Aussie EV Infrastructure company EVX has unveiled the first pole-mounted electric vehicle charger in the country, located in Newcastle.
As part of a partnership with Ausgrid and the City of Newcastle, the charger has been installed in Mereweather, at the Dixon Park parking area.
It’s a long-dwell charger, ideal for EVs that are parked for at least 1-2 hours.
“This is essential community infrastructure for the future, and we are so excited that this partnership is off the ground. The project will make EV charging more accessible and affordable for both residents and visitors to Newcastle while contributing to the battle against climate change,” the CEO of EVX Andrew Forster said.
The hope is that these pole-mounted chargers make it easier for EV owners to access chargers across Australia, especially in densely populated areas.
Australia’s first power pole mounted #ElectricVehicle charger is right here in @CityNewcastle! Great to meet Richard Gross CEO @ausgrid & the EVX Australia team at Dixon Park Beach this morning to launch this ‘destination’ charger – adding to CN’s 14 existing free chargers. pic.twitter.com/TavzLrACPI
— Carol Duncan (@carolduncan) December 20, 2022
EVX is also hoping to build out 1,000 electric vehicle charge points across Australia within the next 24 months, as part of its partnership with UK EV infrastructure company Connected Kerb, as announced in November.
“Our integration of Connected Kerb’s technology and product is a first for Australians and will revolutionise the way we charge EVs – particularly in public kerbside applications, which is an area of significant need,” added Forster.
“We understand the availability of public EV charging points is one of the primary barriers to making the transition away from petrol or diesel-powered cars towards electric vehicles, and we’ve made it our mission to take the lead in removing this barrier here in Australia.”
Most public EV chargers across Australia are offered in dedicated EV zones, where a special machine (which resembles a petrol bowser) is used to charge the car. This machine usually has charging cables connected to it and, depending on the location, there may be multiple machines for charging several cars at once. They’re quite difficult to install.
EVX and Connected Kerb want to do things a bit differently. Instead of relying on a petrol bowser-like machine that sticks out of the ground, the solution put forward by EVX involves putting the charging technology into already established structures, such as bollards or poles. Connected Kerb, as part of this deal, will be providing the infrastructure.
Kerbside chargers don’t take up much space and don’t require their own special zones, so they can be practically rolled out on most streets. To use them, however, you’d need to bring along your own compatible charging cable (likely a high-power one and not the emergency Australian wall socket charger, which Tesla no longer includes in its vehicles).
Additionally, all of the technical stuff that would typically be in the above-ground machine is put underground in a steel box.
“I think there needs to be a mindset shift,” the co-founder of EVX Sean McGinty added in November.
“Australians have been used to getting fuel for their vehicles in an instant but as we transition to EVs at scale, EV charging infrastructure needs to serve both fast and long-dwell scenarios.”
This charging solution idea rules. It’s similar to the solution being trialled right now by ARENA, which involves putting charging infrastructure on power poles so that inner-city EV owners can charge their cars overnight if they park on-road. The NSW government is also funding the rollout of 500 kerbside charging points for on-street charging.
While this is an ambitious (and welcome) plan, EVX and Connected Kerb’s 1,000 public chargers aren’t ready for rollout.
They’ve still got bucketloads of work to do with councils and other stakeholders to sort out how exactly they’re going to execute their plan.
This article has been updated since it was originally published.