On 5 August 2021, ARENA hosted an Insights Webinar on Electric Vehicle Ultra-Fast Charging. The webinar included a presentation from Energeia, providing insights from ultra-fast charging data. This was followed by a panel presentation with representatives from ChargeFox and Evie Networks.
Report extract
Key findings and conclusions
- Costs – Significant cost reductions with experience and larger configurations possible
- Lower capex and opex for larger (6 and 8 hose) sites compared to 4 hose sites on a per hose basis, economies of scale
achievable in all key cost categories - 50 -55% variation between most expensive to least expensive 4 4-hose mainly due to local requirements eg. site configuration,
existing infrastructure, Geotech and remediation can impact costs - Cost differences between urban and regional charging sites partially explainable by average size/capacity of site
- Data shows that higher utilisation decreases electricity running costs on a $/kWh basis
- Lower capex and opex for larger (6 and 8 hose) sites compared to 4 hose sites on a per hose basis, economies of scale
- Charging – Pattern complements solar PV generation, likely to reduce operating costs with onsite solar PV
- Utilisation was impacted by 2020 COVID lockdowns, but appears to recovered when lockdowns lift
- Charging pattern constant by day type and correlates well with solar PV generation profile
- Average charging duration around 20 mins, i.e. the 80% full level
- Regional sites about 30% more utilised than urban sites presently, but majority of EV drivers are from urban areas
- EV uptake is currently low, so observed utilisation patterns are not necessarily stable in the long-run
- Electricity System Impacts – Potentially significant grid impacts, onsite storage may be beneficial
- Site peak demand is between 100% and 41% of demand during the network peak, average is around 60%
- Public EV charging patterns could provide a solution to min demand caused by solar PV