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Nov 04, 2024

Renewable-powered facility with pull-through charging wins best EV charger award

An electric vehicle (EV) charging station that is powered by renewables, provides a priority bay for people with disabilities and pull-through charging for EVs towing boats, trailers or caravans has

An electric vehicle (EV) charging station that is powered by renewables, provides a priority bay for people with disabilities and pull-through charging for EVs towing boats, trailers or caravans has won the best charging award from the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA).

Announced at the group’s annual general meeting held in Hobart over the weekend, the RAA Snowtown EV charging station beat out eight finalists announced earlier in October, which was pared down from over 80 nominations from around the country.

According to the AEVA, the Snowtown EV charging station “offers a very high level of amenity for travellers” including shelter for charging vehicles as well as good lighting, proximity to a roadhouse which provides a shop and toilets, and a priority charging bay for people with disabilities and pull-through parking for towing EVs.

Located at Perry’s Roadhouse on the Augusta Highway, the Snowtown charging station is equipped with three CCS2 200kW and one CHAdeMO 200kW chargers as well as a type 2 7kW as a backup.

The runner up was a pair of Ampol Ampcharge sites at Pheasants Nest, NSW sitting astride the Hume Highway along the Remembrance Driveway.

“AEVA congratulates the RAA and Ampol for demonstrating what’s possible, and what all charge-point operators can strive to offer” said Dr Chris Jones, AEVA national president.

“This award seeks to show the public and industry what EV drivers appreciate in a high quality charging station.”

The winning Perry’s Roadhouse EV charger is part of the RAA Charge statewide EV charging network. Powered by 100 per cent renewable energy (“net”), the network consists of a mix of 7kW, 50kW, 150kW, and 200kW chargers including 530 plugs at 142 sites across the state.

RAA chief executive officer Nick Reade said that the organisation was thrilled to receive an award for its Snowtown charging site.

“Having delivered more than 530 plugs at 142 sites across South Australia, we are incredibly proud of the impact that the RAA Charge network is having in opening our regional roads for EV drivers,” Reade said.

“We’ve taken great care to ensure all our charging sites are not only located strategically along key travel routes and at tourism hot spots, but that they are thoughtfully designed with customers in mind, are close to local amenities, provide adequate safety as well as lighting and security.

“Perry’s Roadhouse is an ideal site host and charging location for travellers going to and from the state’s mid-north, providing excellent amenities.”

Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.

The wind turbines in the background are a nice touch!

Having used the RAA EV charging station at Bordertown I would suggest that it could be a tad closer to the amenities as it is about 0.5km from the edge of town. A bit of shelter over the chargers would also be nice (that last comment applies to almost every charging site!).

Sounds like a very well-designed charging station, congrats RAA and others please take note!