Kerbside pole-mounted chargers are now a thing

[Vostok]

A lot of action is now happening in this space after, well, a lot of time of nothing.

Ausgrid are now in on the act - 30000 kerbside chargers planned:

Australia's first power pole mounted EV charger - Ausgrid

Ausgrid brings Australia’s first power pole mounted EV charger to Newcastle

www.ausgrid.com.au

Ausgrid plans up to 30,000 pole-mounted "long dwell" EV charging points

Ausgrid installs the first of what it says could be 30,000 pole mounted "long dwell" electric vehicle charging stations.

thedriven.io

The are using EVX equipment which, from the photo of the first site in Dixon Park, Newcastle, is absolutely huge. No idea why it is that big. Dual 11kW EVSEs to charge 2 cars simultaneously, BYO cable:

EVX Polecharger - EVX

evx.tech

This is now in addition to the small ARENA trial (50 sites - Intellihub/Schneider) and NSW Government programme (500 sites - no details yet).

The “Lessons Learned“ report from Intellihub is interesting reading - although jump to page 13 of this 15 page report to reach the actual content . Schneider have developed a much more compact unit for this trial, much smaller than the ones used in the photo mock-ups:

https://arena.gov.au/assets/2022/07/intellihub-street-light-pole-ev-charger-with-grid-integration-project-report.pdf

First units to come online in the first half of next year.

There’s been no further news that I’ve seen on the NSW programme of 500 kerbside chargers:

NSW takes the lead with EV charger boost

Electric Vehicle (EV) drivers will benefit from a further $38 million in charging infrastructure announced as part of the 2022-23 NSW Budget to accelerate the EV revolution across NSW.

www.nsw.gov.au

 

[Hairyman]

There is a set in Perkins St in Newcastle CBD. Not yet activated. Parking spaces not yet marked as EV. It has motorcycle parking next to one of the poles, so something for electric motorcycles too which is good. I had thought that they were not marked EV in anticipation of EVs becoming fairly ubiquitous, but looking at PlugShare it seems it is just because they are not yet working,

 

[moa999]

They've been a thing for a while.. at least on smart poles in a few places around Australia.. albeit this might be the first one on an older wooden pole.

From what I can see this AGL rollout isn't part of the NSW subsidised rollout (per the other thread).

Any new charger (or EVSE) is good but this one just seems a bit strange to me.
1. In a beach side carpark of 100+ spots, they should be planning for 5/10/20 points.. not a good location for this install. I'd see a pole charger like this in every suburban street in older suburbs without garages.
2. The pricing at $0.50/kWh is way out of the ballpark for an AC charger at the moment.
3. AusGrid in particular (as a seeming participant in this) should be aware given their involvement in Jolt which gives 7kWh free, then $0.40/kWh for DC 25kW
4. Newcastle Council (another participant) has multiple free AC 22kW and even (more broken than not) free DC 50kW chargers only a few km away.
5. The unit just seems excessively large for a dual Type 2 charger versus other models that are regularly installed on pylons and the like.. also for some reason seems to have cables both going up and down

 

[Vostok]

They've been a thing for a while.. at least on smart poles in a few places around Australia.. albeit this might be the first one on an older wooden pole.

From what I can see this AGL rollout isn't part of the NSW subsidised rollout (per the other thread).

Any new charger (or EVSE) is good but this one just seems a bit strange to me.
1. In a beach side carpark of 100+ spots, they should be planning for 5/10/20 points.. not a good location for this install. I'd see a pole charger like this in every suburban street in older suburbs without garages.
2. The pricing at $0.50/kWh is way out of the ballpark for an AC charger at the moment.
3. AusGrid in particular (as a seeming participant in this) should be aware given their involvement in Jolt which gives 7kWh free, then $0.40/kWh for DC 25kW
4. Newcastle Council (another participant) has multiple free AC 22kW and even (more broken than not) free DC 50kW chargers only a few km away.
5. The unit just seems excessively large for a dual Type 2 charger versus other models that are regularly installed on pylons and the like.. also for some reason seems to have cables both going up and down

Yes smart poles with integrated BYO Type 2 cable EVSEs have been around for a bit but they are an edge case - new greenfield deployments, and in a tiny number of cases, replacement of existing poles. They are not a solution for older metro areas with timber power poles and no offstreet parking. Replacing timber power poles is a hugely expensive and difficult exercise, and Ausgrid only do it if it is absolutely essential (e.g major roadworks/street realignments, or pole is structurally damaged). So we need something like this that is cheap to bolt on.

To your points:

1. Yeah this is weird - the emphasis should be on this being a solution for streets and locations with limited/no offstreet parking. But they’re talking about this in the context of visitors to beaches and other long-dwell locations. WTH?
2. Well I think that is smart because free is not sustainable and people have to get used to paying, especially for an application like this. It deters the opportunistic chargers who don’t need a charge but enjoy freeloading, making them more available for people who really do need it.
3. It’ll be interesting to see how long Jolt pricing lasts - it is out of whack with this (or vice versa). Longer term there will be a shakeout in pricing and it will reach some kind of convergence depending on AC/DC, speed etc. Pricing ultimately has to reflect costs, you can’t defy economic gravity forever.
4. Free leads to abuse and lack of love.
5. Agree - it’s stonkingly huge. What the heck is inside that box?! I did read in the Intellihub “Lessons Learned” document about the need for ground stakes, so that may be the cable down.

 

[moa999]

Agree free isn't sustainable...
But pricing tiers have developed already.
(Now whether they are sustainable for the operator is a different question.. but if you're well outside these ranges you aren't going to get much usage)

Ultra-fast (100+kW) - Tesla $0.66, Chargefox $0.60, Evie $0.60, Ampol $0.60
Fast (50-75kW) - Chargefox $0.40, Evie $0.40, BP Pulse $0.55, Vic CTR $0.40, Yurika $0.30, Gold Coast $0.30, Elanga $0.50
Medium (25kW) - Jolt 7kWh free + 0.40 after, Vic CTR $0.40
AC (7-22kW) - Evie $0.35, Yurika $0.30, Tesla non-Tesla $0.25-0.35, Sydney East Councils - $0.11-0.28 TOU

Notes
Ampol drops to Fast tier for 400V cars
BP Pulse machines with upgrades could be Ultrafast

 

[Munter]

I agree that the pricing is a shocker. If I've got the time to charge slowly I'd want to do it cheaply - not at a rate closer to Fast Charging prices. I think they will reduce it down to 40c within a year, if not sooner. Alternately they may introduce a wholly dynamic pricing structure which would better incentivise daytime charging and better reflect their underlying costs.

 

[cafz]

Ultra-fast (100+kW) - Tesla $0.66, Chargefox $0.60, Evie $0.60, Ampol $0.60

Tesla's is even closer to the others when you consider that it's net charging not gross.

 

[RichardV]

Tesla's is even closer to the others when you consider that it's net charging not gross.

Is it still net charging? The in car graphic now shows gross charge coming to the vehicle where as it previously show net charge to the battery. I had assumed with this change that Supercharger charging now also reflected gross power supplied.

 

[Hairyman]

It will be interesting to see how that box at Dixon Park does with time. It is north facing, has no shelter, and gets a very consistent moist salt-laden breeze.

 

[Vostok]

But pricing tiers have developed already.
(Now whether they are sustainable for the operator is a different question.. but if you're well outside these ranges you aren't going to get much usage)

I think there is scope for “premium pricing” based on reliability and user experience. That was the Tesla Supercharger proposition after all.

An operator who establishes its credentials for having its chargers in good locations, well maintained, well dimensioned, so that people have greater confidence they can go there and a working charger will be available… I would pay a premium for that.

 

[cafz]

Is it still net charging? The in car graphic now shows gross charge coming to the vehicle where as it previously show net charge to the battery. I had assumed with this change that Supercharger charging now also reflected gross power supplied.

People who've compared Teslamate records against Supercharger receipts say it's still net, but I haven't audited it myself!

 

[alliwantisaY]

I wonder how they would do this in areas with underground power? A lot of Perth has underground power

 

[moa999]

I wonder how they would do this in areas with underground power? A lot of Perth has underground power

Plenty of solutions for that.

 

[Hairyman]

Underground power probably gives many more options than above ground transmission poles.

 

[Vostok]

As @moa999 and @Hairyman says, lots of options if there is underground power. Bollards are the go-to. If the light poles in such areas are made of steel and are hollow, then retrofitted pole solutions like Ubitricity and char.gy are also possible.

However most residential areas with underground power don’t need a kerbside solution at all, because that is typically only new estates in Australia, and that means people have off-street parking and should charge in their garage. I’m not aware of many if any new estates where people don’t have off-street parking.

There are some areas in Sydney that are both (a) old, so are high density and don’t off-street parking and (b) have underground power, but this is the minority of cases.

 

[RichardV]

https://m.facebook.com/efficiencymatrix/videos/ecoevo-and-pure-electric-joined-forces-for-this-short-video-to-show-off-a-potent/572381900986501/

If you can't wait for a commerical kerb side charger. Not sure on the legalities of this one.

 

[paulp]

https://m.facebook.com/efficiencymatrix/videos/ecoevo-and-pure-electric-joined-forces-for-this-short-video-to-show-off-a-potent/572381900986501/

If you can't wait for a commerical kerb side charger. Not sure on the legalities of this one.

Simple, clever, and will drive the nanny councils absolutely crazy

 

[Vostok]

If you can't wait for a commerical kerb side charger. Not sure on the legalities of this one.

I had this idea a few years ago - interesting to see someone has actually done it.

It would be illegal if he cut into council’s footpath without permission. That’s called vandalism in most cases! It would be interesting what a Council‘s reaction would be if a homeowner sought permission to do this at their own cost. It should be treated similarly to people seeking DA approval to create or widen a driveway.

My idea was slightly different - tapping into an existing stormwater outlet pipe on the property side, not installing a dedicated pipe, which would avoid cutting the footpath.

As one of the commenters pointed out, this won’t work if someone else parks outside the front of your house. I guess you’d have to wait until the spot became free and move your car.

 

[Vostok]

Simple, clever, and will drive the nanny councils absolutely crazy

So if someone came along with a concrete saw and cut a trench in your property without your permission you’d be totally OK with it?

 

[paulp]

So if someone came along with a concrete saw and cut a trench in your property without your permission you’d be totally OK with it?

I absolutley agree it needs permission, but I still think even contemplating such will drive councils insane. In reality it is no different to seeking approval for a stormwater connection to the street.