An EV charging network in the west will introduce idle fees on select sites from next week. The move comes after years of requests from EV drivers across the country to have penalties for those drivers that leave their EVs plugged in even after the vehicle has been fully charged.
This has caused frustration amongst the EV-driving community, especially around public charging sites with a limited number of charging stalls along busier thoroughfares. The news was shared by EV drivers on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/robrobdean/status/1679105915298140165?s=20
After a 10-minute grace period post-completion of the charge, fees of $1/minute will be charged from July 18.
The first set of idle fees will begin in WA on the following sites which can be found on the Chargefox network:
- Geraldton – Stations 6206 and 6209
- Northampton – Station 6207
- Manjimup – Station 8347
- Albany – Stations 6228 and 6229
- Williams – Station 6234
- Lancelin – Station 6233
According to Chargefox, these sites are initial sites in WA with more to possibly come in the future.
There will also be a sticker on the cable notifying the charging station user of the idle fee policy at the charger site.
On top of this, Chargefox will notify users when the car is nearly done charging and when its fully charged.
It’s expected that the 10-minute grace period would begin after the latter notification giving drivers that may have walked away from the car a chance to get back to their vehicle and unplug their car from the charger in time.
Tesla has been charging idle fees for years at the majority of its sites in Australia which seems to work quite well.
Many of the Supercharger sites also have more than two stalls which further facilitates reducing charger anxiety, ensuring people can generally find a spare stall.
Overall, this is a good move by Chargefox to enable idle fees at the initial sites in Western Australia. Given the overall support for this initiative amongst EV drivers, it’d be good to see this rollout continue at a national level in the coming years.
