The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA) says a planned electric vehicle (EV) charging site at the small indigenous community of Yalata – on the edge of the Nullarbor Plain – will be upgraded to provide charging speeds of up to 50kW.
RAA announced on Monday that it was upgrading the planned charging speed of the EV charging site in the Aboriginal community of Yalata, around 200 kms west of Ceduna. It was originally intended to be just 7kW.
“The 480 kilometres from Ceduna to the Border Village has been a black spot for EV charging, and we’re very happy to have been able to find a solution for EV drivers crossing the spectacular Nullarbor,” said Nick Reade, the CEO of RAA.
“We are working with our platform provider Chargefox, to enable the charger at Yalata to softly ramp up to 50kW and ramp down to securely provide EV drivers with fast charging infrastructure at this critical location.”
The soft ramp up requirement is needed because the local community is off the main grid and is currently powered by three diesel generators, and the EV charger needs to work within their operating envelopes. The charger will be a Kempower facility with two CCS2 plugs and three bays.
“EV drivers can already charge their battery at our 150kW rapid charging site at Ceduna which came online in February, but the new site at Yalata will give drivers the option to top up on the last stretch before heading into WA,” Reade says.
The Yalata EV charging site will be built at the Yalata Roadhouse and Caravan Park which is owned by the Yalata Anangu Aboriginal Corporation and is expected to begin construction next month.
The RAA is working with the Yalata Anangu Aboriginal Corporation on the design of the site which is expected to include options for drivers towing caravans and trailers.
“Securing enough power to support fast EV charging along the far west coast has been challenging because much of it is beyond the established electricity grid, which ends just west of Ceduna,” said Reade.
Upgrading to a 50kW charging site from the originally planned 7kW charger was made possible thanks to an agreement between RAA and the South Australian government, as part of its Remote Area Energy Supply (RAES) scheme which aims to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective electricity supply to remote South Australian towns.
Options are being considered to add a small solar farm and battery storage to the community to boost reliability and lower costs.
The route to Perth will be completed by the installation of several new EV chargers on the WA-side of the border as part of the larger WA EV Network.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.