WA ‘electric highway’ links Perth to south-west via network of 12 EV fast chargers

Western Australia has installed a network of 12 electric vehicle fast charging stations, connecting Perth to Augusta – the most south-westerly town in Australia – that can fully charge an EV in just 30 minutes.

The 310km “electric highway” was co-funded by the RAC – the charging technology was supplied by locally-based firm, E-Station – and is being billed as a first of its kind for Australia.

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The route was strategically chosen, according to reports, to encompass popular tourist spots around the region, with chargers also planned for Nannup, Busselton and Margaret River.

It is hoped the publicly accessible chargers – which are free to use until the end of the year – will encourage more WA drivers to buy electric vehicles. Currently, the state has fewer than 150 EV owners.

According to the MotorReport, local councils along the route have either agreed or are in talks with the RAC to maintain the chargers once they are installed, but whether they will offer free electricity to drivers or charge them to use the facilities ($3-$5 per charge) is unclear.

RAC president Esme Bowen said she hoped the bright yellow charging stations – supplied by e-station would at least get people talking about EVs.

“I think it’s just about getting people exposed to them and I think this highway will give people the opportunity to think, ‘What’s that car doing? What does it do? What does it mean?’,” Bowen told the ABC Online.

A 430km “fast cities network” is also being planned to link northern NSW and Queensland, featuring 12 of local Brisbane company Tritium’s industry-leading Veefil fast chargers, installed at points strategically located along major transport corridors between Noosa and Byron Bay (NSW).

Comments

8 responses to “WA ‘electric highway’ links Perth to south-west via network of 12 EV fast chargers”

  1. Liz Harris EmpowerRepower.com Avatar

    Good on the RAC and the local councils for supporting the WA electric highway. I’d love to see the Tritium fast chargers rolled out across south-east Qld – perhaps the RACQ and the relevant councils could get on board? I love driving my Leaf electric car on the Sunshine Coast, but there is a need for more public chargers if we are to transition away from petrol and diesel cars. The benefits of reduced noise and air pollution could be substantial.

  2. Peter Campbell Avatar
    Peter Campbell

    This is great but don’t think that EVs are no use until there is a charging network. For anyone who has two cars, I bet you only ever take one out of town. The local-use-only car could easily be electric. We have done virtually all of our local driving by EV for the last 6 years but we also have a petrol car for longer trips out of town. Almost all of our car charging has been from an ordinary power point at home.

    1. mick Avatar
      mick

      tongue in cheek id bet you would drive the tesla upgrade 0-100 in 2.8 secs a bit further if you could charge it it more places

      1. Peter Campbell Avatar
        Peter Campbell

        Sure, if I had a Tesla and their supercharger network rolled out, I might ditch the petrol car. At the very least, its replacement will be a plug-in hybrid. In the meantime, the petrol car is handy for my daughter who got her licence recently. I drive my >6yo converted car and my wife drives the >18 month old, half-price, ex-demo iMiEV. My converted car is not a Tesla but I can still take off at the lights and leave most cars well behind, in 3rd gear, pulling a mere 500A from the battery, not 1500A like a Tesla with the upgrade.

        1. mick Avatar
          mick

          my dirty old ute has a v8 I rebuilt myself and no clutch its never off dirt tracks taught my kids to drive in it, gabs comes home from uni on occasion if she thinks no ones looking she takes the ute out for a flogging I cant give her a hard time because one day she will be a brain surgeon,not bad for an itinerant shearers kid ay

        2. mick Avatar
          mick

          I should mention that its an lpg only engine cheers

    2. Charles Avatar
      Charles

      This is a good point and one that isn’t emphasised enough! Even with not a single charging station around, an EV is still fully functional. Doesn’t matter if it only goes 160km on a single charge, because I rarely drive even more than 50km in a single day. If I was adventurous and drove it into the bush and into a small town, I could still probably find a business with a power point which would let me plug in over night, so I could limp back home.
      However if I was to buy a hydrogen car, I could drive it 500km, and once it is empty, it’s bricked – not a single hydrogen refuelling station in my state.

  3. Barry ONeill Avatar
    Barry ONeill

    So who pays for electricity ????????????? I suppose because we cannot afford the cost of a EV we have to supplement those that can by paying more for our power in the house. Anyone want to buy me a new EV? I will use it daily.

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