My Chargefox app is suddenly showing many new DC fast charger locations

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by

Neerav Bhatt

Plugshare is great for researching all the chargers available in a particular area but what if there was an equivalent app just for Australia that showed most of the rapid DC and slow AC public chargers near you regardless of what charging network they were owned by? Something like Octopus Electroverse in the UK.

I’m about to finish an epic 3500km+ EV roadtrip across SA and VIC and was just looked at my Chargefox app to start planning my next EV road trip when I noticed lots of new DC fast charger charger locations are being displayed.

It’s not just across my home state of NSW. Looking at at the Barossa region of SA which I recently drove through there’s an extra DC fast charger shown there as well.

While not labelled with a brand these newly appeared locations in the Chargefox app match where the rapidly expanding NRMA rural/regional focused EV charging network is located.

I think that it would be really great for the Australian electric car driver customer experience if all Aussie EV charging networks eg Evie, NRMA, JOLT, Exploren, BP Pulse, Ampol etc would contact Chargefox and make “roaming” agreements.

That way the Evie, Exploren, JOLT, BP Pulse, Ampol etc charging stations could be displayed in the Chargefox app and also allow an RFID card registered with Chargefox to start/end charging sessions at Evie, Exploren, BP Pulse, JOLT, Ampol etc locations without needing yet another  app.

I can’t charge at home because I don’t have a driveway or garage so I use public chargers a lot more than most EV drivers.

Checking with other people who only use rapid DC fast charging occasionally they can’t see any extra NRMA locations in the Chargefox app.

So I’m guessing Chargefox has made NRMA rural/regional SC fast chargers visible through their app to the most frequent rapid charger users as an unofficial soft launch / beta test to see what feedback they get.

I say bring it on Chargefox and NRMA, make it an official feature available to all Chargefox users.

I know NRMA probably wants EV drivers to use the new My NRMA app for branding purposes but people really don’t want yet another app they want simplicity (I have 9 charging apps on my phone!).

Since the Chargefox app is on the majority of EV driver phones already and has been developed over many years to provide a great experience, that is a better option.

Comments

3 responses to “My Chargefox app is suddenly showing many new DC fast charger locations”

  1. Matthew Moyle-Croft

    The NRMA app for people who don’t live in NSW and so aren’t customers is not a good experience. It’s setup as though I want to be an NRMA member (why?) and wants details like my birthdate. It doesn’t need any of this to allow me to charge. If NRMA wants to be a charging company and wants people to use an app then be less aggressive about trying to sell things to people outside NSW and demanding information it shouldn’t ask for or need. You own part of Chargefox, just use that. (Also I tried to inquire about insuring my EV with NRMA but was told “no we don’t insure Teslas in your state).

  2. Raina Savage

    I just got a message from CHargefox saying that they ‘have been selected’ to access NRMA’s Fast chargers through their mobile app and beginning a trial today. SO looks like they have selected customers who regularly use the fast chargers to try it out. Good start!

  3. Neerav Bhatt

    Great news. Please try it out and let me know how you go

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