victorian electric vehicle trial mid-term report - Department of Transport

Despite these challenging figuresand based upon the large body ofinformation arising out of The EVProject overall, ECOtality (2012)believe that around 20 per cent ofcharging activities may be carriedout at publicly-accessible locations.This conclusion may be influenced bya contrast between the behavioursadopted by drivers of different electricvehicle technologies. The averagenumber of charge events per day forNissan LEAF participants is 1.1 andthe daily driving distance is within thebattery capacity – results consistentwith those from the Victorian ElectricVehicle Trial. However for the ChevroletVolt PHEV the average charge eventsper day is 1.4 – this indicates that Voltdrivers, who drive a greater distanceeach day than LEAF drivers, arestriving to operate their cars as muchas possible on electricity (due to thefinancial advantage in doing this).It may also mean that Volt drivers seekout public charging infrastructuremore often than LEAF drivers to realisethis benefit – a theory that may besubstantiated by future data fromThe EV Project.On-street charging locations are rarelyeconomic to install and operate due touncertainties in the planning process,high installation costs, parking policychallenges, and low revenue potential.Information about electricity networkconfiguration is not openly availableand decision-making on electricalinfrastructure proposals is fraughtwith uncertainty in relation to time,requirements and outcomes. Most onstreetsites require carefully plannedand executed excavation works as partof the installation, making costs farhigher than for off-street locations.Parking revenue is a valuable budgetinput for many councils, whichcombined with efforts to disincentivizecar traffic, limits council appetite tooffer free or even reduced parkingcosts for EV parking/charging. Userswill only pay a small premium (at most)for the charging service beyond the costof the energy and parking combined.Transaction arrangements may bechallenging, either for the user whomust pay separately for parking andcharging, or for the host/operator whomust integrate payment systems.Some of these issues may be addressedthrough better support from theelectricity network operators andcouncils, particularly in municipalitieswhere on-street EV charging servicesare most desired, however off-streetcharging locations are clearly thepreferred public charging option. Anexception to this may be locations wherevisibility is a priority for promotionalpurposes – in these instances fundingsupport from third-parties such ascorporate fleet EV operators seekingexposure may be a key enabler.While easier, off-street publiccharging locations are significantlyimpeded by the opportunity cost forparking facility operators. Parkingis a lucrative business. Based upondaily and monthly revenue estimates,a single parking bay in Melbourne’sCBD generates between $6,000 and$15,000 of income per year (Colliers2012). Furthermore, many parkinglocations are already over-subscribed(trial examples include WestfieldDoncaster Shopping Centre, DoncasterPark & Ride and many railway stationcar-parks). For a parking bay to beexclusively assigned to EV parking/charging, the relatively low number oflikely users in the near-term creates asignificant opportunity cost that mostfacility operators will not accept. Thisissue has been the most significantbarrier to roll-out of public chargingfacilities as part of the trial.CREATING A MARKET 91