Australia’s largest electric vehicle (EV) public charging network, Chargefoxhas increased the price of certain 50kW fast charging DC stations by over 12 percent.
This latest development follows the company raising the price of its fastest 350kW DC charging station by 50 percent in May last year.
From March 15, the price for Chargefox’s 20 DC 50kW charging stations in Victoria and New South Wales has increased from $0.40 per kWh to $0.45 per kWh.
Affected locations in Victoria include Euroa, Barnawartha, Airport West, Torquay, Moe, Horsham and Ballarat. Affected locations in New South Wales instead include Ballina, Karuah, Gundagai, Goulburn, Cooma, Zetland and Sydney.
Based on the updated pricing, the cost of charging a Tesla Model S with a 95kWh lithium-ion battery pack (consumable) from 0 to 100 percent using one of the affected Chargefox 50kW stations has increased from $38 to $42.75. This equates to a 12.5 percent increase.
This price increase sees the Chargefox 50kW DC charger match certain Evie chargers in urban areas, with the rival network also charging $0.45 per kWh for 50kW charging.
It should be noted that despite the price increase, some of the affected chargers were unusable at the time of publication because they were either broken or waiting for parts to be repaired.
One of the 50kW DC fast chargers in Euroa, Victoria in particular has had parts for repairs ordered and is estimated to be fixed by February 22nd. It is now over three weeks past the estimated last repair date.
“Over the past few months, the cost of electricity has increased and as a result we have had to raise prices at the 50kWh fast charging stations owned and operated by Chargefox,” the company said in an email to customers.
Prices for all 350kW ultra-fast charging stations remain unchanged at $0.60 per kWh for now, and Australian motoring club members (all of whom now fully own Chargefox) still receive discounts starting at 20 percent.
Buyers of some new electric cars are offered free charging as part of the manufacturer’s deal; the offer remains in place even if the price increases.
Chargefox has announced it will add 4000 more plugs to its network by the end of 2025, of which 2000 will offer ultra-fast charging speeds of 50kW or 350kW. This is in addition to the 3200 public and private plugs it has.
The competition is heating up even though Tesla Australia recently opened five Supercharger locations in New South Wales to all EV owners.
According to a picture of the Tesla app posted on Twitter by Ridiculous feedit will cost non-Tesla owners $0.79 per kWh to charge using a Supercharger – or $0.66 per kWh if you pay $9.99 per month for a network ‘membership’.
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