Australian startup Jolt will offer up to 7kWh of free fast charging per session to EV owners in Knox, thanks to a new council partnership.
The partnership will see the installation of seven public 25kW DC chargers in the Knox local council area in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
Charging stations will be located in “local shopping malls and help people transition to electric cars,” said Knox Mayor and councilor Marcia Timmers-Leitch.
No firm date has been provided on when the charger will be made available to the public beyond the promise of “early 2023”. The first charger has been confirmed for Station Street in Ferntree Gully.
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Location of the Ferntree Gully . charger
The chargers will be provided free of charge to the council and represent Jolt’s first step into the Victorian market.
Customers can use the DC Jolt 25kW fast charger in Knox council for free for the first 7kWh of energy, which is suitable for a range of up to 50km (depending on your car) and takes about 15 minutes.
Jolt is different from other charging providers because their chargers have digital screens to display programmatic advertisements. The ads are designed to open up a new revenue stream for the company and allow the company to offer free charge for a limited time.
Drivers who need the charger longer will pay 46 cents per kWh.
The charging locations will be divided into Ferntree Gully, Wantirna, Wantirna South, Scoresby and Bayswater. For a full list of locations, visit Electric shock locator.
Jolt cites research arguing that customers prefer to charge their cars at shopping malls and will go to the mall purely due to the presence of EV chargers.
“Electric vehicle chargers attract new, frequent visitors to the area, which is great for local businesses,” explains Steve McLennan, director of commercial partnerships at Jolt.
He said: “We see this as a great initiative that the council is leading and it will really set the standard for other councils in Melbourne.
In a council effort to help reduce emissions, Ms. Timmers-Leitch said “more charging stations will support and encourage people to choose zero-emission transport and help our communities achieve net zero emissions by 2040 as set out in Climate response plan“.
Once rolled out in Victoria, there will be 50 Jolt charging stations in operation across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. The last company is Target more than 5000 chargers nationwide.
Electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales continue to grow in Australia, accounting for 12% car sales in January 2023.
The Tesla Model 3 led the electric vehicle sales chart in January with 2927 deliveries and ranked third in car sales in general.
Second in line is Tesla Model Y with sales of 386, and the third place belongs to BYD Atto 3 with 267.
