An Ergon Network/Energex research program is looking for more EV owners – preferably those WITHOUT a solar PV system and living in a regional area.
Anecdotally, from the questions at EV talks and webinars I receive (and in previous times when I was a solar PV installer), I have often noted that solar PV ownership and EV interest seem to go together.
The data from those enrolling with the Ergon Network/Energex EV charging research program I wrote about earlier here would seem to bear that out: of the 135 enrollees Ergon Network/Energex have signed up so far (the target number is 200), some 80% have solar PV systems – and almost 20% of that number have fixed storage battery systems, too.
As a result, Ergon Network/Energex are putting out a call for more participants – primarily, this time, to non-PV owning EV drivers, as they want to collect a well-rounded data set for understanding how EV owners drive and charge their cars.
Once enrolled to the program, and with the data dongle plugged into your car (via the OBDII or ‘On-Board Diagnostic V2’ socket), participants can view the data they collect via their own personal ‘dashboard’.
This includes:
- Trip journey – start and end time and duration;
- kWh consumed for each journey;
- State of charge before and at the end of each trip journey;
- Electric Driving Efficiency: Wh/km – Watt-hours per km. (A measure of fuel efficiency for battery electric vehicles);
- Fossil fuel Efficiency Equivalent: L/100km eq. (Litres Per 100 km equivalent);
- Electric Distance Fraction. (For PHEVs: of all the driving done by a PHEV vehicle, how much of it was electric: i.e. using your battery as the powertrain. In the case of BEVs, it is 100%);
- Auxiliary load in kWh.
So if you own an EV, live in Queensland and are interested in joining the research program, go to the following websites: (especially if you don’t have solar and live in regional Queensland!)
For the Ergon Network area: www.ergon.com.au/evsmartcharge
For the Energex Network area: www.energex.com.au/evsmartcharge
These links provide all the detail about the program, details of incentives, list of compatible vehicles and a link to the EOI form and the terms and conditions.
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector since 2008 and is currently working as EV electrical safety trainer/supervisor for the University of Melbourne. He also provides support for the EV Transition to business, government and the public through his EV Transition consultancy EVchoice.