Demand bringing forth supply

Marlborough's lines company saw an opportunity to sell more electricity.

The EV hub – believed to be the largest currently operating nationwide – was installed by the distributor after the 658-square-metre parcel of industrial land came up for sale last March. 

Chief executive Tim Cosgrove last month told Energy News the narrow strip of land had been leased to Marlborough District Council for car parking and was of "little use for anything else”. When it came up for sale, the distributor saw it was ideal for EV charging.

“It’s located right in town, right off State Highway 1, next to a supermarket, a café, The Warehouse, an easy walk into town,” he says.   

“We get a lot of vehicles coming through with people coming on and off the ferries, going to Nelson, and those sorts of things.”

“It’s come together really well.”

The Park Terrace EV Charge Hub has three 150-kilowatt chargers with two sockets each, capable of charging six EVs simultaneously. Cosgrove says Tesla was invited to install its three 300 kW units “right alongside”.

Customers pay through their ChargeNet phone app, RFID fob or card.

Some holiday parks might find it worthwhile to pay for upgraded power supply and put in charging stations. 

Meanwhile, others are coming up with innovative supply strategies - but do read the whole piece for fun council consenting issues, including whether the charge station counts as a 'service station'. 

Saegers is now finalising the business model and working out the technology required.

A key point is not all 78 cars will be “charging at 250 kilowatts” at once, he notes.

“That’s never going to happen – it's totally impractical and we wouldn’t put that infrastructure in for that to happen.

“You might have four or five simultaneous fast charging activities.”

ROA will offer a flexible pricing structure – “similar to the way that the wholesale energy market works” with pricing depending on supply and demand.

Short stays using fast charging would pay more, while people parking there while they work could receive cheaper or even free power when there is abundant production.

“If that facility existed now, I might plug my car in, but I don’t necessarily want to pay for a charge. But if there's any spare power, I’ll take it," he says.

“It’s about creating flexibility. There’s no need to charge a car and potentially crash the grid, when you don’t need it fully charged, and it might be sitting out there for four hours.”