The Driven
  • EV News
    • Electric Cars
    • Electric Bikes
    • Electric Boats
    • EV Conversions
    • Electric Flight
    • Electric Transport
    • Hydrogen Fuel Cell
    • Batteries
    • Charging
    • Policy
  • EV Models
  • EV Sales
  • Road Trips
  • Reviews
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
  • EV Explainers
    • FAQs
    • Readers’ Questions

The Driven
The Driven
  • EV News
    • Electric Cars
    • Electric Bikes
    • Electric Boats
    • EV Conversions
    • Electric Flight
    • Electric Transport
    • Hydrogen Fuel Cell
    • Batteries
    • Charging
    • Policy
  • EV Models
  • EV Sales
  • Road Trips
  • Reviews
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
  • EV Explainers
    • FAQs
    • Readers’ Questions
Comments
  • Charging
  • EV News

People power: Community-funded EV charger links Perth to Esperance

  • October 1, 2020
  • No comments
  • 2 minute read
  • Chris Jones
lake grace charger
Supplied
Share 1
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

What does the EV community do when a state government drags its feet in rolling our charging infrastructure? For a group of stalwart West Australian EV supporters, it is literally a case of power from, rather than to the people.

The first 50 kW DC fast charger on the community-funded Esperance to Perth electric highway has been installed and commissioned on September 22 in Lake Grace, 325km from Perth.

The Tritium charger was installed by Gemtek Automation after electrical mains works were completed by Western Power.  Installation costs were kindly covered by the Shire of Lake Grace, which has keenly backed the charger right from the start.

Institutional donor for the purchase of this charger, C D Dodd Scrap Metals, were on hand to use the charger for the first time – charging the company’s Ioniq before heading back to Forrestfield.  Cobalt donor Harald Murphy was also there to test the new piece of critical infrastructure; charging his Tesla Model X before returning to Perth.

This charger is roughly halfway between Perth and Esperance and is critical for helping people in the Wheatbelt regions of WA to get to and from Perth.  It is one of three chargers needed to complete the journey, with a charger for Ravensthorpe already purchased while a suitable site is being prepared.

While it is wonderful to see this community-funded project start to come to fruition, and the prospect of rural West Australians being confident in their purchase of an EV, it seems crazy that we need to fund critical transport infrastructure this way.

But people are tired of waiting for government to step up, so EV owners will simply do what needs to be done until then.

The WA state government has been sitting on a report commissioned by the WA EV Infrastructure Working Group for almost two years, which explicitly outlines the low cost of a seed network for the state – under $30 million would cater for the needs of a 1% EV fleet, or roughly 22,000 EVs.

Chris Jones is secretary of the WA branch of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association, which is a volunteer-run not-for-profit organisation with branches in all states and territories, and dedicated to transitioning Australia’s transport sector to electric power since 1973.

The fundraiser campaign can be found at https://chuffed.org/project/evhwy

Share 1
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Get the free daily newsletter

I agree to the Terms of Use

Trending posts
  • Hyundai officially ‘ruins’ the Long Weekend by winning Best Tow Car award. Source: Hyundai Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV officially ‘ruins’ weekend by winning Best Tow Car award posted on August 3, 2022
  • ioniq 5 “This is crazy!” Hyundai Ioniq 5 sells out again in less than ten minutes posted on August 10, 2022
  • roev electric hilux “Powerwalls on wheels:” The plan to make electric utes in Australia posted on August 8, 2022
  • hyundai ioniq 6 in australia Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric coupé spotted in Australia ahead of early 2023 launch posted on August 9, 2022
EV Explainers
  • vanderstock zappi How to save thousands when installing an EV charger at home posted on July 15, 2022
  • tesla charging Where can you charge a Tesla or other electric car for free? posted on February 27, 2022
  • Charging battery of an electric car - optimised EastLink The top ten electric vehicle myths that need to be debunked posted on November 3, 2021
  • tesla model 3 charging Which electric car delivers the best driving range for your dollar? posted on May 3, 2022
Emissions counter
  • EV News
    • Electric Cars
    • EV Conversions
    • Electric Boats
    • Electric Bikes
    • Electric Flight
    • Electric Transport
    • Electric Work Vehicles
    • Hydrogen Fuel Cell
    • Charging
    • Policy
  • EV Explainers
  • EV Conference
  • EV Models
  • EV Sales
  • Road Trips
  • Multimedia

the driven electric vehicle podcast

Get the free daily newsletter

I agree to the Terms of Use

Follow The Driven on Socials
The Driven
  • About The Driven
  • Get in Touch
  • Advertise
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Feedback
X
Aust's only instant solar & battery comparator. Since 2008.
Solar Choice

Input your search keywords and press Enter.