NRMA, one of Australia’s biggest car insurance providers and the operator of one of Australia’s largest electric vehicle charging networks, has made changes to its EV charging stations that mean users will soon need to pay to use them.
From today, three of NRMA’s most popular chargers will require payment to use. These include the Wallsend NSW charger, the Sydney Olympic Park NSW charger, and the Picton NSW charger. Chargers up to 150kW speeds will cost 54 cents per kW to use, and 59 cents per kW for chargers above 175kW speeds.
We’ve known that this switch has been coming for quite a while. In August 2022, NRMA group CEO Rohand Lund said on The Driven podcast that paid chargers were coming. It was then teased again in March, and then last week, Gizmodo Australia learned that the shift was imminent.
NRMA said that the new payment structure will be rolled out across the entire 100-station network “over the coming months”. This is likely because there are some loose ends within that Australia-wide network. As pointed out by Neerav Bhatt, chargers at holiday parks and chargers rolled out in cooperation with Chargefox have not been addressed. We’ve reached out to NRMA for clarification.
Additionally, going forward, users will need to install the My NRMA app on their smartphones to complete charging transactions, as drivers will no longer be able to just rock up, plug in, and press start on the machine. It’s all going to be through the NRMA app now.
There is a bit of relief for NRMA members, however; once the new pricing structure is rolled out across the entire network, NRMA members will be eligible for 10 per cent discounts when charging at NRMA stations.
It’s obviously a big shame to see NRMA’s once-free network go pay-to-use, but it was also inevitable. Public EV chargers are expensive, in between electricity tariffs and installation costs, so it shouldn’t really surprise anyone that this is happening.
“The NRMA prioritised the roll-out of the network before seeking to apply costs to customers to give drivers the confidence to consider an EV and get used to the charging process,” an NRMA statement read.
Personally, I use the Wallsend NRMA charger often when reviewing a car, where I have often encountered long queues and broken machines, so with NRMA set to start charging for use, I’m hopeful that these issues will become less common.
The network originally began construction in part from an investment between participating state governments and the NRMA, and going forward, the insurance company is working with the Australian government on the national highway network plan.
The pay-to-use rollout is expected to be finished by the end of October.
Image: NRMA
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