One of the key considerations for our metropolitan holiday makers with electric cars is range anxiety — the fear that the car's battery will go flat and they will be stuck in the middle of nowhere,with no access to power.
The absence of charging stations on roads and at petrol stations enhances anxiety for drivers of electric cars, which can travel between 172 kilometres and 377 kilometres on one charge.
Instead of re-fuelling at a petrol station electric car owners either recharge at home, use a recharging station along their route if they can find one or plug in a three-phase power adapter and use a socket.
Known recharging ports in Eurobodalla are listed in detail on the PlugShare site and via the link below.
PlugShare is a free, crowdsourced, global electric vehicle charging mapping tool that locates and describes recharging points across the world. It also facilitates peer-to-peer sharing of power access points.
Not Listed on the PlugShare website? Then log in and register and let your clients know you provide a recharge service.
Interested in providing a recharge service for your electric car clients? Commercial businesses hopefully see the economic opportunities of installing charging stations, drawing plug-in EV owners to their establishments where they can power up, spending both time and money.
Here are some pointers for those who might consider installing a Charge Station:
First determine where you intend to park the EV while it’s charging. If you are a motel you might consider adjacent to each parking bay or providing a selected set of bays.
Ideally you want the charging station to be no more than 3m from the connection port on the car. Newer generation EV's are being developed with faster capacity to utilise 3 phase connections. If you have access to 3 phase power then that is a bonus, if not then consider a single phase connection with a capacity of 32Amp that makes available 7.4kW.
Cable length determines how flexible your parking options are. Cable also becomes heavier the greater distance. Approx. 3kg for 5m cable & 6kg for 10m cable.
Each charging station needs to be independent. No additional appliances should be connected to the cable leading from the fuse box to the charging station.
If cables are too thin, they become hot and there is a danger of the cables burning. If the charging current is of 16 A or above it is recommended a cable diameter of 2.5 mm2 or greater. The correct supply cable must be used. Each charging station must be fitted with its own individual RCD.