EV driver reveals one thing that made her ‘scared’ during solo trip

An electric vehicle driver claimed it was ‘scary’ travelling solo across the country as a woman due to a lack of proper infrastructure. 

Mere Jans said she felt like a ‘second-class citizen’ when she drove almost 800km from her home in Ipswich, Queensland, to visit family in Toronto, NSW. 

She said she often felt stranded at remote charging stations, which were sometimes dark and lacked basic amenities like toilets and mobile coverage. 

Ms Jans recalled trying to charge her car in the dark without working internet, meaning she couldn’t connect to a charger through an app.

‘This was annoying… it added an hour to my trip as I could not get it to work,’ she told Yahoo. 

Ms Jans ordered an Evie Pass RFID card so she’d be able to connect to chargers without using her phone, but it hadn’t arrived before she left. 

Without an Evie card, drivers need to download an app to use each charging station. 

Fortunately, her MG EV ZS had sufficient power to reach the next charging station which was in ‘the middle of nowhere’ on the mid-north coast of NSW. 

Ms Jans said it was ‘a bit scary’ being a woman on her own, especially because all the nearby shops were closed at the time.

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She said the chargers were mostly at the back of service stations near truck stops with no amenities nearby, which she found ‘frustrating’ given it takes around half-an-hour to charge an EV.  

After she shared her experience on Facebook, many others agreed there is still insufficient infrastructure for EV owners.

‘Many need lighting, shelter, rubbish bins, squeegees… All of the things you take for granted at a petrol servo,’ one said.

‘Plugshare helps with stations that are out of order and trip planning,’ another added.

‘A lot of regional chargers are tucked out of the way and can be a bit creepy. I plan my trips so I only recharge during the day.’

Ms Jans is urging other women to be prepared and plan ahead so they don’t find themselves trying to charge their car late at night.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for EV drivers because she said there are are some huge benefits to driving the vehicle. 

Ms Jans said charging costs varied from 25 to 60 cents per kilowatt and her return trip only cost $150, which is only a fraction of the price a driver would pay for petrol.

She also said drivers ‘check in’ to the charging stations so other drivers can see if they’re all being used before they arrive. 

She added the EV community all try to help each other.   

Ross De Rango, head of energy and infrastructure at the Electric Vehicle Council, said grants for public charging sites often included additional funding for amenities and lighting.

He said the government and electric vehicle industry needed to work together to ensure charging stations were built in a timely manner near amenities because that’s what drivers expected. 

An NRMA spokesman also said driver safety is their top priority.

He said some chargers have to be built in more remote locations, but the company aims to build its EV chargers close to public amenities and local businesses.

It is understood that NRMA have added extra lighting and surveillance cameras to make its regional charging sites safer.