Charging points in SEQ

Discussion about EV/Battery charging infrastructure, Electric highways etc.
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praxidice
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Charging points in SEQ

Post by praxidice »

Are there additional 24 x 7 charging points (ideally at least 15 amp 3112) in south east Queensland not shown on Plugshare ? I'm aware of a few home chargers however most if not all of them, as well as a lot of official Plugshare sites are only available during business hours, which doesn't suit my travelling arrangements. Its reasonable that most people would be reluctant to provide unlimited power to all and sundry, however a simple mechanical coin operated timer is relatively cheap. One of those connected to a 15 amp 3112 socket would provide a viable option to the more expensive to implement Chargepoint system. I'd be interested in comments.
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Re: Charging points in SEQ

Post by mikedufty »

Have you considered caravan parks?
praxidice
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Re: Charging points in SEQ

Post by praxidice »

I was speaking with a few people about that and the consensus was that caravan part operators tend to want ridiculous fees. That said, there is a caravan park in an ideal position along one of my regular routes and on my list for a chat. From what I've been told, there is a lack of awareness of how much power is used and many believe they need to charge at least $10 per hour. Rather than a timed rate, it would be more sensible to charge per kwh although a bit of nous is needed to arrange per kwh monitoring. Presently I'm researching coin metering technology as this appears to be far more cost-effective than credit cards / Chargepoint which involve significant overheads. I figure that if a very simple / cost-effective package was available, it might be what is needed to get all kinds of small businesses and home charger sites onside. I don't have a problem with paying a reasonable price per kwh for 24 x 7 access, say 50c per unit. Anyone who expects $10 per hour for maybe $2 worth of power doesn't deserve the business.
PiMan
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Re: Charging points in SEQ

Post by PiMan »

I've charged at caravan parks three times, all in the one trip (although not in your area).
Pakenham Caravan Park was very accommodating. I needed a cabin for overnight anyway, so they gave me the one cabin with a 15A socket, measured my power usage and included $10 of electricity (car+cabin) in the price; I used maybe half that.
A Maze N Things Holiday Park was a surprise drop in for me because I needed a quick top up to get the rest of the way to my destination (I overestimated my freeway range). They decided a flat $10 would be the easiest way to do it. Figuring out how much everything should cost was not what I needed.
Anchor Belle Holiday Park was my last stop, and for that I wanted to be able to come and go as I pleased over several days, so I booked a powered site as though I was a caravan. They profited well off me there, I'm sure, but I didn't know how much driving/charging I was going to do.

It doesn't hurt to ask, and I'm sure you could negotiate them down to a fair price because it is not holiday/peak season.
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Jeff Owen
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Re: Charging points in SEQ

Post by Jeff Owen »

praxidice
What areas of SE Queensland are you travelling in?
There is an extensive network of Chargepoint, Tesla and other charge location available, with many of then accessible at any time.
praxidice
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Re: Charging points in SEQ

Post by praxidice »

My area of interest is from northern NSW to Sunshine Coast and west to Boonah / Toowoomba / Blackall Range

On paper, the Plugshare network looks fine, but when you take out the business hours only and the home chargers that are only part time at best, its not particularly exciting. The list is further reduced when the likes of BDM at Biggera Waters ($10 per hour and then only 1 hour maximum), Beenleigh Eco Village and the total madhouse in daytime Pacific Fair / Griffith University (Parkwood and Nathan) sites are excluded

There are the odd gems like chademo at Coolangatta, Yarrabilba, Springfield, Fortitude Valley, St Lucia, Gatton and Hamilton with Helensvale due in September maybe, but far too many blanks that I figure could be filled in if the right solution was presented to EV owners and small business people ergo my research into a cheap coin timer kwh metering setup.

My original interest in the coin timer arrangement was for my own 'in the sticks' location which really needs some way to limit the cost of electrons likely to be soaked up by the Teslrati (I've noticed a few Model s / X visitors), but then I thought it might be an attractive solution to EV owners and small business people who can't reasonably be expected to provide unlimited power to all and sundry. Free power is all very well, but given that at least some EV owners are pensioners, and not all small business operators are millionaires, we need to be realistic about the cost of electricity.
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