FAQs

You don’t need 3-phase power to charge an EV. In fact, you can purchase charging cables that plug into a standard domestic socket. The most common way to charge an EV is via a "type 2" charger, and many EV drivers will opt to have a charging point installed in their home. A 3-phase connection will charge your car more quickly. A single phase type 2 connection will be slower than 3-phase but faster than your standard household sockets. Your local solar installer or electrician can assist with questions specific to your case. The cost of the charge will depend on the general cost of electricity, the capacity of the vehicle’s batteries, and whether you’re incorporating solar power. A fuel cost savings calculator can be found on myelectriccar.com.au, with plentiful similar resources available elsewhere online.

There are enough chargers along the highway to comfortably travel the length of Australia. There are a surprising number of charging points all over Australia, including in some incredibly remote locations, such as Kiwirrkurra, which is one of the most remote settlements on the planet! It is easy to view the full range of charging points on the app PlugShare.

Knowledge sharing is a key focus for (funding agency) ARENA, and the Future Grid project has a prominent knowledge sharing plan, delivery of which is led by CSIRO. Reports generated through the project are hosted on the ARENA Project Page for Future Grid. It is recognised that lessons learnt in Alice Springs can be scaled-up and applied to other grids, such as the Darwin-Katherine Interconnected System (DKIS) and the National Electricity Market on Australia’s East Coast. The project’s main target audience is industry and government, so it is expected these entities will be the primary conduit through which lessons learnt in Alice Springs are applied elsewhere.

The Future Grid project (and the Roadmap to 2030) has significant value nationally because some of the research and findings demonstrated in the Roadmap, set out ways different parts of the power system will need to work together in the future. A key characteristic of Alice Springs is that it is small enough that the opportunity exists to test and validate interventions, but big enough that the results have direct applicability across a range of different systems and grids in Australia. To this end, Alice Springs is sometimes said to be “small enough to manage but big enough to matter”.

The Future Grid car was an electric vehicle (a Nissan Leaf) and there were individuals in the team and community who were highly enthused about this technology. However, operating within a constrained budget and timeline, electric vehicles or related trials were not considered as part of the project. The team designed a series of interdependent activities that served to consider immediate issues in the system and support further renewable energy penetration into the Alice Springs grid in a cost-effective and realistic way. These interventions made use of and optimise existing grid infrastructure, which is a valuable public asset. The Future Grid team always welcomed any future or parallel projects that supported the increased use of electric vehicles in Alice Springs or focused on the integration of this technology as another means of supporting the grid.