Australian electric vehicle drivers have access to just 3000 public chargers nationwide, a recent report has found.
The report conducted by financial broker Savvy has investigated the amount of fast chargers in Australia and found 2531 chargers were standard AC chargers, while 470 were DC superchargers with speeds reaching up to 350kW.
For context, last year the EV Council reported 20,665 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids were sold in Australia, far out weighing the amount of chargers.
EV charging stations are growing in popularity, but they still have a long way to go
Savvy reported the most amount of chargers were found in New South Wales (1017), trailed by Victoria (722) while the least were in the Northern Territory (30).
Charger access a key concern for drivers
Savvy also conducted a survey which found 17 percent of participants said the availability and accessibility of charging points across the nation was their most significant concern when buying an electric car.
The amount of chargers is expected to increase in the coming years, with Chargefox pledging to build an additional 4000 chargers across the country by 2025.
Chargefox has pledged to build an additional 4000 chargers by 2025
There are estimated to be 58 EV models on sale by the end of 2022, a rise of 53 percent from 31 models on sale in 2021.
In terms of increases to the general charging infrastructure, installation increased by 23 percent for DC chargers and 24 percent for AC chargers from 2020 to 2021. At present, Savvy says that for every public charger, there are 7.21 EVs in Australia.
EV charging tips
To circumvent the small number of public chargers available, Savvy recommends installing an AC wall box in your garage which will allow drivers to charge their EV overnight (at a slower charging rate, usually 6-8 hours on average).
A home charger is a great way to keep energy flowing into your EV
When out on the road, it is best to use a handy app such as PlugShare which is free to use and allows owners to find charging stations right across Australia and also internationally.
Google Maps currently has an EV charging feature available for the UK and the United States, however this software has not yet been launched in Australia.
