Local companies braced for EV influx

There are already about 1000 public charge stations for electric vehicles in the USA, says James Brown of Chargepoint Australia. Furthermore, says the company's spokesman, countries across Europe have signed up for the roll-out of public charging stations.

"There are about 12 countries in Europe... and the company there associated with us -- 365 Energy -- has actual transportation mobility," Brown explained during a presentation to Mitsubishi's Foundation Customer Group yesterday.

"So you can travel from Ireland all the way through to Latvia and use one Chargepoint card, because of that network interoperability."

Whether that can be accomplished in practice would depend on whether the public recharging infrastructure could be supplemented by power supplied from other points along the route -- hotels, for instance -- to extend the shorter range of electric vehicles (EVs). Whatever the case, at least the Europeans are further advanced in this regard than we are, here in Australia.

In the American context, the recharging stations there are supported financially by the federal government, explaining in part the rapid spread of the new infrastructure across the country.

"What's important to understand is that Australia is about two years behind the rest of the world -- America and Europe," says Brown. "Chargepoint America is rolling out another 5000 [chargepoints]; the American government has got right behind it and they've got another US $37 million program [in place].

It's a far cry from the situation in our neck of the woods, where electric vehicles have been largely ignored and public charging infrastructure has been treated with the same sort of contempt as snake oil.

That situation is changing though. In the public sector there's interest from the current federal and Victorian governments, with the Brumby government behind a far-reaching electric vehicle trial.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd (MMAL) is at the forefront of promoting EVs in Australia, bringing in the i-MiEV for local consumption. Companies supporting MMAL and the i-MiEV -- Origin Energy, Chargepoint Australia and installation consultant Visionstream -- have joined forces to present a 'smart grid-enabled' charging station to ensure the i-MiEV can transport owners from Point A to Point B -- and back again.

According to Marc Van Beek, Origin Energy's Retail Strategy & Growth Manager, the cost of leasing a charge station would be around $60 to $80 a month -- the final cost is not yet settled -- and to buy one outright will set back a company around $5000 "fully installed".

Chargepoint and Origin aren't aiming the charge station at home users. Domestic users can have a 15-Amp outlet installed in the garage to recharge the i-MiEV overnight, but the two companies don't see it ending there. Both want consumers driving EVs to support the networked recharging system through retail purchase of power.

Chargepoint's James Brown says that EV owners plugging their cars straight into a 15-Amp outlet in the garage potentially create "interesting load management issues". Certainly that's true in the longer term, once EVs account for a much larger proportion of the country's traffic.

But Brown is looking ahead in the longer term, when he says: "The simple answer is you can [just plug the EV into a household powerpoint]; there's nothing to stop you... but you don't have that ability to [manage the power load], a company or a commercial operation doesn't have the ability to do any billing, or, if you're an accountant and you cost-control, driver management."

So there's logical argument underpinning the Chargepoint system, but support for a smart-charging network can only come with larger-scale take-up of EVs. Before you need to worry about load management, there needs to be a load to manage.

Don't be fooled however. MMAL's experience with the i-MiEV hints at a burgeoning social fascination for EVs. Load management issues may arrive sooner, rather than later.

Further reading:

What's holding back i-MiEV?
EV charging, coming to a corner near you
'Utilisation Benefit' synergies from EVs?

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