Eight new power pole-mounted electric vehicle (EV) chargers are now operating in the inner Melbourne suburbs of Hawthorn and Kew, the first of 100 to be rolled out as part of a trial across the city’s suburbs.
Designed to provide charging in high EV adoption areas that have limited access to off-street parking, the trial is being rolled out across electricity networks run by CitiPower, Powercor, and United Energy (CPU), spanning Melbourne’s inner and south-eastern suburbs, the Mornington Peninsula, and Victoria’s western and northern regions.
The first eight power pole-mounted EV chargers are now operating in the neighbouring suburbs of Hawthorn and Kew, located approximately 5 kilometres east of Melbourne’s CBD in the City of Boroondara.
“People want to drive electric vehicles so it’s essential they have access to reliable and affordable charging,” said Dan Bye, CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy’s head of customer connections.
“We are working with customers and local councils to install the chargers in locations where they are needed. The City of Boroondara has been an early supporter of this initiative, and we have been pleased to work with them to deploy our first chargers.”
Each charging point provides up to 22 kW of power and will be installed, owned, and maintained by the network operators, but customer operations will be managed by e-mobility service providers (EMSPs) as part of a first-of-kind model that allows multiple EMSPs to compete for their business at every charging point.
“EV drivers will benefit from this operating model as there will be more choice and competition at each charging point, helping drive down prices,” said Bye.
“Through their mobile phones, drivers will be able to check out the deals on offer from the participating EMSPs and choose what price they want to pay before charging.”
Image Credit: Powercor
The first EMSP to make the chargers available for public use is Zuup, but others are sure to quickly follow, with Chargefox, AGL, Everty, WeVolt, Origin, and Kuga all reportedly currently progressing through testing and set to be onboarded shortly.
The trial was approved late last year after the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) provided CPU a waiver from ring-fencing rules that prevent monopoly network owners from using their market power in competitive sectors of the energy market.
Installation of the remaining 90 power pole-mounted chargers are set to ramp up now that the first 10 are operational.
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.