Thousands of EV owners will be hitting the roads for their Christmas road trip holiday and the NRMA is reminding drivers of EV charging etiquette.
This is a good start but personally I think the only real solution is to charge idle fees for people who continue parking in an EV charging bay 10min after their car is fully charged.
Idle fees are one reason why Tesla chargers are considered the most reliable and high availability in Australia. JOLT also has idle fees across it’s Australian charging network.
Come on NRMA, you can do it and Evie Networks should as well.
All charging networks should implement idle fees across Australia.
Chargefox recently trialled idle fees successfully in Western Australia and has implemented them widely across the state.
NRMA’s request for charging etiquette follows longer wait times and improper use of chargers last year during the busy holiday season.
The NRMA is encouraging drivers to plan their charging stops before embarking and leave home with a full charge.
For those not traveling longer distances it is recommended to charge up to 80% as the final 20% of battery charge is much slower.
NRMA CEO Energy Carly Irving-Dolan said it was critical that EV drivers charged and then moved on so that other drivers could access the charging bays:
“We are urging drivers not to use charging bays as parking and applying some basic charging etiquette these holidays so that people aren’t left waiting to charge”
While charging an EV at a busy highway stops or in shopping areas, if they have a car app drivers should keep an eye on the charging status so they can return to their vehicle when finished charging.
If you do need to continue shopping or eating a meal, plan to move your car once you’ve finished parking to a new space.
Camping in an EV charging space or staying beyond your vehicle being charged can result in a fine as it prevents other drivers from being able to use the chargers.
Unfortunately most charging apps do not allow to you notify other drivers you are waiting in-line to charge and especially during the holiday season it would hard to find shopping centre management or a petrol station staffer to assist with an announcement if someone is camped at a charger for ages.
The NRMA has more than 100 chargers located across regional NSW and at regional borders, and is expanding across Australia through partnerships with both Federal and State Governments.
In order to charge at one of NRMA’s charging stations drivers need to download the My NRMA app.
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