The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is funding a $871,000 project that will trial EV charging stations on street power poles.
It sounds a little out there, but it actually makes sense. Currently, electric vehicle charging stations aren’t massively common across Australia, although governments (at the federal and state level) are working to make them more available. This news comes after it was announced that new apartments in Australia from October 2023 would be fitted with EV charging capability.
We’ve got power poles in abundance, hence this new project. Similar projects are being rolled out in London, Los Angeles, New York and Hamburg, but it’s about time that Australia caught up (especially on EVs as a whole).
This could be a terrific solution for EV owners that don’t have a car park on their property or within their apartment parking spot, such as in inner city areas, although I’d be a bit concerned about petrol vehicles taking up the spots, preventing EVs from reaching the charging facility.
“It’s expected that as many as 10 per cent of new car sales in Australia will be electric vehicles by 2025. That equates to an extra 120,000 new EVs on our local streets each year,” said Wes Ballantine, the CEO of Intellihub, the smart metering and data company handling this pilot project.
“It’s likely that many of these car owners may be unable to charge their EVs from home.
“Power poles line most of our public streets and that presents an opportunity for the EV charging market. They’re an accessible, safe, and practical option for EV charging.”
So, how will it work? Well, drivers won’t be able to just rock up and plug their car into the available charging unit.
Using a third-party app, users will get information about charging costs, time limits and billing. The chargers will also be monitored by researchers to see the grid impact.
Origin Energy will supply 100 per cent of the energy required to charge the vehicles. This will be matched by “the equivalent amount of certified renewable energy added to the grid,” as per the ARENA website.
The hope is that this project will clear the way for a greater rollout to more councils across Australia.
Right now, the trial is being rolled out in nine NSW local government areas, mostly within greater Sydney:
- Inner West Council
- Singleton Shire Council
- Waverley Council
- Lake Macquarie City Council
- Woollahra Municipal Council
- City of Ryde
- Randwick City Council
- Northern Beaches Council
- City of Parramatta Council
The technology for the project hasn’t been specified, but it’s likely that charging cables won’t be provided. We’d guess that users will need to purchase a separate cable to access these charging boxes on power lines, similar to how Chargefox handles its charging stations.
You can read about ARENA’s EV charging plan on the official website.
While you’re here, why not check out our list of every new EV in Australia, or every electric vehicle coming to Australia.