Public electric vehicle charging to benefit all energy consumers

Overview

All consumers should be able to use, charge and pay for their EV conveniently and fairly. But EV adoption is currently easier for people who have a driveway or garage, and the upfront capital to buy and charge a vehicle at home. Renters, apartment dwellers and people without off-street parking can face higher barriers to owning and using an EV, even as governments and consumers move towards cleaner transport.

To address this, UNSW undertook research to examine how public EV charging infrastructure can better serve all consumers. Using real-world data from Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick councils, the project analysed how kerbside chargers are used, where drivers come from, when charging demand occurs, and how different charging models affect consumer outcomes and the electricity grid. The research was designed to answer practical questions facing governments and industry: where public chargers should be located, how they should operate, and how they can be financed. 

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The project has informed live policy, regulatory and funding decisions about public EV charging. UNSW made the kerbside charging dataset publicly available, creating the only dataset of its kind in Australia and a valuable resource for councils, policymakers, researchers and industry. The data has been downloaded more than 400 times, used in policy and industry analysis, and contributed to AEMC rule change processes. The project has also helped reframe kerbside charging as a local planning and public space issue, not just an electricity network issue. Its findings are supporting a more convenient, fair and consumer-focused rollout of public EV charging, so more Australians can participate in the transition to cleaner transport.  

Read an article in The Conversation