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NRMA fast charging network
- Thread starter baillies
- Start date
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- Australia New Zealand
Tritium page be like
- Access to best-in-class customer support whenever you need it to ensure your investment is always operating at peak performance.
Going by a completely unscientific review of Plugshare check-ins and comments for newer vs older units, it seems yes.
On my recent ~3000 km road trip which I might post about, I didn’t encounter a single DCFC that wasn’t working. One had been vandalised, but it still worked.
RareEarth
Member
I wonder if any of the networks conduct a rolling maintenance schedule or just wait until they fail and then order parts from the manufacturer.
A case of saying "awaiting parts from the supplier" vs "we just plonked this charger here a year ago and haven't been near it since".
A case of saying "awaiting parts from the supplier" vs "we just plonked this charger here a year ago and haven't been near it since".
WoodWombat
Member
Looking at where Chargefox is positioning themselves in the market, I can both see why NRMA is building out their own chargers, and why ChargeFox seems to be stalled and not extending or maintaining their network. Chargefox was described as a service company providing billing and charging related services, not as a charging network. This is similar to the model that the motoring clubs use to provide insurance, so I can see why they would think like this, unfortunately, I don't think that this will work long term since the value of the brand to the customer is in their charging network. It does not take long before customers start to associate your brand with broken chargers and avoiding them in favour of other networks.
I hope that I am wrong, and that the apparent pause in the build out of Chargefox's network was just while they were negotiating the buyout, but having worked for RACV, I can see this going very wrong.
I do think that for this brand image reason, the charging networks that include both first-party and third-party charging sites (I think Chargefox and Evie, for now) will find it in their interests to clearly mark the owner of the third-party sites in their apps.
Think the pause was at least partially related to funding which I suspect prompted the buyout.
Chargefox had finished their 350kW Arena funded network (whereas Evie is only about halfway).
And they only got Arena suburban funding for SA, with Evie, Ampol and Engie the bigger recipients.
On their network, I think the networks they bill for (Yurika, Gold Coast) have had just as many Tritium related issues as actual Chargefox owned sites. And NRMA probably similar.
Looks like NRMA Wollongong is almost open.
Someone's recorded max speeds of 184kW on LHS and 322kW on RHS (which is much faster than the initial plans)
More interesting is the note under pricing"
"Charging free initially. Eventually free access for ‘EV Power’ members, 50% discount for ‘EV Road Tripper’ members, 20% discount for ‘EV Essentials’ members, and full cost for everyone else."
I wonder who made that edit.
(Or were these the package names from the survey back in April?)
Someone's recorded max speeds of 184kW on LHS and 322kW on RHS (which is much faster than the initial plans)
Stewart St East Car Park | Wollongong, NSW | EV Station
Free parking at location while charging your EV. Two NRMA DC fast chargers and two charging bays.
www.plugshare.com
More interesting is the note under pricing"
"Charging free initially. Eventually free access for ‘EV Power’ members, 50% discount for ‘EV Road Tripper’ members, 20% discount for ‘EV Essentials’ members, and full cost for everyone else."
I wonder who made that edit.
(Or were these the package names from the survey back in April?)
The names did not appear in the survey from April as far as I can remember, but the idea of there being a range of packages at different price points was certainly there.Looks like NRMA Wollongong is almost open.
Someone's recorded max speeds of 184kW on LHS and 322kW on RHS (which is much faster than the initial plans)
Stewart St East Car Park | Wollongong, NSW | EV Station
Free parking at location while charging your EV. Two NRMA DC fast chargers and two charging bays.www.plugshare.com
More interesting is the note under pricing"
"Charging free initially. Eventually free access for ‘EV Power’ members, 50% discount for ‘EV Road Tripper’ members, 20% discount for ‘EV Essentials’ members, and full cost for everyone else."
I wonder who made that edit.
(Or were these the package names from the survey back in April?)
It is good to see some indication of what be on offer.
WoodWombat
Member
Interesting. You just know that since they are a motoring club they will eventually offer this as a packaged thing to EV OEMs, just like they do with roadside assistance. I guess the names don't suck, which is nice. Anything which helps EV adoption is good in my book.Looks like NRMA Wollongong is almost open.
Someone's recorded max speeds of 184kW on LHS and 322kW on RHS (which is much faster than the initial plans)
Stewart St East Car Park | Wollongong, NSW | EV Station
Free parking at location while charging your EV. Two NRMA DC fast chargers and two charging bays.www.plugshare.com
More interesting is the note under pricing"
"Charging free initially. Eventually free access for ‘EV Power’ members, 50% discount for ‘EV Road Tripper’ members, 20% discount for ‘EV Essentials’ members, and full cost for everyone else."
I wonder who made that edit.
(Or were these the package names from the survey back in April?)
Will be interesting. Obviously Chargefox has done some packaged deals with a few EV manufacturers, but I'm not sure if this is the future - I mean its not like car companies do it with the petrol companies.
But in EV charging, subscriptions seem common in Europe, and Ampol and effectively NRMA have flagged similar things here.
At best the petrol companies have their fuel cards which might equate to a 5-10% discount (before taxes), but these subscription models seem a bit more like the Costco model to embed loyalty.
But in EV charging, subscriptions seem common in Europe, and Ampol and effectively NRMA have flagged similar things here.
At best the petrol companies have their fuel cards which might equate to a 5-10% discount (before taxes), but these subscription models seem a bit more like the Costco model to embed loyalty.
Chuq
Active Member
Also remember they own 1/3 of Electric Highway Tasmania (small network at the moment, but 25 sites by the end of 2023), are apparently 50% partners in the Federal ALP's national charging network (little detail as to what form this will take) - as well as whatever influence they have via their membership of AMS, now 100% owners of Chargefox.
I wish NRMA would charge a fee or at least make it free for members only. I hardly ever bother going to them anymore because they are always in use. I just don’t understand why free DC charging even exists except maybe in the case of businesses trying to lure in potential customers.
Think this is going to happen soon(ish). I just read about it yesterday:
NRMA gears up to start charging non-members for its EV fast chargers
The free EV fast-charging service provided by motoring group NRMA is expected to come to an end within the next 12 months.
thedriven.io
Yes I would like to see all free charging end but especially DC, no need for it. Those that actually need to charge quicker should pay, it would at least give a chance for some sort of access. IMO the network is stretched as it is without having to 'promote' charging anymore. Many argue that free shopping centre chargers increase foot traffic for the businesses which I agree could be the case and was the case but more and more I see the free chargers in 3 of the shopping centres around my neighbor hood and many of the drivers are just sitting in their cars sucking down free electrons and have also seen a few cars waiting on one occasion. If they were there to shop then go shopping but alas it didn't seem to be the case. My 2c gripe for the day. haha
You can’t rely on the check ins anymore because most people don’t do it. The one at batemans is always occupied when I am there (I always check and drive through to the Chargefox) with no check in. Free stuff always gets abused, so I fully support charging a fee. I don’t need free charging, despite how nice it is.
Great to see that NRMA is going to start charging a fee soon, it will be a win for everyone.
To some extent. The older RTM50 units are reliably unreliable. But of the newer models:
Evie Sutton Forest: One of the PK350 units was DOA. To this day the one on the left has never worked.
Evie Dapto: Both of the RTM75 units have been offline for a few weeks now.
Chargefox Goulburn: The screen on one of the PK350 units has been dead awaiting parts from Tritium since last December.
That was fake. The units aren't that fast, and they haven't been switched on yet.Looks like NRMA Wollongong is almost open.
Someone's recorded max speeds of 184kW on LHS and 322kW on RHS (which is much faster than the initial plans)
Stewart St East Car Park | Wollongong, NSW | EV Station
Free parking at location while charging your EV. Two NRMA DC fast chargers and two charging bays.www.plugshare.com
They were from the second round of surveys in April. NRMA came back to a set of people who replied to the initial survey, with plan names and proposed discount rates - but no info on what the underlying rates would be.
Batemans Bay is not inland. My hypothesis is the more remote the charger, the more likely its use is recorded in Plugshare.
NRMA chargers at Walgett, Coonamble, Cobar, Brewarrina, Wilcannia and Broken Hill get very few check-ins and I reckon those check-ins record almost every single use of those chargers. Although it would be neat if NRMA analysed the ratio of check-ins to actual charger use for each charger - something they could calculate - to prove or disprove this hypothesis.
