Hundreds of electric vehicle charging stations to roll out as jockeying for new energy battleground begins
The future of mobility is, eventually, electric. Ampol has staked its claim, winning federal funding for its first major foray into charging.
Ampol has won a major share of federal funding for the nation’s electric vehicle fast charging station roll out, as it positions to “expand our role in electricity” ahead of a looming battle over who will supply the energy needs of future drivers.
The fuel retailer, Trevor St Baker’s Evie Networks and French energy company Engie won the lion’s share of funding announced by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on Friday to roll out 403 fast-charging stations, each able to charge two vehicles, across the nation.
Ampol will deliver 121 stations, Evie 158, and Engie 103. Chargefox will build 16 and Electric Highways Tasmania another five.
Ampol received $7.05m in ARENA funding, Evie $8.85m and Engie $6.85m.
The foray into fast charging stations by Ampol, and Evie’s strategy stated on Friday to take on the fuel retailers head on when it comes to vehicle charging, is a forerunner of what appears to be a looming seismic shift in Australia’s fuel sector.
Ampol, which currently has just five pilot charging sites, told the ASX on Friday that its ambition was to expand its energy delivery reach beyond the traditional service station forecourt.
“E-mobility infrastructure is a central pillar to capturing our existing customer base through the energy transition, as we look to expand our role in electricity to make the ease of the current liquid fuels era translate into the future battery electric vehicle environment,’’ managing director Matt Halliday said.
“This includes exploring ‘at-forecourt’, ‘at-home’ and ‘at-destination’ solutions.”
Ampol said that it “expects that electric vehicles … will play a key role in decarbonising the transport sector and gradually displace internal combustion engines, particularly in the light passenger fleet, accelerating rapidly after 2030 to become the primary mobility energy source by 2050.’’
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But the vertically-integrated Evie is not about to stand by and let the traditional fuel retailers stake their claim on the emerging sector.
Evie chief executive Chris Mills said the company would build a $30m EV fast charging network over the next three years, and would use data harvested from a fleet of EVs that it leased out to Uber drivers to identify the best sites to locate charging stations.
“We will be taking on traditional fuel retailers head-on when it comes to convenience,” said Mr Mills said.
“By locating chargers at these points, drivers can top up their EVs while buying groceries, collecting the dry cleaning or enjoying a meal or coffee with family and friends.”
Mr Mill said it was expected that EV drivers would do most of their recharging at home, with the fast-chargers primarily used for top-ups.
“The sites we are looking for have to be safe and convenient, allowing people to do something else while they top up. Using an app, drivers will be able to see when their vehicle is sufficiently charged.”
Mr St Baker through his St Baker Energy Innovation Fund is investing heavily in the EV sector not only through Evie but electric charging station manufacturer Tritium.
Mr St Baker in June sealed a $2.2bn deal to launch Tritium on the Nasdaq amid surging global demand for electric vehicles. He also will partner with Warren Buffet-backed BYD to import EVs into Australia amid fears the country is slipping behind other nations in EV adoption.
For its part, Ampol has committed to spending more than $100m on “future energy projects” through to 2025 and Mr Halliday said the capital cost of the current rollout was just under $20m with ARENA contributing $7m.
“Ultimately we play an important role in ensuring the enabling infrastructure’s there to alleviate range anxiety and make our customers feel more comfortable with electric vehicles,’’ he said.
Mr Halliday said the company was leveraging off the strength of its forecourt network at the moment and there would clearly be a demand for forecourt charging services going forward, but the ambition was wider than that.
“There will equally be significant demand for at-home charging and other destination charging and we see the offer for our customer moving from the forecourt, then to destination and home, so there’s a broader charging offer and I think charging will be offered across those different areas of the market.
“Ultimately the use of our forecourts will evolve over time though as the need for fuels distribution declines over time and that will open up more real estate to deploy to convenience retail or energy distribution needs depending on the nature of the site.’’
Ampol said it would start works on its charger network before the end of the calendar year.
The federal government contributed $24.55m through the ARENA Future Fuels Fund’s first round, which it says will unlock a total investment of $79.9m and lead to a seven-fold increase in the number of fast charging stations across our most-populated cities and regions.
FAST CHARGING STATIONS BY STATE
NSW: Sydney, Wollongong, Central Coast, Newcastle – 127 fast charging stations
VIC: Melbourne and Geelong – 106 fast charging stations
QLD: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Central Coast – 86 fast charging stations
WA: Perth – 33 fast charging stations
SA: Adelaide – 29 fast charging stations
ACT: Canberra – 9 fast charging stations
TAS: Hobart – 10 fast charging stations
NT: Darwin – 3 fast charging station