Charging an electric vehicle just got more expensive as Australia’s second largest operator has increased prices at its stations.
Evie, which operates more than 200 charging stations nationwide, has increased its prices by as much as 43 percent.
This applies to the slowest chargers (22 kW), which will increase from 35 cents per kilowatt hour (c/kWh) to 50c/kWh.
The company’s 50kW fast chargers will increase by 16 percent from 50c/kWh to 58c/kWh, while the ‘super-fast’ 150 kW chargers will increase by 13 percent from 60c/kWh to 68c/kWh.
EV drivers will see a 12 percent increase when using Evie’s so-called ‘ultra-fast’ 350 kW chargers, with the meter going from 65c/kWh to 73c/kWh.
Evie, which operates more than 200 charging stations nationwide, has increased its prices by as much as 43 percent
This means fully charging a Tesla Model 3 or Model Y with rear-wheel drive and a 60 kWh battery costs $9 more on a 22 kW charger and $4.80 more for a 50 kW, 150 kW or 350 kW charger.
Evie says a “typical charging session” of about 25 kWh of energy costs “about $2 more.”
“This decision is driven by our commitment to investing in a best-in-class, reliable and comprehensive charging network across the country,” Evie said earlier this week when it announced the increases.
It is the second time in six months that the company has increased its prices.
Evie lags behind the more than 300 stations of market leader Chargefox, but is well ahead of Tesla, which has about 80 locations.
The news comes as an additional blow to EV owners after automotive website CarExpert revealed that it was cheaper to drive a car with a combustion engine than an electric car on long road trips.
CarExpert founder Paul Maric told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday he feared the gap would widen even after Evie’s recent announcement.
“Electricity prices have never fallen, so it will only get more expensive,” Mr Maric said.
“They (governments) want everyone to run these things, but at the end of the day they’re just not affordable.”
He said that until now, electric vehicles had largely been the preserve of higher income earners, mainly because buying them could be used as a tax offset for other income.
“If you just think about the average Australian right now who’s just struggling to put food on the table and you’re talking about a vehicle like the Tesla Model Y that starts at $70,000 regardless of the tax incentives, then that’s still a big a lot of money,” he said
“A lot of this stuff is a pipe dream that really only benefits people who are already rich.”
He also said that because the federal government gave private companies money to install chargers, but not for maintenance, many were broken.
“Public charging infrastructure is developing so slowly that unless you can charge at home, you can’t charge electric vehicles anywhere because the chargers are broken or there aren’t enough of them,” he said.
Starting today, it will cost $9 to fully charge some Tesla models with the Evie 22 kW charger
During a road trip in November with comparable electric and petrol BMWs, the conventional car proved cheaper to refuel on the 900km journey from Melbourne to Sydney
With a 325kW charger consuming the equivalent power that would power more than 170 typical reverse cycle air conditioners, Mr Maric said they put enormous pressure on the electricity grid, especially in more remote areas.
“Multiply the power consumption of 325 kW by the number of chargers in a location and that is the amount of energy you need in that city,” he said.
“So if you want to build this network out in regional Australia, you’re going to have to run huge power lines out to the middle of nowhere just for an EV charger.”
The rising cost of driving an electric vehicle will inevitably deter some Australian drivers from swapping their petrol cars for an electric car – a blow to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is keen to create a greener future.
Mr Albanese is already having to contend with several network charging companies pulling the plug on the country, including ChargePoint and Tritium.
Earlier this week, US company ChargePoint announced it will close its network of almost 50 stations, in a major blow to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s plan to go green in Australia.
The 46 stations in NSW, Victoria and Queensland will cease operations from February 1.
Australian EV charging company Tritium also recently closed the doors of its local factory before Christmas, leaving the jobs of up to 400 employees insecure.
The struggling fast-charging company announced at the company’s annual general meeting that it would close its factory in Murrarie, Brisbane, on December 22.