We spotted this image of peak and off-peak rates in the LinkedIn feed of Cathi Buttfield, Project Manager, Electric Vehicle Integration at the Department of Energy and Mining in SA, and thought, what a fantastic, yet simple, idea!
As consumers we’ve been educated about the differences peak and off-peak electricity to power our homes for years. With the help of smart meters, electricity retailers charge depending on the time of day and EV owners are encouraged to charge at home with solar during daylight hours.
The anti-ev crowd use the argument that coal is being used to recharge batteries, but in South Australia they are promoting renewable energy and using price to encourage electric vehicle owners (including fleets and employees with novated leases) to take advantage of the cheaper source of power during the day.
Over the next few years there will be an explosion of charging stations thanks to the millions being invested by state and federal governments to support the decarbonisation of transport.
The increased supply will create competition which will also see more innovative ways to price electricity. And with households playing a role in the market via home charging, hopefully operators won’t fall into the same pricing rhythm as petrol retailers.
