EV Charger News

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › EV Charger News

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ... | 24

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1833115 28-Jul-2017 21:45

PhantomNVD:

Awesome! (That plugshare pic is actually mine as I went to scope it out earlier this week in light of our imminent purchase ☺️

We drove home our silver 2011 Leaf yesterday, so this is exactly in time as we have the sparky booked for Friday to install the commando/15A plug in our garage (the only EVSA it came with)

Do ChargeNet NZ have an app? I got the IOS app but it’s all in Dutch/German (€) and didn’t accept my webcreated login.

There is a Charge.net Android app being beta tested right now. It will be released when it's fully baked. I installed a beta on my phone this afternoon after being asked if I wanted to have a look.

It looks pretty good! All in English. The app you downloaded must be for a European network with the same name. Nothing to do with the NZ operation, which is basically Steve and Dee West pouring their own money into it.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1840340 7-Aug-2017 08:59

Orion, in Christchurch, recently opened two EV chargers at the New World in Lincoln. Four cars can charge at once. Two on each unit.

Like the chargers already located in North Hagley Park, they have a Type 2 "Mennekes" socket that is capable of supplying up to 22kw to any electric car that can take it. The best example would be a Renault Zoe. A 22kWh Zoe could get a full charge from empty on one of these in under an hour for about 150km range. A 41kWh Zoe would take just under two hours for a full charge from empty....for 300km range. A Nissan LEAF from the UK with a 6.6kw internal AC charger and a Type 2 to Type 1 cable (like mine) can use these to charge at 6.6kw....so a full charge in about 3.5 hours. A Tesla with the right cable can charge at 16.5kw. That's about 2.5 times faster than at home on a single-phase, 32amp circuit. Anything faster is good.

They aren't "fast chargers" so much as they are "pretty quick anyway" chargers for any car able to fully use them. Most of the newer electric cars are able to more fully utilise these chargers....like the Hyundai Ioniq and the BMW i3..both available new locally.

LEAFs from Japan are laggards in this regard as they can only do 3.3kw at most....about 1/6th of what these are capable of delivering.

These units need a charge.net account and RFID tag to activate them but they are free to use once activated.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1841628 9-Aug-2017 09:51

WEL has opened a new DC (and AC) fast charger in Caro St, downtown Hamilton.

Like the other WEL fast chargers (Raglan, Te Kauwhata, Te Rapa and East Hamilton) it has at least one dedicated EV charging space, is free to use, and supports 50kw DC CHAdeMO and CCS Type 2 as well as 43kw AC Type 2 (tethered - Renault Zoe and an alternative to the CHAdeMO adapter for a Tesla). Having 5 fast AC charging units in the Waikato makes a 41kWh Renault Zoe (250-300km range) a very attractive option for at least local and regional driving.

All chargers of any kind can be found on Plugshare.com

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1841664 9-Aug-2017 10:31

For an overview, here is how Plugshare see the New Zealand EV charging network today.

The orange icons are DC fast chargers. They will all be at least 50kw and all support CHAdeMO. Almost all will also support 50kw CCS Type 2 (EU version) though a few (Dunedin and a couple of others) still support the American CCS Type 1 flavour. They will be swapped out soon.

The green icons are generally AC chargers up to 22kw. Most will be 16amp / 3.3kw campgrounds that support Blue Commando plugs. But a growing number are 32amp (7kw) Type 2 sockets (bring your own cable) or 32amp (7kw) tethered Type 1 (for LEAFS and any other vehicle that can do J1772 / Type 1 - either directly or with an adaptor).

NOTE: To work out how long it takes to charge, you multiply the kw capacity available (or what your car is capable of - which ever is the least) by the number of hours required to match your battery capacity. For example, if you have a 70kw battery (lucky you!), it would take you ten hours to charge from 0 to 70kw at 7kw (per hour). At 50kw it would take less than 90 minutes. Bear in mind you're almost never actually empty.

I have filtered out the light blue residential chargers, though they can be extremely useful in parts of the country not yet well served.

There is one Tesla SuperCharger station in the underground parking at Te Awa (The Base) shopping mall at Te Rapa in Hamilton. It will easily be the fastest charger in the country at up to 120kw. But it will only charge a Tesla Model S or Model X.

This is what it looks like today. You can see the north, central and eastern North Island are generally well served already even for EVs with smaller batteries. Remaining gaps are the east Cape, Northland north of Pahia and Taranaki south of Te Kuiti and west of Turangi.

The South island is more patchy. The Nelson / Golden Bay area has three fast chargers in easy reach of each other. There is a lonely fast charger in Kaikoura on a now-dead highway that won't be opened for several more months. Christchurch has several fast chargers. Getting from Picton to Christchurch means a charging stop along the way somewhere for all but the Teslas with the biggest batteries. There is a fast charger in Greymouth, but you still need at least a Tesla 90 to get there without a charging stop from Nelson. Again, Greymouth to Christchurch requires a larger battery at present due to the height of the mountain passes. But you can arrange to charge at Jackson's Point campground and / or the Springfield campground. It's not hard....it just takes a few hours longer than you might like.

There is a solid string of chargers southward on SH1 to Timaru and beyond to Waimate, Oamaru and Hampden. Dunedin is a problem at the moment with just one very flakey "Delta" unit. It works some days and not others. It's in an awkward car park and though there are two reserved parks for EVs locals take little notice and park non-Evs there anyway. Charge.Net are coming to the rescue in Dunedin, but they haven't got a charger running just yet.

Inland some new chargers have opened up at Alexandra and to the north at Tekapo. A tesla would have no problems getting to them from the coast, but these are beyond the reach of a LEAF without a charging stop of some kind along the way.

Beyond Dunedin there are chargers at Balclutha and Invercargill. You can get there in a 30kWh LEAF or better without any issues. I've done it.

We're almost there. A dozen well-placed fast chargers would close the gaps and I could consider driving my LEAF from Auckland to Invercargill in two days. My drive to Wellington last week only took 12 hours. I wasn't hurrying. I could have gone faster.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

networkn

Networkn
32353 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1841672 9-Aug-2017 10:35

A time lapse for that would have been quite interesting to see what it looks like for the past 24 months.

afe66

3181 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1841702 9-Aug-2017 11:14

Bring on the charger at Lawrence as you can't get from Balclutha to Alexandra with 24kw leaf..

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1872180 24-Sep-2017 20:40

With many of the key players busy with EV World in Auckland a couple of weeks ago, the pace of new fast chargers coming on line dipped. The two may or may not be related. I'm just guessing.

But there are now two new fast chargers to report. One in Geraldine (Charge.Net - paid) and another in Kurow (Waitaki Networks - free).

It's great to see 50kw fast chargers further inland on the South Island. Along with Waimate, Alexandra and Tekapo, it's now possible to travel more or less freely in modest EV like a Gen 2 LEAF.

Geraldine

Kurow

(screenshots are from Plugshare.com)

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

networkn

Networkn
32353 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1872319 25-Sep-2017 10:25

Linuxlvr

We're almost there. A dozen well-placed fast chargers would close the gaps and I could consider driving my LEAF from Auckland to Invercargill in two days. My drive to Wellington last week only took 12 hours. I wasn't hurrying. I could have gone faster.

Google says it should take 8 Hours depending on Route. I believe that takes into account about an hour of breaks as well. Are you saying you think EV adds 3-4 Hours of charging time?

To me, that seems quite a premium.

PhantomNVD

2619 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1872536 25-Sep-2017 15:39

I have 720kms from here (Pukekohe) which my 11 bar Gen1 Leaf would need around 7 charges to do (counting the initial one of course) thus 6 charges en route (at 23mins (avg) each -if immediate access to the charger,I.e. no other user there) so 140 odd mins= 2 hours 20mins charging.

As @linuxlover always says though, the trip is minimum 7hours (google currently says 7:23) and a 20 min stop every 100kms or so would really help ANY driver to be more awake and focussed?

In an ICE I’d likely skip the first stop, but stopping for 20 mins every hour or so there after really wouldn’t be much hardship.

*AFAIK google results (though I couldn’t find an ‘offical statement’) seem to indicate that google just maps the route at max speed accounting for traffic and does NOT factor rest stops or refuelling... so you’d likely use at least an hour extra on a trip like that to rest and refuel even an ICE on a ‘hurrying ‘ drive. 7 1/2 hours driving with a minimum 10 min refuel would be very exhausting for any driver TBH!

mcdongle

16 posts

Geek

#1872586 25-Sep-2017 16:33

New charger being installed at Rolleston New World..

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1872765 25-Sep-2017 22:52

networkn:

Linuxlvr

We're almost there. A dozen well-placed fast chargers would close the gaps and I could consider driving my LEAF from Auckland to Invercargill in two days. My drive to Wellington last week only took 12 hours. I wasn't hurrying. I could have gone faster.

Google says it should take 8 Hours depending on Route. I believe that takes into account about an hour of breaks as well. Are you saying you think EV adds 3-4 Hours of charging time?

To me, that seems quite a premium.

Google doesn't factor in breaks. If you stop, the duration to destination stays the same and the arrival time gets pushed out. It WILL factor in all the wee 50kph and 60 kph and 70kph segments along the way as you pass through towns. It will also factor in delays it knows about at the moment.....and remove them if they go away.

I should say that with regard to my trip to Wellington I wasn't in a race. I did spend an hour nosing around in places long after the car had finished charging. The rough equation for my LEAF would be drive for 90 minutes and charge for 15-20.....depending on the speed and the change in elevation. But those are also my rest breaks and I recently found I take them anyway even if driving an ICE (example Perth to Albany WA - 5-6 hours).

Today, I drove from Opotiki to Tauranga (125km) in 1:45.....at the legal limit all the way where traffic allowed (so....like a "normal car")...and then charged for 17 minutes at Bayfair while I made a quick toilet stop and a bite at Mcds.....and then drove to Cambridge.

Where the chargers are close enough, there is no premium. The breaks match the charging. I've come to realise that much over 90 minutes of driving at a time is a false economy as I end up more tired than I need to be. But I'm sure some people will insist that 4 or 5 hours non-stop is fine. Good luck to them.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1872770 25-Sep-2017 23:00

mcdongle:

New charger being installed at Rolleston New World..

Glad to hear it!

Rolleston is on the Charge.net.nz map as being complete by the end of the year.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1872775 25-Sep-2017 23:34

I'll post this here as it seems to be most relevant to a topic about charging.

Charge.Net have just released their app for Android and Apple smart phones / tablets.

You can use it to find chargers that are either operated directly by Charge.Net or operated by providers who use the Charge.Net activation / billing platform (like Unison). You can then navigate to the nearest one.

Once your car is plugged in, you can use the app to activate the charger (assuming you've logged in to the app).

You can also see your past transactions.

What you can't see is chargers operated by providers who don't use Charge.Net's platform.....so the chargers operated by Vector, WEL, Horizons and other providers aren't listed. You still need Plugshare or Next Charge or Vector's "EV Charge" app for those. (Plugshare is the best overall as many people have invested time in keeping it current for several years).

Here's a screenshot from the app.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

afe66

3181 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1872974 26-Sep-2017 11:17

There are rumours that charge net are going to put 3 rapid chargers in Dunedin.

I imagine that will be Dunedin city the district rather than the built up area but still good news.

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1878033 5-Oct-2017 18:20

afe66: There are rumours that charge net are going to put 3 rapid chargers in Dunedin.

I imagine that will be Dunedin city the district rather than the built up area but still good news.

I think at least one will be right downtown......but we'll see. :-)

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ... | 24