NRMA is to equip two of its patrol cars with 4.8kWh battery packs to help out electric driving members who have run out of charge in their EVs.
The motoring and roadside assistance company says the 4.8kWh lithium-ion battery packs will be able to provide 1km of charge every two minutes. After as little as 10 minutes of charging, a vehicle will have 5km of range to get to the nearest charging station.
The two NRMA patrol vans with the battery packs will be located in Sydney and Canberra.
We are seeing more and more EV drivers call us for assistance so it’s clear the need for this kind of support is increasing,” Tim Bryant, a roadside assistant driver, was quoted as saying in there NRMA statement.
“We want to provide outstanding service to our Members no matter what car they drive. We know one of the biggest deterrents for those looking to purchase an electric vehicle is range anxiety – will they run out of charge far from charging facilities.”
Although “range anxiety” often subsides once EV owners realize how easy it is to charge their vehicles at home and discover that you can now get to most places using fast chargers, NRMA’s new mobile charging units provide EV owners with additional peace-of-mind . The RACQ in Queensland has similar mobile charging assets.
Before the introduction of the mobile charging units, NRMA had to tow EV owners who’d run out of charge to the closest charging station.
Demand for this mobile emergency charging service will no doubt continue to grow with EV sales in Australia up 65% in 2022 over 2021.
NRMA charging network continues to grow
The NRMA has also been rolling out and managing a network of fast-charging stations nationwide, and is now expanding this network with the help of the federal and state governments.
NRMA’s network currently includes 50 locations across NSW including the Hume, Newell, Sturt, Oxley, Great Barrier highways as well as the Mitchell, Pacific, Olympic and Great Western Highways.
NRMA says it has seen an increase of over 500% year-on-year in the usage of their 13 charging stations in Northern NSW (North of Sydney).
NRMA says it will be holding a series of EV Drive Days, giving the community the opportunity to test drive a range of EVs and talk to industry experts about buying and running an EV.
With many recent reports of a large number of public fast charging stations being out-of-order, it’s likely that the new service will be welcomed by Australian EV owners who are worried about the current reliability of the public charging network.
Daniel Bleakley is a clean technology researcher and advocate with a background in engineering and business. He has a strong interest in electric vehicles, renewable energy, manufacturing and public policy.