Scentre Group and BMW install electric vehicle chargers in Westfield centres
Scentre Group and BMW Group Australia have teamed up to install 40 new electric vehicle chargers across a selection of Westfield shopping centres.
The announcement:
A new partnership between Scentre Group and BMW Group Australia will see 40 new Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations conveniently installed in 10 Westfield shopping centres across NSW, QLD and VIC.
By March 2017, EV drivers will be able to access four charging stations per centre at Westfield Bondi Junction, Chatswood, Miranda, Sydney, Warringah Mall, Carindale, Chermside, Doncaster and Southland. The charging stations can be used by any EV free of charge and will see Westfield centres become the leading shopping destination for EV owners.
There are currently around 8000 EVs in operation in Australia and sales are steadily increasing, with over 35000 EVs expected on Australian roads by 2024.
Together, Scentre Group and BMW Group Australia are at the forefront of delivering infrastructure to accommodate this demand.
Tim Roberts, General Manager Leasing, Scentre Group says, “We’re very excited to partner with BMW Group Australia to bring such a comprehensive network of EV charging stations to our customers.
“This is all about convenience for the growing number of EV drivers in our local communities. EV drivers will be able to identify charging station locations in our centres via the ChargePoint app, online or through their BMW navigation system.”
BMW is leading the way when it comes to innovation and future mobility, offering a range of pure electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles in Australia.
Marc Werner, Chief Executive Officer of BMW Group Australia, is pleased to be part of a program that facilitates this growth and delivers additional EV infrastructure to Australian customers.
“The new charging stations at Westfield locations is another way BMW is providing mobility solutions to our customers as BMW i electric vehicles gain momentum in the Australian market,” said Werner.
With a quick bit of googling, I see these chargers are low power ‘fast’ chargers (7kW).
We (EV owners) don’t want these useless low power chargers. The evidence is clear we don’t because it shows that no-one *ever* uses them. If they are used, it is usually just to avoid paying for parking (if possible).
In the UK, dozens of local authorities have spent countless millions on this sort of charging facility and the vast majority of it has been a complete waste of money.
It’s obvious, isn’t it? What EV driver, in their right mind, is going to leave home on a journey which they know they won’t have enough range to return from unless they can, *without fail*, obtain a top-up charge somewhere convenient along the way? And putting even low power chargers in shopping centres is just asking for someone to hook up and disappear for hours effectively blocking the charging point from someone who is desperate enough for a charge to bother using one.
This effectively means that street-side chargers are virtually pointless as no-one will risk relying on them to be both available and working when they arrive to use them. What EV owners *do* need is high power, rapid chargers, sited where they are convenient to use especially for long trips i.e. on trunk routes and highways.
This would give owners of ICEVs the confidence to decide to opt for an EV when they are planning to buy a new car or at least a second car. It is too important *at this stage of EV adoption* to be left to disinterested local authorities and the whim of private industry to implement and maintain such a strategically import infrastructure.
The other major issue that needs addressing is how potential EVers who live in terraced houses or flats are ever going to be able to own an EV given that charging them at home is currently effectively impossible. This issue, too, is dealt with by a considered rapid DC charger infrastructure.
On a wider note, some serious thought and some sensible ideas are going to have to be worked on if we as a society are ever going to really move away from ICEVs to EVs. It is time some local authorities tried out some ideas (ideally with local support) to see what might work.
One option might be to offer to install low power street-side charging points *for those with an EV who want them* either at home or at work. At least then the charging point would get used and, perhaps more importantly, be *seen* to be used.
If we are truly serious about EVs, realistically we are talking about every street with terraced housing, and every new block of flats, having marked parking bays and each and every bay having some form of charging facility. Perhaps changing street parking to having it all on one side only, side by side in angled bays to allow cars’ front or rear to engage with charging posts on the footway and making the traffic one-way. I don’t know, but this is not a problem that is going to go away.
And for those of you who think this is a problem for ‘the future’ you are in for a shock. Several countries in Europe are saying that they plan to stop the sale of ICEVs completely within 10 years. Australia may lag behind a bit (no help from Big Oil-funded government) but EVs are coming a lot quicker than most people think.
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In cities and provincial towns in China there are charging stations on street corners outside cafes. Park-n-charge your scooter and have a coffee.
In a future Sydney, park your EV under any streetlight, plug the charging cable into the base of the light, tap your Smartwatch on the control panel, walk away. For blondes, the EV’s engine is disabled while charging!
Dr Browns “flux capacitor” is closer than you think. Graphene-based Supercapacitors could lead to battery-free electric cars within 5 years.
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This will be brilliant for my wife and I as, being retired, we do our shopping at one of several air-conditioned complexes in our area usually followed by a cafe lunch and sometimes a movie. Now we will be able to plug in our PHEV and have enough juice to get back home – i.e. free fuel for the round trip rather than just one way. If it works well our nearest Westfield will now get weekly visits instead of fortnightly. Hopefully they will have a good system to stop the chargers getting iced.
Well done Westfield and BMW 🙂
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