Ampol Ampchage sites will be capable of recharging speeds up to 150kw with the first of 120 fast-chargers launched, ahead of a national roll out by the end of 2023

Ampol has officially turned on their AmpCharge electric vehicle charging station at their Ampol Woolworths MetroGo location in Alexandria, New South Wales. Ampol is making a big push to establish charging infrastructure at their service stations.

Charging at Ampol has been considered strange, since part of the EV movement is about separating from the big fossil fuel corporations. However, these are energy providers, and one by one they see their future business as charging sites rather than refueling sites.

At least two vehicles can be charged at a time on each site, which can recharge up to 150kw. Unless you happen to pull up next to a Nissan leaf, you may be in for a long wait, because there are two different connectors:

• CCS2 plug
• CHADeMO plug.

The flagship Alexandria site also features solar panels and battery storage

Ampol CEO Matthew Halliday says that the Alexandria, Sydney, site is just the beginning of a network of 120 charging stations by the end of 2023, as well as the one in Carseldine, Brisbane. According to Halliday, the company will be a major electric vehicle charging network by 2030.

The network will strive for “good coverage,” including sites in regional areas, says Halliday

Because of the need for more infrastructure, thousands more electric cars will be on Australian roads by the end of 2022, and public charging spots are already overwhelmed.

There are many EV group on Facebook, and people are joining quickly, a Tesla Model 3&Y Facebook group has 17,000 members. This is a clear indication of how quickly interest and adoption are growing.

Ampol executive general manager Brent Merrick says we have an important role to play in supporting the electrification and electric vehicle trend over the coming years in reducing emissions across Australia’s transportation sector.

“Ampol’s EV charging ecosystem will establish a leading EV charging network in partnership with other businesses.”

Ampol’s EV charger rollout is one of the results of a collaboration with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) that was announced last July.

ARENA contributed $7.05 million through the federal Future Fuels Fund—$26.81 million in total—as part of the agreement last year. Evie Networks, Engie, Chargefox, and Electric Highways Tasmania were among the five grant recipients from the first round of funding for EV chargers.

The government committed $178 million to the fund in the 2020-21 federal budget and pledged to double this investment to $500 million to establish a new Driving the Nation fund, in part because the government would co-fund a national charger network with charging stations at “an average interval of 150 km on major roads”.

Ampol isn’t the only fuel company that plans to build an EV charger network, BP signed an agreement with Australian DC charger company Tritium earlier this year to establish a charging network of its own.

The petroleum company has not yet released a full network map.