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About to go on anEaster drive in your electric car? Here’s a warning

Record numbers of electric vehicles are expected to hit Australian roads this Easter holiday period and experts are calling for drivers to plan ahead to avoid lengthy charging queues.

Australia’s second-largest charging provider, Evie Networks, warned it expects more than 10,000 drivers to use its chargers over the four-day holiday, and Saturday is tipped as its busiest day

The warning comes after electric vehicle sales more than doubledin Australia during last year and as some experts say the nation’s chargingnetwork has yet to catch up to the growth.

Evie Networks charging business head Bernhard Conoplia said thecompany expected charging stations to be even busier this Easter than atChristmas as the number of electric cars ballooned and driver confidence grew.

“We watched this period last year and we saw that Easter is justas busy as Christmas,” he said

Last year, the peak was on EasterSaturday, followed by Easter Monday, and Sunday was a bit quieter.”

But Mr Conoplia said Australia’scharging networks were better positioned to cope with the holiday rush afterexpanding their reach and charging points during last year.

New charging stations added

Figures from data firm Next Systemshowed Australia added almost 400 sites to its network last year and more than750 charging points. Evie Networks alone doubled its network to more than 200charging locations with nearly 500 bays.

New electric vehicle charging stationshave also recently been opened in Bowen, north Queensland, by Tesla, inregional South Australia by NRMA, and in Lake Macquarie, NSW, as part of acollaboration between the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and local council.

But Smart Energy joint managingdirector Joel Power said more chargers would be needed to support electricEaster road trips and low-emission vehicles in everyday use.

“The rate at which we’re deployinginfrastructure is still very behind the uptake of electric cars,” he said.

“There were nearly 100,000 electriccars sold last year, so we’re not keeping up with the pace.”

‘We will definitely reach a tippingpoint’

Mr Power called on state governmentsto invest in more metropolitan charging stations to support motorists withoutoff-street parking, and said private networks should stop “holding back” theroll-out.

“We’re close to the magic number ofEVs,” he said.

“If sales go up 100 per cent againthis year, we will definitely reach a tipping point.”

Mr Conoplia said Evie Networksexpected to see the biggest demand this Easter at locations “within two hoursof major capital cities”.

Newcastle, Taree to be busy

These included Newcastle, Taree andSutton Forest in NSW, Avenel and Lakes Entrance in Victoria, and along the GoldCoast, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast corridor in Queensland.

“There will be some isolated queuing,but people are becoming more aware of how busy it can be around this time ofyear,” he said.

“The busiest time is typically in themiddle of the day when people are on their journeys but what we’ve seen is thatpeople are planning around that and doing their charging early or late in theday.”

He said electric vehicle driversshould also consider fully charging their cars before travelling, only chargingto 80 per cent at a public station, and checking apps to see which bays wereoccupied.