Charging stations rolling out

ChargePoint CEO James Brown says they have installed more than 50 public charging stations since their first was installed on May 24, 2010. 

"Since then we have installed points from Townsville to the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and New Zealand," he says. 

This comes as the company has become the first in Australia to feature on satnav units, thanks to a collaboration with digital mapping company NAVTEQ. 

"Integration into the NAVTEQ map means drivers can easily navigate to their nearest electric vehicle charge points with a minimum of effort," he says. 

The navigation software will also allow motorists to unlock the charging stations ready for the recharge before they pull up at the outlet. 

"We would see the viability of our business going hand in hand with the introduction of more electric vehicle models this year," he says. 

"2012 will be a watershed year and profitability will come in a couple of years when the scale of electric cars on the road takes hold. At the moment we are still in that investment period." 

Brown says the next step is a rollout of stations into regional areas. "It's like an octopus with tentacles lowly spreading," he says. "We would anticipate upwards of 3000 ChargePoint charging stations within three years." 

ChargePoint has more than 300 users even though the number of manufacturer model EVs is only about 150 because most EVs have several registered users. ChargePoint customers can sign up via the internet or phone for free. 

The charging stations take about four hours to fully charge a 15amp EV such as the Mitsubishi i-MiEV or the coming Nissan Leaf. Brown says a full charge from flat would cost about $3 and provide more than 100km of range, compared with more than three times that cost for a petrol-powered car. 

While ChargePoint does not yet have quick-charge stations that can recharge an EV in as little as 20 minutes, Brown says they are "working on getting quick charge stations now".