SA Govt EV Network

[cafz]

I don't know who's advising them that AC-only sites out in the country are a good idea.

Considering the amount of money involved in the site civils and electrical work, skimping on the charger equipment itself feels like an own goal.

 

[moa999]

I don't know who's advising them that AC-only sites out in the country are a good idea.

Agreed. Even if power supply is an issue, need to go DC over AC due to the low power chargers (typically only 7kW or 11kW) in most vehicles with a few exceptions.

Think the minimum would be something like the Delta 25kW units, as has recently been installed in Balladonia and Madura by TOCWA and AEVA that literally plug into a 3ph 32A outlet.

(And I believe these DC boxes are about $20k each)

 

[Candleflame]

I don't know who's advising them that AC-only sites out in the country are a good idea.

Considering the amount of money involved in the site civils and electrical work, skimping on the charger equipment itself feels like an own goal.

dont worry, i messaged chargefox before about sites not working and they were like "oh its working" and i was like "no its not".
"oh yeah the DC charger isnt working, but it isnt a problem, the schneider is still available for charging!"
"you want me to spend 10 hours charging on my 1100km trip? Seriously??"

Even their own employes dont get it

 

[paulp]

I don't know who's advising them that AC-only sites out in the country are a good idea.

Considering the amount of money involved in the site civils and electrical work, skimping on the charger equipment itself feels like an own goal.

Probably advised by the same engineers advising the government to dig up 3km (10 hectares) of native metro adelaide dunes to bury a pipe rather than place it under the adjoining grass reserve

 

[meloccom]

So there will be a small number of sites which are AC only. (I had hoped they'd be 25kW DC but this appears to not be the case).

They are:
Berri, Yalata, Border Village, Glendambo, Marla and Yunta.

Berri isn't an issue as it already has an NRMA unit and nearby towns are getting fast chargers under this plan.

The other five, if excluded, give the following gaps between towns (I've used the closest sites over the border in some cases, which is a big assumption since Eucla and Erldunda currently have no plans.)

Skipping Glendambo and Yunta are probably OK assuming a long range EV.
Skipping Marla would be stretching it for all but the longest range vehicles.
Skipping both Yalata and Border Village are no-goes.

Devils Advocate: Crossing the Nullarbor is a multi-day trip no matter where the chargers are, so a trip could *probably* be done without an issue.. but you would be working around the charging station locations, and the point of a fast charging network is that you don't need to do that any more.

I’m not sure that’s much of an upgrade to Glendambo and Marla, as they already have an AEVA/TOCA 32A 3 phase power point at Glendambo Road House anda a 50A 3 phase at Marla which is there to support a travelling health clinic when it’s in town.
I think even a 22Kw DC charger would be a better option.

 

[Chuq]

A lookup of station locations (pretty lacking in detail but at least it's a relatively official list - example below)

So a bit more analysis of this list gives the info below:

Note, total number here is 140. The press release said "536 EV charging points at 140 new locations". So average of ~4 charge points per location, and, going by this, multiple locations per town.

e.g.

• Port Augusta has 5 locations. That could mean a couple of different places within the city, and a few places at various places leading in/out on various highways.
• Kingscote has 5 locations - that probably, in reality, means 5 different spots around Kangaroo Island.
• Kadina (Wallaroo & Moonta & Pt Hughes) has 3 locations, so probably one in each of those towns.

And each of these locations is likely to have 2-4 connectors.

I wouldn't expect all of these sites to have fast chargers, probably a mix. I would also guess the "non-Chademo" sites will be part of a group of sites and each named town will have a Chademo connector, but not every site in that town.

Other changes compared to the prospectus:

• Port Wakefield is a new site
• "Blanchetown or Waikerie" is now listed as three locations, "Blanchetown or Waikerie", "Waikerie" and "Morgan".

 

[Chuq]

At sites with only 1/2 stalls I think a display is a must when the stall is in use.
If I pull into an NRMA station with the other car at 85% having been charging for 30min I can wait knowing they'll be done quickly.
If instead it says 10% and 2min charging, I'm looking for other options.

Noticed on the link that @Zoltrix77 posted earlier:

There’s a row of LEDs on the side of the satellite post below the charging cable. The blue LEDs clearly indicate the charging status; they light up as the battery becomes full. The green LEDs indicate that the charging point is free, and the red LED indicates a fault condition.

Very cool!

 

[Vostok]

After watching videos on th Kempower chargers on Bjorns channel, they really look like the dogs bollocks.

Is that good or bad?

“Bollocks“ has historically meant complete rubbish.

 

[RareEarth]

After watching videos on th Kempower chargers on Bjorns channel, they really look like the dogs bollocks. The actual stall is such a brilliant design, along with the QR code to take your charging information with you. Tritium really needs to take a look at their products and innovate more.

Kempower S

I certainly hope that there is no more than 1 chademo connector at each of these sites, the rest should only be CCS.

Couldn't agree more re Kempower chargers. Some competition can't be a bad thing.

 

[cafz]

Is that good or bad?

The dog's bollocks means first rate.

 

[Nobody Famous]

Is that good or bad?

“Bollocks“ has historically meant complete rubbish.

From the Urban Dictionary

Urban Dictionary: Dog's Bollocks

In UK slang terms the "dog's bollocks" means the best. It comes from the habit of male dog's licking their testicles (bollocks) and that they must taste good as they spend so much time in this activity.

www.urbandictionary.com

 

[paulp]

Who would have thought a discussion about SA’s EV network would result in a discussion about dog balls.

 

[Culfy]

This article has a few more sites than the map posted earlier:

RAA to roll out 140 new EV charging locations in South Australia in $12.4m plan

South Australian motorist's association RAA to oversee rollout of $12.4 million EV charging network statewide.

thedriven.io

 

[Vostok]

I’ve only driven the Stuart Highway once, in an ICE many years ago. Pimba, Glendambo, Woomera, Coober Pedy, Marla… what great memories of an epic trip. Soon to be possible in an EV

Coober Pedy would have to be the weirdest place I‘ve ever been to. Spent a few days there - above and below ground. Had that real frontier town feel about it, a magnet for drifters and misfits.

 

[Culfy]

I’ve only driven the Stuart Highway once, in an ICE many years ago. Pimba, Glendambo, Woomera, Coober Pedy, Marla… what great memories of an epic trip. Soon to be possible in an EV

Coober Pedy would have to be the weirdest place I‘ve ever been to. Spent a few days there - above and below ground. Had that real frontier town feel about it, a magnet for drifters and misfits.

You need to go to Andamooka! That's a real eye opener.

I did Roxby Downs to Uluru with an overnight in Coober Pedy. Fantastic drive to see the scenery and geology change and WOW, is that rock amazing! Kata Tjuta is also magnificent. As a side note, managed to get an average of 7.8l/100km out of a V8 Commodore VX Manual on that trip.

 

[moa999]

About 18 months from the initial announcement and we still haven't seemingly seen a single charger.

Not what I'd call "Pedal to the Metal" echoing the article in my first post.

 

[thegreenguy]

RAA won the contract and I guess it’s their responsibility. Let me check with RAA senior brass and see what is happening.

 

[Chuq]

About 18 months from the initial announcement and we still haven't seemingly seen a single charger.

Not what I'd call "Pedal to the Metal" echoing the article in my first post.

It might look that way, but 90% of the process is mostly invisible.

• Public consultation regarding potential site hosts
• Public consultation with charge network operators
• Fine tune distribution of sites throughout regions
• Negotiate (tender/EOI etc) for the network operator (RAA)
• Negotiate for billing provider (Chargefox)
• Negotiate for hardware provider (Kempower)
• Confirm agreements with individual sites
• No doubt there have been hundreds of network connection meetings with SAPN

Installing the hardware at the site is basically the final month of what is typically a 2 year process.

 

[moa999]

Realise there are plenty of steps and every program will be different but this one just seems to have been slow.

Compare it though to Vic CTR which was announced only a few months earlier in Aug 2020. First charger installed by Feb 2021 and complete by end 2021 with 23 DC chargers installed.

 

[paulp]

Realise there are plenty of steps and every program will be different but this one just seems to have been slow.

Compare it though to Vic CTR which was announced only a few months earlier in Aug 2020. First charger installed by Feb 2021 and complete by end 2021 with 23 DC chargers installed.

Nothing is fast or even timely in SA. The processes involved in anything are pathetically over-the-top.