√‘Cost-prohibitive and risky’: EV owner shares kerbside charging struggles

As more councils trial subsidised kerbside charging stations for residents, one EV owner shares the remaining challenges.

A recent Drive article warning electric car owners not to charge their cars with extension cables ignited a debate about the best solution for charging an electric vehicle (EV) if you don’t have access to off-street parking.

Now, a resident in a suburb trialling council-approved kerbside charging has shared their personal experience with the program, detailing the challenges that remain for EV owners without garages or driveways.

Drive‘s original story, which has received 178 comments to date, featured an image of a Tesla Model 3 in Melbourne’s inner suburbs charging with a covered extension cord over a footpath.

In response to the photo, Port Phillip Council Mayor Heather Cunsolo said the practice was “unsafe” and instead directed residents towards the council’s pilot program permitting the installation of “10 lockable, private kerbside EV charging units” from independent provider Kerb Charge.

However, a resident in the City of Port Phillip told Drive the program, although well-intentioned, is “cost-prohibitive” and poses “risks too great for a homeowner to bear”.

‘An upfront cost of $6000 with no guaranteed access’

The resident, who did not want to be identified, owns an electric car and looked into signing up for the program, only to discover it came with a substantial out-of-pocket cost and no guaranteed access to the parking space.

“When I first heard about the initiative, I was interested to find out more, as on the surface it sounded as a very good solution to what will be a growing challenge,” the resident explained.

“To date, as your article indicated, only three households have taken up the initiative in over two years! Port Phillip is an affluent and progressive municipality with a population of over 100,000 people. This uptake figure appears to be low. I strongly believe the demand is there for a home-based charging solution. The real question is why have not more households taken up this initiative?”

When the resident enquired with the council, they were told the associated out-of-pocket costs included a $124 permit application fee, a $100 annual renewal fee, a minimum bond of $500, installation costs in the vicinity of $5500, and public liability insurance of a minimum of $20 million for the whole area.

“If I were to sign up for their trial, I would not only pay an upfront cost of $6000 plus, but I would have no guaranteed access to the car space to charge. This is because Council advised me that I ‘need to be confident of accessing the parking space at least one night a week to charge (or you need to know your neighbours well!)’,” the resident explained.

“In the street where I live, parking is one hour Monday to Saturday from 8am to 6pm, unless you’re a permit holder. Outside of that there are no parking restrictions to speak of. At the best of times, it is difficult to park proximate to my house as the majority of surrounding houses do not have off-street parking. Compounding this problem, I live 100 metres from a busy local retail shopping strip.”

A kerbside electric car charger from company EVX.

According to this EV owner, residents are also required to cover the cost of electricity for the station, as well as the cost of any damage the charging station incurs and the removal of the station if the trial is unsuccessful.

“EV owners genuinely try and do the right thing, myself included. As a homeowner, I have no objection to paying for infrastructure that supports EV charging. However, not guaranteeing some form of access defeats the whole purpose of the initiative,” the resident told Drive.

“In its present form, it makes more financial sense for EV owners to charge at a charging centre than invest in the offered infrastructure. This is not a preferred solution for EV owners and, I would assume, Council.”

The resident said potential solutions could include introducing permit-only parking overnight, or dedicated charging access at certain times of the week for early adopters.

‘It is important residents consider their options’

When Drive approached the council for a response to the resident’s concerns, Port Phillip Council Mayor Heather Cunsolo said:

“There is high demand for on-street parking in Port Phillip. We’re proud to be leading the way in trialling this new technology, but acknowledge we cannot offer exclusive access to a public parking space or privatise it for this reason.

“It is important that residents consider their options before purchasing a vehicle that requires regular charging if they do not have access to off-street parking.

“This is why we advise that any anyone considering applying to participate in our kerbside EV charger trial must be confident they can access the parking space outside their property at least one night a week. This will be more suitable for some properties and areas than others.

“We’re investigating opportunities for public EV chargers to provide more options across our city for EV owners.”

What are the kerbside EV charging grants in Australia?

In addition to the City of Port Phillip’s kerbside charging trial offering 10 private, lockable, pop-up kerbside chargers for residents who don’t have off-street parking, a small handful of councils elsewhere in Australia are offering grants or subsidies for kerbside charging.

In New South Wales, 20 kerbside chargers have been installed across the Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick council areas since 2019.

The NSW Government has also introduced kerbside charging grants for local governments and charge point operators, with up to $800,000 available per applicant.

Additionally, in August 2022, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced $871,000 in funding to utilities company Intellihub to install 50 EV chargers on street-side power poles across nine local government areas in New South Wales.

Public EV charging options in Australia

Of course, EV owners without off-street parking still have the option of charging their cars at public charging station, many of which are faster and sometimes more cost-effective than charging at home.

Tesla’s Supercharger network, which is now partially available to cars from other manufacturers, includes more than 60 sites across Australia, in addition to thousands of less-powerful destination charging sites.

Major provider Chargefox boasts more than 1500 public charging locations in Australia, ranging from slower 22kW AC chargers up to ultra-fast 350kW DC chargers.

Meanwhile, fast-charging provider Evie has more than 100 sites around the country, with a presence in every state and territory.

The post ‘Cost-prohibitive and risky’: EV owner shares kerbside charging struggles appeared first on Drive.