EV owner blasts ‘stupid’ charging bay move as surprising sign suddenly appears
Australian electric vehicle owners have for long been calling for more charger bays to be urgently installed around the country, to cater to the soaring demand for EVs.
Road authorities have been urged to broaden the charging network, with queues frequently seen forming among motorists desperately waiting for a spot. Aussies have also been snapped up in a whole range of sticky situations trying to get their cars to charge, including parking over public pathways and even sharing bays with other drivers.
With demand showing no signs of slowing down, one Queensland-based EV owner found it unfathomable to see a set of charging stations in inner-city Brisbane had been decommissioned — and due to be replaced by a children’s theme park.
Decision to replace EV chargers with new theme park ‘stupid’, man says
According to the developers, Northshore Brisbane, the temporary Queensland Electric Super Highway charging site at 281 MacArthur Avenue was decommissioned on May 25 to “facilitate the new Bluey’s World attraction and development”.
Bluey’s World, a theme park dedicated to the enormously popular children’s cartoon, is due to open its doors in August. Branding the move “so stupid”, the EV owner said he believed the situation reflected the fact that people in charge “have no idea what they’re doing” and “are just throwing money around at this charging issue.”
“Can anyone imagine a government department getting something so wrong in such a short time?” he wrote online. “These superchargers were installed two years ago. One can only imagine at what cost, and always used by locals.”
His views were shared by some who responded to his post. “In many cases the locations of chargers are based on what was available at the time. You’ll probably find that the development application for the site was well underway when the charger was installed,” one person wrote.
Have your say
“Real estate is a ruthless market, and for EV chargers this is compounded by the availability of electrical infrastructure. It shows the amount of or lack of diligence done in the first place. In identifying the best product. The best location,” another said.
Others pointed to the fact the site was not built with the view it would be there long-term. “The sign says that this was a temporary site, I don’t see the issue,” a man wrote.
Replacement charging site currently unknown
According to Northshore Brisbane: “The Queensland Government is supporting Yurika [a division of Energy Queensland, the largest, wholly government-owned electricity company in the country] in locating and maintaining a new charging site within the precinct”.
Yahoo News Australia has contacted Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads for an update on the relocation of the charger bays. A spokesperson demonstrated a willingness to look into the matter.
Meanwhile, the latest data from the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) released earlier this year busted the “myth” that EVs are only popular among wealthy inner-city residents, with the research revealing the biggest increase in orders for electric vehicles last year in Australia actually came from outer-suburban areas.
Elon Musk’s Tesla and Chinese-owned Build Your Dream (BYD) account for three-quarters of all EV sales in the country, with the latter even overtaking Tesla in January as the nation’s best-selling electric vehicle for that month.
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