NRMA fast charging network

[RareEarth]

Conversation at Bega NRMA charger today after waiting for the Ioniq 5 owners to return:

Ioniq 5 owner: Hi, are you waiting for the charger?
Me: Yes. This charger is busy, perhaps they need to install another one. Or perhaps NRMA needs to start charging a fee.
Owner: We charge at home when the sun shines.
Me: Oh so you are off grid?
Owner: No we are just stingy.

So as a bona fide traveller I had to wait for someone who was too 'stingy' to charge at home when they weren't getting sun on their panels. Being Bega, there was no Supercharger or other fast charger available which I would have happily gone to and paid.

It was getting late in the day, we had some km's to go. I was annoyed.

 

[moa999]

Freeload factor definitely a thing.

Given what people do for 4c off fuel

 

[Stratman]

Conversation at Bega NRMA charger today after waiting for the Ioniq 5 owners to return:

Ioniq 5 owner: Hi, are you waiting for the charger?
Me: Yes. This charger is busy, perhaps they need to install another one. Or perhaps NRMA needs to start charging a fee.
Owner: We charge at home when the sun shines.
Me: Oh so you are off grid?
Owner: No we are just stingy.

So as a bona fide traveller I had to wait for someone who was too 'stingy' to charge at home when they weren't getting sun on their panels. Being Bega, there was no Supercharger or other fast charger available which I would have happily gone to and paid.

It was getting late in the day, we had some km's to go. I was annoyed.

lets just say hypothetically they were charging because they were on a journey too..... I suspect the annoyance would still be there because you were kept waiting. When NRMA start billing people that will discourage the more frivolous users, but we need to accept there will always times when we will be kept waiting due to increasing demand and poor infrastructure rollout to meet growing demand.

 

[Vostok]

Freeload factor definitely a thing. Given what people do for 4c off fuel

Indeed, as we saw the other day, people queuing for fuel just to “beat” the end of the excise discount. At 24c/L, even assuming they filled a whopping 100L tank, and saved the full amount of excise increase, is $24. The average wage is $44/hr, so that‘s 33 minutes of an average wage earner’s time. They probably spent more time than that going out of their way and queuing.

A reaction complelety out of proportion to the benefit. And now we see it with free DCFCs

Time for a letter to NRMA.

 

[doggy1]

Ioniq 5 owner: Hi, are you waiting for the charger?
Me: Yes. This charger is busy, perhaps they need to install another one. Or perhaps NRMA needs to start charging a fee.
Owner: We charge at home when the sun shines.
Me: Oh so you are off grid?
Owner: No we are just stingy.

So as a bona fide traveller I had to wait for someone who was too 'stingy' to charge at home when they weren't getting sun on their panels. Being Bega, there was no Supercharger or other fast charger available which I would have happily gone to and paid.

I haven't had any luck with letters to NRMA- just get brush-offs and platitudes. I suggest you post the above onto the NRMA EV forum. NRMA seem to monitor it quite actively and it means others will get to see it too.

 

[moa999]

NRMA seeking people for an EV Research Panel

NRMA Electric Vehicle Research

Register your interest to get involved in this exciting new era.

www.mynrma.com.au

 

[moa999]

Post on Plugshare that the Wollongong site has now been painted and cleaned up
"Bushes all cleaned up. Fresh paint for the bays. Feels like it’s soon."

 

[moa999]

From Plugshare looks like RustyC snuck in a sneaky charge at Wollongong last night. 75kW stall working, quicker stall on but with red light.

 

[RichardV]

Nyngan now online with 2 chargers according to plugshare checkin,
"Both chargers now operational, in car park next to IGA"

 

[moa999]

NRMA on Twitter.
The replies have pointed out that there is a simple solution - and the stickers are a response to NRMA not having a live app

 

[OzVic]

Feel like replying "We will stop treating the chargers like this AFTER you have implemented a solution!"

The charger on the left hand side at Wallsend just needs to be power cycled (Err 39, temporary excessive grid voltage fluctuation.) but they CBF sending a sparky out. Any old sparky. A 5 minute fix. (Out-of-action 2+ weeks) Let alone the newer one which has been out of action even longer. (Out-of-action 5+ weeks)

What chance in hell is there going to be a solution for an app in the next 6 months or so?!

 

[ausevdriver]

I hear they bought a company that has a half decent app

What chance in hell is there going to be a solution for an app in the next 6 months or so?!

I would have to assume at some point their plan for making people pay for their chargers involves merging the two sets (chargefox+nrma) of chargers into a single set and representing in a single app.

 

[moa999]

Exactly.
Although note that Chargefox was bought by AMS (Australian Motoring Services), so it's probably not that simple.

Which is NRMA plus the RACs (RACV, RACQ, RAA, RAC, RACT).

---

Also of interest (as pointed out on Twitter by an Evie employee) the Fed Budget has just given NRMA a big grant with no competitive tender.

And more crazily - double the money to hydrogen charging versus electric.

 

[cafz]

I would have to assume at some point their plan for making people pay for their chargers involves merging the two sets (chargefox+nrma) of chargers into a single set and representing in a single app.

You would think and hope so, but all indications so far are that they will be creating a new app just for the NRMA in-house chargers.

I can only assume this indicates two separate fiefdoms within the larger organisation protecting what they see as their own turf.

 

[Lachlan Smith]

double the money to hydrogen charging versus electric

That's to account for hydrogen losing half the energy over its lifecycle.

 

[Vostok]

Feel like replying "We will stop treating the chargers like this AFTER you have implemented a solution!"

Well, exactly. Currently Plugshare is the only way we can have any idea whether an NRMA charger is currently operational (i.e. a recent successful charge reported) or indeed occupied (a current check-in) but that’s still very ropey because the charger could go offline or be occupied by the time you get there.

Real-time reporting of plug occupancy/availability in an App is critical, and NRMA don’t have that yet. It’s not surprising that people then “take matters into their own hands”. So rather than getting snarky, NRMA should solve the issue - something they could have and should have done a year ago.

 

[Vostok]

And more crazily - double the money to hydrogen charging versus electric.

To be fair, hydrogen might play a role in heavy haulage, so I wouldn’t yet say batteries are the only solution for that as well. It’s more feasible to install hydrogen refuelling stations at truck depots and truck stops - there is a much smaller and known number of them. It’s a very different problem to trying to cover the nation with hydrogen stations for passenger cars and light transport.

The states are also mostly pouring money into DCFCs and other infrastrucutre/policy changes to support BEVs, and almost ignoring hydrogen, so you need to look at the complete picture.

 

[ausevdriver]

two separate fiefdoms within the larger organisation protecting what they see as their own turf.

Yep, mergers are never any fun. and only a few months in so all the posturing is still going on.

 

[meloccom]

Exactly.
Although note that Chargefox was bought by AMS (Australian Motoring Services), so it's probably not that simple.

Which is NRMA plus the RACs (RACV, RACQ, RAA, RAC, RACT).

---

Also of interest (as pointed out on Twitter by an Evie employee) the Fed Budget has just given NRMA a big grant with no competitive tender.

View attachment 867619

And more crazily - double the money to hydrogen charging versus electric.

Better the money goes to NRMA than more to Trevor St Baker. IMHO.

 

[moa999]

Better the money goes to NRMA than more to Trevor St Baker. IMHO.

Don't disagree.

But compare $39.8m for 117 chargers.
Versus
NSWs $39.4m for 500+

NSW supercharges EV rollout

More than 500 new fast and ultra-fast charging bays are set to be built across NSW to recharge electric vehicles (EVs) in just 15 minutes.

www.nsw.gov.au

Of which the NRMA, alongside Tesla, Evie, BP and Shell will get some.

The Federal Govt had previously rolled out competitive programs via Arena, just seems strange not to do it now.