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

Quick charging may be a potentialsolution to this issue – refer to Figure4 and Figure 47 for examples. For thesame footprint, quick chargers are ableto service many more customers thanstandard chargers. Quick charging alsoprovides an enhanced value propositionrelative to standard charging that userswill pay a premium for (that is, morethan simply the cost of the energy used).They have the potential to significantlyextend the operating range of EVs, bothfrom actual use and as a by-product ofthe reassurance they provide EV drivers(who consider quick charging to be arange ‘safety net’). In Japan, the countrywith the highest concentration of quickchargers, Nissan (2012b) have reportedpositive impacts on both electric vehicleuptake and use from the presence ofquick chargers. Following an increasefrom 2 to 7 quick chargers on the 350kilometres highway between Tokyo andNagoya, electric vehicle registrationsincreased from around 1500 to 1900vehicles and the number of EV highwaydrivers increased from 19 to 41 per centin the surrounding region.While quick chargers hold greatpotential in their ability to influenceelectric vehicle uptake, they are notwithout their challenges. Table 17provides a description of these issuesalong with a snap-shot of currentprogress towards resolution.An additional opportunity that appliesto both standard and quick chargersrelates to better information for themarket on likely EV parking/charginglocations. Although general informationhas been supplied in Section 5.4.4above, specific information in termsof a map of priority locations wouldhelp address property owner/manageruncertainty on the risks of allocatingreal-estate for EV parking/charging.While the Department’s Guidance onLand-use Planning for Electric VehicleParking and Charging (DOT 2012e)provides advice for new developments,it is not targeted at existing landuses/facilities.Southern CaliforniaAssociation of Governments have beendeveloping a regional plug-in electricvehicle readiness plan that seeks toaddress this information barrier for themarket with more specific guidance(Luskin 2012). The opportunity existsto develop and publish more detailedinformation for Victoria that will assistwith site identification and negotiations,thereby streamlining public charginginfrastructure roll-out.The existence of the trial publiccharging locations does however provethe existence of a value propositionfor some parking facility operators.According to the operators, this mostlyrelated to the marketing benefits fortheir facility through having been anearly-adopter of EV charging technology– a view endorsed by findings in theU.S. (RMI 2009).Figure 47. ChargePoint quick charger installed in North Strathfield, New South Wales.