(AAP Image/Supplied by Ausgrid) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY
A plan to speed up the rollout of electric vehicle chargers in Australia has hit a speed bump, with a leading charging provider slamming the proposal as anti-competitive.
Evie Networks chief executive Chris Mills said on Monday energy distributors were asking governments for “special rules” to install hundreds of car chargers at pace, which would create an uneven playing field.
His comments came after Energy Networks Australia released a report on a proposal to allow energy network providers to install car chargers on power poles.
The plan could see as many as 40 EV chargers installed by the companies every week if laws allowed it, the study said, with the finding welcomed by Ausgrid as a way to meet consumer demand.
Mr Mills said the plan would give energy networks special treatment compared to other charging operators and allow them to skip many of the costs their rivals were forced to pay.
“If they want to stick chargers on poles, they should follow exactly the same rules that I follow and they should rely upon exactly the same support that I receive,” he told AAP.
“If they wanted to do this as a purely commercial venture, I’m as happy as anybody for them to do that, but they want to do it with special rules that would be incredibly destructive for the industry.”
Costs faced by other charging providers included application fees for energy connections and upgrades to capacity where needed, Mr Mills said, as well as higher energy access fees.
He said consumers could also be forced to fund chargers under the plan – whether or not they used the equipment.
“It’s about a level playing field and this is a distinctly uneven playing field to the benefit of the monopoly,” he said.
“This is not something I am happy to support in its current form.”
The Energy Networks Australia report found pole-mounted chargers installed by energy firms could be funded by an annual charge of up to $3.80 on consumers’ power bills, a fee paid by users or government grants.
Ausgrid welcomed the industry group’s findings on Monday, with chief executive Marc England saying the proposal could deliver more car-charging facilities sooner and convince more drivers to adopt the technology.
“By taking a proactive approach to EV charging infrastructure, we can accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, helping people who have or want to own EVs but do not have access to off-street parking,” he said.
Australians bought more than 91,000 new electric vehicles in 2024, according to figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and Electric Vehicle Council, up from more than 87,000 in 2023.
Source: AAP
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More public charging is a good thing, but if the private DNSPs gain approval for these chargers, they need to also make the application process for all other players a whole lot easier and much, much cheaper.
Yep. This has red tape written all over it. I get the impression you need to do a 4 year longitudinal environmental impact assessment to install one charger.
In Australia this wouldn't surprise me.
Ok.
So don't put them in metropolitan areas, where these whingers operate and are clearly doing an amazing job that doesn't need utilities to help speed things up.
Install them in regional areas only.
Kerbside chargers are not needed in regional areas. Every house in regional areas has off-street parking, meaning people charge their EVs at home.
Drove to Yamba and back from Newcastle over Xmas. Wanted to use the EvieTaree charger. There was only 1 plug out of 4 active and taken. One charger not even turned on. Wanted to use the Evie charger in Macksville on the way back but again everything was broken. Went to Urunga to the slow charger on a pole from EVX that worked. Maybe Evie should fix what they already have rather than complaining about everyone else.
Pretty obviously, Evie seems to make its money from installation, not maintenance. My view is if they can't do the job, get someone who can install AND maintain.
There is 12 Tesla Superchargers open to all at Taree, why did you go there? Don't like the CEO?
I'm actually a share holder. Luv his technology not his politics. My second biggest whinge. I own a BYD atto3 and they will not talk to superchargers. BYD refuse to fix there stuff. You would think they could borrow one of there 110000 engineers and create a fix; I've offered to pay.
I sympathise - for some reason the open-to-all Tesla chargers always worked fine with Dolphins like ours, but not Atto 3s nor early Seals.
I had the impression that BYD/EV Direct did an OTA fix before Xmas, though, to solve this problem? Perhaps check again with BYD?
I sympathize to a certain extent with Evie and other public charging companies on this, but ...
Like you, we did an interstate trip Melbourne to Goulburn return last November, mid week, not holiday time. Bypassed the 1 x Evie plug at Avenel Ampol, as it was always busy, both going and coming home. [After two years+ of just 1 plug and another never working, they finally replaced them with 4 plugs just before Xmas 2024.] Stopped at a BP Pulse in Glenrowan North instead, 4 plugs, all working, one occupied.
Charged again at 16-bay Tesla Albury to 100%. Wanted a top-up at Tarcutta to get our Dolphin all the way to Goulburn; 1 plug not working at Evie Ampol, the other with a queue. Holding our breath, and turning off the air-con, we drove on to Yass town (made it easily actually, didn't need to worry), and put about 50% in at the 12-bay Tesla station behind the pub, and then sped to Goulburn.
In Goulburn, the 3 x 50kW NRMA/Chargefox chargers in the north-east were all out of service, so the 2 x 75kW Chargefox plugs at the KFC were swamped by desperate travellers, about 4 cars in the queue, so I gave up and did an evening trickle charge at my brother-in-law's instead (luckily, I'd brought the cable with us), got to about 60%.
Coming back, charged at the Tesla in Yass again, then straight to Tesla Albury, and realising the Dolphin would not quite get us home, charged at the new-ish BP Pulse Northpoint in Epping, handily just off the Hume on the edge of Melbourne. Got about 60% from one of the 6 x 150kW plugs, leaving the 2 x 300kW ones to cars with faster charging capabilities.
The point of this long rave - when DC charging on the road, I'd ideally like to not contribute further $$ to planet-destroyers like BP and the obscene clown-car that is Musk, but they're making it just too easy. If Evie and Chargefox want to continue to exist, they need more chargers at every stop, faster chargers too, and fix them quickly when they're broken! Otherwise, more and more EV drivers will do what I did on this trip - bypass them entirely.
Yes and as Tom from ludicrous feed said the other day people would happily pay more per kWh for a reliable service. If you're getting free driving in the city, having to pay eg $1/kWh for guaranteed service on highways and available fast chargers is not a big deal as an occasional impost.
Who will pay the public liability insurance.
The person changing or the company that installed it
The company that installed it.
These are not rapid chargers.
They are AC chargers for people who are stopping a bit longer.
They aren't a competitor to Evie unless all the Evie plugs nearby are broken or occupied.
The one point that they make which is reasonable, is that there should be the same amount of red tape for other operators as for the power networks...and that should be much less than there is now.
If Evie doesn't want to install hundreds of plugs where they are needed, shut up and get out of the way.
Yeah. I don't understand what they're moaning about. They've installed a few fast chargers at shopping centres, so perhaps a bit of an impact, but no competition for short stays or highway driving. It's apples and oranges.
If you don’t understand what they are moaning about, read the article again, and then read my comment above.
You really did miss the point of the article. Evie are arguing against DNSPs being able to rollout their own kerbside chargers on their own power poles. Clearly DNSPs would have an inherent advantage since they own the infrastructure.
It would create a blatantly uneven playing field as well as a conflict of interest.
Evie are not complaining about competition where everyone plays by the same rules.
The monopolies say they will maintain the equipment, but they will get paid whether it's working or not. There's a disincentive there.
Yes it's not been well thought through
This spat explains a lot about why EV charging is so rubbish in Australia
How? I find EV charging in this country to be pretty good. Other countries have plenty worse.
Can we have 22kw DC chargers on the pole. Evie will have an issue then.
Power pole chargers will be great for EV drivers living in apartments, so they can charge on the street
I can see both sides of the charger argument. However it's hypocritical of big utility networks to breeze in and propose this miraculous rollout now that they see the EV transition as inevitable, when the small charging companies and individuals like you and me have had to battle (and pay for) the anti-renewables policies of governments and utilities in the past. Zero sympathy for the utilities. They can go to hell. That's why I've gone off grid- it's been expensive (and not socially equitable), but I'm rid of them for good.
Got it in one.