Charging your fleet
When considering fleet conversion a key consideration, and potentially cost, is ensuring you have the right electricity connection and supply arrangements to charge your fleet. Here's our guide to prepare for changes to your electricity infrastructure.
Decide what type of charger you need
You’ll need to consider what type of charger, AC or DC, you require based on how quickly you’ll need your vehicle(s) charged. For example, a level 1 AC 2.3kW wall socket will require 8 hrs or more to charge 100km of range while a DC charger at 350kW will take less than 10 minutes.
Work out how many connections you need and the total amount of kW required
The number of vehicles in your fleet, and how many will need to charge at one time, will determine how many connections you require. The total kW required can be determined based on the size of charger, the total number of chargers and the type of power supply you wish to connect to.
Assess your current set up
Do you have a low voltage connection or access to a high voltage connection point? Where you have a low voltage connection to the grid, you may need to upgrade supply or consider charging at staggered times.
Consult with an expert
An electrical consultant will be able to give you a more detailed assessment of what you require to get your EVs charging on site, and work with us to get you up and running.
Pick your plug: charger types
Electric vehicles need to plug in to charge. But like mobile phones, not every plug is the same. Knowing the basic types of plugs means that when you need to use an EV charging station, you’ll be confident it will have the right type of plug for your electric car.
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Type 1: ‘J1772’ AC charging plug
This type of plug is the standard used in North America and Japan. It is found on many of the EV charging stations in Australia, as many of the EVs sold in Australia before 2018 used this plug type. If an electric car doesn’t have a Type 1 plug built in, many times they can still charge at a Type 1 charging station if using an adaptor. -
Type 2: 'Mennekes' AC charging plug
The Type 2 or ‘Mennekes’ plug is the standard plug type in Australia for electric vehicles from 2018 onwards. Type 2 plugs have 7 pins and are compatible with charging from AC chargers. If an EV has a Type 2 plug but needs to charge using a Type 1 charging station (or vice versa) then a Type 2 to Type 1 adaptor can be used.
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CCS1 Rapid DC charging plug
CCS plugs are also called ‘combo’ plugs – that’s because they have a combination shaped plug – with the top portion of CCS Type 1 plugging into the ‘Type 1’ AC port, and the bottom portion having two additional ‘DC’ connectors. If an electric vehicle was sold in Australia before 2018, it may have a CCS Type 1 plug for rapid charging.
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CCS2 Rapid DC charging Plug
This is a newer type ‘combo’ plug. Similar to its CCS Type 1 cousin, the CCS Type 2 has a top portion of the plug that fits into the ‘Type 2’ AC port, with an additional two connectors on the bottom portion that enable the DC charging.
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Chademo Rapid DC charging plug
This plug standard is also common across Australian fast chargers – with many electric car owners having a CHAdeMO to CCS Type 1/Type 2 adaptor to allow them to charge at rapid chargers using this standard.This plug type is the standard used by many Japanese vehicle brands.
The abbreviation is actually short for ‘ChArge de Move’.
Costs to consider when planning to install charging infrastructure
Costs for components and installation naturally vary based on demand and the requirements of a job. However, when planning there are a few key areas that West Australian businesses need to consider.*
| Item | Component |
| Electric vehicle supply equipment |
|
| Electrical |
|
| Civil |
|
| Site works |
|
| Connectivity |
|
*A guide to electric vehicles - Government of Western Australia
Charging on the go?
Explore Australia's longest EV highway
When complete, EV drivers will have access to 98 EV chargers spread across 49 locations along major transport routes.
Get from A to B with PlugShare
The good news is that there are already hundreds of places to charge your EV across regional WA, and that number is only going up. Explore our guide to the types of chargers and where you can plug them in, with help from PlugShare.
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