Forget ramping, you can now charge your EV at the ED

As SA Health wrestles with record ramping, the RAH’s management has installed six EV charging stations adjacent the ED so people can charge their cars while they wait.

Ramping may be at record levels and patients may face long waits to be seen — but at least at the Royal Adelaide Hospital they now can charge their electric vehicles while they wait.

The RAH has become the state’s first public hospital to offer EV charging bays with the opening of six units available to patients, visitors and staff - at a cost of $0.45 per kW/h.

The bays are adjacent the Emergency Department entrance and one unit is in an accessible parking bay.

Private consortium Celsus which manages and maintains the day-to-day running of the RAH under a 30-year, $1m a day deal with SA Health, partnered with global renewable energy company ENGIE to install the facilities.

Celsus chief executive Di Mantell said the EV charging bays bolstered the RAH’s green credentials.

CEO Di Mantell and ENGIE ANZ Director of Green Mobility Greg Schumann with one of the new EV chargers. Photo credit: Russell Millard

“Anyone travelling to the RAH will be able to charge their EVs while visiting patients or accessing the emergency department facilities,” she said. “We also anticipate hospital staff will make use of the new facilities.”

The charging bays are in the hospital’s Park & Pay public parking area so EV drivers will have to pay to park as normal.

The parking areas has a two hour limit and the rapid charging units can fully recharge an average EV in 30 to 60 minutes, allowing ample time to park, charge and leave.

At 2pm on Monday the average wait to be seen in the RAH ED was 84 minutes. There were 81 patients being treated in its 69-capacity ED with 26 waiting or arriving, and 44 stuck in the ED who had been treated but waiting for suitable beds including seven waiting more than 24 hours.

The RAH was the first large-scale hospital in Australia to achieve a 4 Star Green Star – Healthcare As Built rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, and in 2021 secured the world’s largest Green and Social Loan globally in the healthcare sector following the completion of a major refinancing deal with financiers.

Central Adelaide Local Health Network chief executive Dr Emma McCahon said the EV charging stations sets a new standard for healthcare facilities.

Chief executive of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) Dr Emma McCahon.

“These new charging stations provide patients, visitors and staff with convenient, dependable and efficient charging solutions, encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles and supporting our ongoing commitment to reduce our environmental impact,” she said.

ENGIE ANZ Director of Green Mobility, Greg Schumann, said the company had installed around 200 EV charge points across Australia, both fleet and public, since the start of 2023, and was pleased to work with Celsus and the RAH to support their sustainability initiatives.

“It’s important to place EV charging infrastructure in convenient locations where people will be parked for up to two hours and we’re pleased to be able to help take some of the stress out of a hospital visit by allowing EV drivers to charge cars while receiving treatment or visiting loved ones,” Mr Schumann said.

Celsus is the consortium that financed, designed, constructed, manages and maintains the $2.7bn RAH under a 30-year Public Private Partnership contract at a cost of around $1m per day.