RAA’s South Australian EV Charging Network Completed

Our BYD Atto 3 topping up at an RAA charging station in Normanville, SA.

The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA) has celebrated completion of the state’s first border-to-border public EV charging network.

144 RAA stations with a collective 550+ plugs have been installed from Yalata in the far west of SA to Mount Gambier in the south-eastern corner of the state. More than three-quarters of the stations are located in regional areas and 98% of sites are situated less than 200 kilometres apart says the organisation.

Construction of the network started in the latter part of 2022. The South Australian Government provided a grant of  $12.35 million to the RAA to build and operate the network, which has so far powered more than 100,000 charging sessions; involving the use of over 2,801 megawatt-hours (net) renewable energy.

“With transportation being a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, the RAA Charge network is helping South Aussies play a role in decarbonising personal transport,” said RAA CEO Nick Reade.

One of the sites — at Snowtown — has already won accolades; late last year scoring the Australian Electric Vehicle Association’s (AEVA’s) inaugural award for the best EV charging station in Australia.

Among the key features of the RAA sites are a larger bay for wheelchair access and the consideration of potential obstructions such wheel stops and bollards. While designing the network, RAA partnered with disability consultants and consulted EV users to better understand the needs of all drivers.

Some sites (such as Snowtown) offer shaded parking bays and pull-through parking for EVs that are towing. Another great feature at Snowtown is the station is adjacent to a roadhouse with a shop and toilets.

The 150kW charger we used in Normanville on the Fleurieu Peninsula is located pretty much in the centre of town, so we made a beeline for the bakery nearby. It was one of the few times we’ve used a rapid charger and we barely had time to scarf down a pie before it was done.

RAA has focused on installing the stations at supermarkets, carparks, town centres, council owned sites, hotels and motels throughout the state.

RAA Charge Network Pricing

So, what’s it cost to use these stations? As at the time of publishing:

Destination (7kW and 22kW) sites

• Evening peak (5pm-10pm): 37c/kWh
• Standard (all other times) 30c/kWh

The Destination charging sites have Type 2 plugs and you’ll need to BYO your own cable.

Rapid (150kW) and Ultra-rapid (200kW) sites

• Evening peak (5pm-10pm): 73c/kWh
• Standard (all other times): 64c/kWh

Rapid and Ultra-rapid charging sites have CCS2 plugs or a combination of CCS2 and CHAdeMO plugs; with cables supplied of course.

Note that idle fees may be charged at some rapid and ultra-rapid sites to discourage owners from taking up a bay after charging has completed. After a 10-minute grace period, idle fees are charged at $1 per each additional minute the vehicle remains in the spot.

According to Mr. Reade, RAA is the only network operator in South Australia to have cheaper prices during the day — when the state’s renewable energy generation is generally at its highest.

Charging sessions and payments are controlled via the Chargefox app, which also shows where the stations are located (as well as an RAA map here).

Finding Public Chargers In Australia

The number of public EV charger locations across Australia has been growing very rapidly over the last few years. You can easily find stations throughout the nation using this public EV charger map, powered by Plugshare (which is also available as a phone app).

Public stations can be very convenient, but even more so is using a hard-wired home EV charger — which can also save you bundles on charging costs, particularly if you have solar panels on your home.  Learn everything you need to know about topping up at home or while out on the road in our EV Charging 101 guide.