To the Electrical Automobile Council
I’m an EV proprietor and have had my BYD Atto 3 since March 2023. I stay at Central Tilba on the Far South Coast of NSW, and have completed a number of journeys to Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.
On a latest journey to Melbourne the unreliability of the charging infrastructure made the journey troublesome. It’s crucial on this journey to cost at Cann River the place there’s a 50kW Tritium charger put in via the East Gippsland Shire Council and maintained via a contract with RACV Photo voltaic.
Though this charger indicated it was accessible on the Chargefox app, who managed funds, it could have interaction however not start charging. PlugShare did present that there had been points and I did have interaction with Chargefox who had been unable to get it to begin.
Please word that the BYD Atto 3 is unable to cost on V3 Tesla Tremendous chargers of which there are 3 at Cann River. Because the Orbost Tritium charger has been off line for months, I needed to trickle cost wherever I might – it took 6 hours to get to Orbost after which cost in a single day on the Marlo Lodge the place there was a free wall charger.
From Bruthen, the place there’s a new Evie charger the journey to Melbourne is simple with a lot of choices.
Returning residence days later, with plans to cost at Bega, we discovered this NRMA Tritium charger was additionally out of motion. This necessitated an in a single day keep in Bega though we had been solely 60km from residence.
There aren’t any DC chargers at Pambula, Merimbula or Eden. With Bega, Cann River and Orbost Tritium chargers out there’s a actual concern between Batemans Bay and Bruthen.
This isn’t acceptable on the foremost coastal route between Sydney and Melbourne and is probably a disincentive to transition to EVs. There are additionally potential unfavourable circulate on results to tourism and small companies in these regional areas.
It does appear that the present single charger set up insurance policies coupled with the recognized unreliability of the older Tritium chargers just isn’t one of the best ways ahead. I hope that you simply organisation can foyer and advocate extra successfully with this actual life instance if the present inadequacy of the charging infrastructure.
Please additionally word that this has not deterred me – having an EV is the very best factor I’ve completed and I’ll proceed to journey and ensure I’ve a plan b and c!
Stuart Absalom
Central Tilbra
(If in case you have a letter or an opinion, please ship to [email protected]).