chippindale stated on insufficient number of stations in Australia
Chippindale is urging governments to fund fast-charging stations at regional RV parks. He hopes this will persuade more EV drivers to travel longer distances confidently.
It’s a way to make sure we keep people moving across the country, to keep people visiting the areas they love to visit and ensure there is a fairly mature charging network away from high-demand urban areas,
It’s a way to make sure we keep people moving across the country, to keep people visiting the areas they love to visit and ensure there is a fairly mature charging network away from high-demand urban areas
Chippindale stated on installing additional charging points
Government funding is vital for constructing more stations
According to Michael Brewitt, the director of VE Charge, which sets up charging stations in apartments and workplaces, Australia‘s public infrastructure is at least five years next to international standards.
It is not financially viable for a private company to install one of these fast chargers. The return on investment is just too long at this stage. Without government help, we are not going to get enough stations installed
Michael Brewitt, Director of VE Charge stated on financial assistance from the Government
However, Hoevenaars believes increased competition and investment will help the charging market develop quickly.
I am an optimist, so I would hazard a guess that we will be in a better position next year, even with increased growth of sales, because you are seeing a lot of new entrants into the charging market and also increased investment and ambition from existing operators
Hoevenaars stated on increase in charging market
