JOLT, who are building a large-scale network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations have announced a partnership with Endeavour Energy, the electricity services business. The collaboration will build a network of free and fast electric vehicle charging stations across Western Sydney.
The partnership will see more than 230 EV charging stations being installed on existing Endeavour Energy streetside substations by 2025. This number is set to expand to more than 1000 chargers over the next decade throughout the partnership. The first charging stations are expected to be operating by the end of this year.
Leanne Pickering, Endeavour Energy’s chief customer and strategy officer, said: “In a world where we are ‘electrifying everything’, our customers are depending on us to support their daily life – for commuting, working remotely, for education and entertainment.
“The partnership with JOLT harnesses the exciting momentum around EVs as people see the benefits of contribution to the environment through reducing carbon emissions and cleaner air.”
Endeavour Energy, which offers safe, affordable and reliable power to 2.6 million people and businesses throughout New South Wales (NSW), forecasts that one in four of its customers will be driving an electric vehicle within the next 10 years.
By 2040 it’s predicted there will be around 1.3 million electric cars in the Endeavour Energy network. This covers Sydney’s Greater West, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, the Illawarra, and NSW South Coast.
Providing free charging in more urban locations will allow more people to transition into the electric vehicle market, especially those who don’t have off-street charging. It’s also a good way of helping those who drive in urban areas, like Sydney, that will also have to meet stricter emissions zones as they are employed in the future.
This is a great model for other urban locations around the globe to learn from and it would be good to see such collaborations between charging and energy companies to encourage the use of electric vehicles.
Doug McNamee, JOLT CEO, said: ”We’re thrilled to be expanding our footprint to the wider Sydney area and provide free, fast charging to more EV drivers through our partnership with Endeavour Energy. The JOLT network has already given out over 162,000 free kilometres to EV drivers, that’s 4 trips around the surface of the earth.”
“Our communities want greater accessibility and more EV chargers to be able to charge on the go. We’re delighted to begin stage one of our plans with Endeavour Energy to help electrify the future of transportation.”
Pickering added: “We are building a modern grid that can support the sustainability aspirations of every customer on our network – from large scale commercial solar farms to resident battery storage and an EV charging network.”
Across the JOLT EV charging network, all electric vehicle drivers will have access to 7kWh of free charging per day. This will provide around 25-30 miles of range (40-50km) of range and a 15-minute charging time, depending on the type of vehicle. Another bonus of JOLT’s chargers are they are powered by 100 percent GreenPower.
