Scentre Group and BMW install electric vehicle chargers in Westfield centres

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.

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.