Electric Vehicle Charger Installation for Mornington Peninsula Shire (Victoria)

Queensland-based battery distributor Sealed Performance Batteries (SPB) is playing a pivotal role in a Victorian council program that sits at both the cutting edge of environmental sustainability and the future of private transportation.

Sealed Performance Batteries, Australia’s premier battery distributor, have supplied a vehicle charging station for a new electric vehicle charger installation for the Mornington Peninsula Shire in Victoria where electric vehicles can be connected and re-charged.

The installation has been carried out under the Council’s program to support electric vehicle infrastructure, which works with local businesses and employers to introduce solar powered electric recharging stations at key locations in the area.

Ryan Hammond from Sealed Performance Batteries said this new charge point was installed so two cars could be plugged in for either a top-up or a full charge.

“Working with a Peninsula-based partner, the Nicholson Group, who liaise closely with the Mornington Peninsula Shire council and handled the installation of the unit, we provided the unit to replace the council’s existing charging station,” Mr Hammond said.

Mr Hammond said the unit provided was a Semi-Fast Public AC Charging Post from Swedish-based electrical manufacturing expert Garo.

Founded in 1939, Garo has extensive experience in the manufacturing and installation of EV Charging stations and currently have a large market share throughout the Nordic countries along with the rest of Europe.

“The ease of installation of this unit and wide options for kW output make them perfect for public areas such as restaurants, shops, councils and workplaces,” Mr Hammond said.

Mark Nicholson of Nicholson Group, after consulting with Mornington Peninsula Shire, installed a Garo LS3 16A Charger with two Type 2 sockets.

“There are three different plug configurations currently available. The Type 1 (up to 7 kW), which is used primarily by US and Japanese electric vehicles, the Type 2 (up to 21 kW), which is becoming the EU standard and the Tesla which is used for Tesla electric vehicles,” Mr Nicholson said.

EV chargers to date have been provided with leads which make the charger only applicable to one type of vehicle.

“I believe the Type 2 socket is more versatile and is the way of the future for public charge posts as when the EV driver provides their own adapting lead all types of vehicle have the opportunity to charge up.

“It can also offer up to three times the power (when 3 phase is available) of the Type 1 which ultimately means faster charge times.”

Mr Nicholson said the council was also provided with leads to enable drivers with any make of EV to use the charging post.

“I don’t know of any other public charging post that offers the use of leads to EV owners,” he said.

“It puts the council ahead of the pack and will ultimately encourage more people to use an EV.”

The opportunity to work with Victorian partners is well timed for Sealed Performance Batteries, who have a sales office in Melbourne’s south-east.

“Our Melbourne office acts as a centre of excellence for our developing Electric Vehicle Chargers. We’re excited about servicing our large corporate customers from this central location, with plans for a further Sydney-based hub in the future,” Sealed Performance Batteries CEO Greg Roberts said.

Mornington Peninsula council has a proud history of supporting such programs. In 2014, they were one of four councils (along with the Frankston City Council, City of Kingston and City of Casey) to participate in the State Department of Transport’s Electric Vehicle Trial.

During this trial, conducted under the auspices of the South East Councils Climate Change Alliance, data is being collected about the vehicles’ performance and their capacity to allow council staff to go about their daily business.

Recently departed South East Council Climate Change Alliance executive officer Greg Hunt said councils typically have fuel bills each year close to $600,000.

“If a conservative 5-10 per cent reduction was achieved across these fleets, councils could potentially capture $30,000-$60,000 in annual fuel savings (additional to savings on vehicle wear and tear). This represents a 150-300-tonne reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per year,” Mr Hunt said.

Whatever the size or complexity of your project, Sealed Performance Batteries have the right battery product or energy storage solution for you. Contact us for your energy storage requirements.