Evie Networks marks 100th EV charging station

Evie Networks has launched its 100th charging electric vehicle charging site in just three-years.

The milestone was marked by activating two 350kW DC ultra rapid stations at Toowoomba NorthPoint Shopping Centre today, west of Brisbane.

Last week, the St Baker Energy Innovation Fund-backed EV charging provider celebrated two million kilowatt hours of energy sold across its network. That’s equivalent to around 12 million kilometres of driving and nearly 100,000 successful charging sessions.

The Australian company is even aiming to triple its network size by deploying 200 new charging hubs in 2023.

Evie’s roll out has been accelerated thanks to an almost $9 million grant from the Federal Government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) as part of its Future Fuels Fund.

Partnerships with companies like AMP Capital, Viva Energy (owner of Shell-branded fuel stations), Hungry Jacks and local councils have also enabled it to install EV public chargers powered by 100 per cent renewable energy near amenities with 24-hour lighting, access and security.

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Evie Networks first debuted in late 2019 with the opening of two 350kW DC chargers at a McDonald’s rest stop in Coochin Creek, sitting in between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

It is the second-largest EV charging provider in the country covering all states except the Northern Territory and is mostly composed of 50kW DC fast to 350kW DC ultra rapid stations made by Brisbane manufacturer Tritium.

They’re priced at $0.40 and $0.60 per kWh respectively, which is cheaper than Tesla’s exclusive Supercharging network at $0.68 to $0.69 per kWh plus idling fees.

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However, each charger built thanks, in part, to Arena, needs to offer both the standard CCS2 and rare CHAdeMO connector plug types, but doesn’t need to be able to charge at the same time, as part of funding requirements complying with guidelines set by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) peak body in 2017.

That’s unlike newer EV charging entrants like Ampol’s Arena-backed AmpCharge network, which allows for concurrent charging on its 150kW DC ABB chargers, while a few BP Pulse 75kW DC Tritium units each exclusively feature two CCS2 cables and can charge at the same time using a 50/25kW DC power module split.

State motoring club-owned Chargefox is still the largest network in Australia, with 271 AC and DC charging locations, according to PlugShare.

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