Kerbside pole-mounted chargers are now a thing

[Vostok]

but I still think even contemplating such will drive councils insane.

Some Councils are more enlightened that others. The Inner West Council in Sydney in its EV Strategy said “Council should explore opportunities to develop guidelines for the safe charging of EVs for residents who do not have off-street access or a nearby public charging unit“

Which I read as… Council might approve things like cable pedestals, trip protection covers, or below-ground pipes like this for people who have no option but to charge their EV while it is parked on the street. If it is safe, Council seems to be saying “why not?”

 

[Max Toki]

Taken from The Driven:

Ausgrid unveils Sydney’s first power pole-mounted EV charger in Glebe

Ausgrid unveils its first pole mounted EV charging station in Sydney, among the first of some 30,000 such installations across its network.

thedriven.io

I'm too cheapo to have my own BYO cable, and I don't really want to download another app on my phone for a charger that i'd probably never use. Anyone care to review if they're in the Glebe area?

- Pricing confirmation? $0.50/kwh? Any idle charges?
- Speed?
- Parking / access to site?
- Street signs?
- LCD display on the EVX unit?

Did we already discuss how this works in inner city areas where even street parking is at a premium at the best of times?

 

[moa999]

Pricing confirmed at $0.50/kWh. No idle fees listed in EVX app.
- way too expensive for an AC EVSE
And within a few km you have Free (not that that is sustainable either) sites at Tramsheds, Broadway and South Eveleigh (including the 50kW sites).

From photos on Plugshare appears well marked with two spots.

St Johns Rd Parking | Glebe, NSW | EV Station

EVX POLECHARGER 100% Powered by renewable energy Download EVX APP - https://evx.tech/evx-drivers-app/ BYO cable 4P 8am-8pm only for EV charging 2 cars can be charged simultaneous

www.plugshare.com

 

[cafz]

Pricing confirmed at $0.50/kWh - way too expensive for an AC EVSE

Not for those passing through, but it might be worth it for the convenience if it's right ourside your inner-city townhouse with no off-street parking. The price probably even helps keep it free for such local users.

 

[Nevyn72]

That Atto3 is about to get a parking fine too for being parked the wrong way around...

 

[Vostok]

That Atto3 is about to get a parking fine too for being parked the wrong way around...

In my submission to both the NSW Government and the Inner West Council, I suggested that parking orientation rules need to be waived for EVs plugged into kerbside chargers when it is not feasible for that EV to be both charging and oriented correctly due to the location of its charge port. I have no idea whether that will get any traction.

However, to be fair, there’s nothing that a longer BYO cable would not solve here. In most cases, a 5m cable would work for any vehicle, provided one of the 2 parking spots next to the unit are clear, and you aren’t trying to charge parked 3 spots down.

 

[Vostok]

Not for those passing through, but it might be worth it for the convenience if it's right ourside your inner-city townhouse with no off-street parking. The price probably even helps keep it free for such local users.

Exactly. Convenience is worth a lot here assuming it is very close to your home. Even at 50c/kWh, a “fill” for a Model 3 LR would cost $35-$40 which is still way cheaper than a tank of dino juice.

How much is your time worth going on the hunt for a public AC or DC charger 2 or 3 suburbs away? Life’s too short.

 

[Vostok]

Anyone care to review if they're in the Glebe area?

I’m not too far away so I’ll see if I have time to check it out. And use my Type 2 cable for the first time ever that is enough reason for me to try it out.

I still have no idea why the box is so damned huge.

 

[cafz]

In my submission to both the NSW Government and the Inner West Council, I suggested that parking orientation rules need to be waived for EVs plugged into kerbside chargers when it is not feasible for that EV to be both charging and oriented correctly due to the location of its charge port. I have no idea whether that will get any traction.

However, to be fair, there’s nothing that a longer BYO cable would not solve here. In most cases, a 5m cable would work for any vehicle, provided one of the 2 parking spots next to the unit are clear, and you aren’t trying to charge parked 3 spots down.

I think they should just get a longer cable.

The rule is there because particularly at night you're supposed to have red reflectors/lights on the left side and white on the right.

 

[doggy1]

I think they should just get a longer cable.

Agreed. I have a 7 metre cable which has been fine for both my EVs in a wide range of circumstances.

 

[scully]

I'd be a bit concerned about vandalism in that location, but lived there a long time ago

 

[paulp]

I'd be a bit concerned about vandalism in that location, but lived there a long time ago

I think Glebe like all inner suburbs is a bit trendy these days. The price of real estate in these inner areas (rent or buy) has greatly reduced the ability of bad elements living nearby.

 

[Vostok]

I swung by late this afternoon to check this out. I didn’t charge because I was in a bit of a rush.

The location is St Johns Rd, near the intersection with Glebe Point Rd. The unit is indeed big, although not much wider than the pole it is on, and appears to have a ground stake, so groundworks to install are not quiet zero:



The power cabling runs straight up the pole, protected by a large conduit for about 1.5m above the unit, before the sheathed cable runs straight up and connects into the 3-phase. The rectangular box at the top of the pole is unrelated to this charger:



There are two 11-kW Type 2 sockets, one each side. I did download the App but have not created an account. Interestingly, the App says it is “Powered by Tesla”!? Does that mean the back-end billing is done by Tesla? Also interesting is that the RFID panel can be yellow for “Reserved” implying it could be possible for someone to reserve a port.



Parking is time limited to 4 hours while charging during the day, but you could park overnight to charge if you wanted to:



The spots have already been painted to indicate EV charging only:



If I have time on the weekend, I might do a charge.

 

[bcarp]

Interestingly, the App says it is “Powered by Tesla”!? Does that mean the back-end billing is done by Tesla?

I can't find this in the app. Not sure where you're finding it. However, if you look at the other EVX apps on the Apple App Store, you will see that they are sold by Tesla Industries Private Ltd… which is a different company to Tesla Inc. (formerly Tesla Motors). Whether Tesla Industries develops all the EVX apps, or is just the distributor of he EVX app in certain countries isn't really clear to me.

 

[moa999]

Someone also pointed elsewhere that these parking spots would otherwise be ticketed - and checking CoS $5.60/hr weekdays, $3.60/hr weekends.

So if you were planning on paying for parking anyway, charging at 11kW (Tesla max) is effectively free on weekdays.

Residents without parking (who would seem to be the main targets for these suburban AC stations) however would likely have a zone pass meaning they don't pay fees.
(Albeit that might be interesting in other CoS suburbs where many apartment developments in the past 20 years have no street parking allocations)

Reading the T&C's EVX also has a clause on idle fees though not active in the app.

(Can't see any ref to powered by Tesla in the Android app)

 

[Vostok]

I can't find this in the app. Not sure where you're finding it.

Ha! I downloaded the wrong App before I went there. I didn’t use the QR code

The correct App is “EVX Australia” not “EVX Charger”.

The App appears to use the same codebase as Jolt. The App also says that you can link any RFID card to your account and use that.

 

[paulp]

I swung by late this afternoon to check this out. I didn’t charge because I was in a bit of a rush.

The location is St Johns Rd, near the intersection with Glebe Point Rd. The unit is indeed big, although not much wider than the pole it is on, and appears to have a ground stake, so groundworks to install are not quiet zero:

View attachment 912192

The power cabling runs straight up the pole, protected by a large conduit for about 1.5m above the unit, before the sheathed cable runs straight up and connects into the 3-phase. The rectangular box at the top of the pole is unrelated to this charger:

View attachment 912198

There are two 11-kW Type 2 sockets, one each side. I did download the App but have not created an account. Interestingly, the App says it is “Powered by Tesla”!? Does that mean the back-end billing is done by Tesla? Also interesting is that the RFID panel can be yellow for “Reserved” implying it could be possible for someone to reserve a port.

View attachment 912200View attachment 912201

Parking is time limited to 4 hours while charging during the day, but you could park overnight to charge if you wanted to:

View attachment 912204

The spots have already been painted to indicate EV charging only:

View attachment 912205

If I have time on the weekend, I might do a charge.

Does this mean 60,000 parking spaces predominantly in sydney are about to become ev exclusive? That might cause some drama.

 

[Hairyman]

Does this mean 60,000 parking spaces predominantly in sydney are about to become ev exclusive? That might cause some drama.

I’ll bring the popcorn. There is nothing like the comforting warm of a bonfire of the vanities.

 

[Vostok]

Does this mean 60,000 parking spaces predominantly in sydney are about to become ev exclusive? That might cause some drama.

Well I believe Ausgrid is aiming for 30,000 and it will take a long time to roll out that many kerbside chargers, and I’d expect it to scale in line with growth in EV numbers.

Inner-city areas already have about 2000 on-street spots dedicated to car-sharing companies, which displaces the need for more than 2000 privately owned vehicles.

Also these inner city areas in Sydney with high density housing and not much offstreet parking are very left wing. The State electorates of Balmain and Newtown have Green local members because the ALP is not left wing enough. The electorate of Sydney has a very left-leaning independent. When I voted in the Federal election, the Liberals did not even have people at the polling place handing out “how to votes” or any banners up.

So I doubt there would be much blowback over this.

 

[Max Toki]

My skills are bad and couldn't find the source video:
10 News report on the EVX charger.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1630387929007939584

0:44 - hope that's not a real credit card he's using
1:08 - Nice to see the long cable over the bonnet. What car is that?