With the rapid growth in sales of electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles there
has been a parallel expansion in the installation of fast-speed charging facilities both in
commercial and residential locations.
After all, with EV prices averaging above $60,000, spending an extra $2,000 or so for the
extra speed and convenience of a domestic wall charger is a bit of a no-brainer.
Until now the EV charging process at Marque’s NSW home/office involved ascending a
step-ladder to plug the charging lead into the standard power point next to the carport roll-
a-door and then, when a full charge is needed, waiting for up to 33 hours.
Through JET Charge we’ve now invested in a Wallbox Pulsar Plus 7.4 kW / 32 A charger
which caters for either Type 1 (with an adaptor) or Type 2 connectors and can charge at
up to three-times the speed of the portable charging cables which come with EVs.
We have single-phase power but where three-phase is available the system can be
upgraded to 11 kW and 22 kW for even faster charging speeds.
JET Charge has been the Australian market leader since it was established in 2013
installing EV chargers for Tesla owners in Victoria. Since then, it has grown, employing
nearly 100 people, and is the recommended installer for most EV brands including Audi,
BMW, Hyundai, IONIQ, MG, Jaguar, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Peugeot, Porsche,
and Volvo.
Our Wallbox Pulsar Plus is a neat and compact unit which is useful given that it’s the first
thing that visitors will see when they come through our front gate – and invariably, to begin
with, will become a conversation piece at the same time. The maximum distance out from
the wall of any of the three components is just 12 centimetres.
The system has Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity to allow the Wallbox to communicate with
the MyWallbox App to provide real-time data exchange. This includes the ability to vary the
level of power being used and the time at which it is turned on and off thereby using it
during off-peak hours.
The MyWallbox dashboard maintains a history of usage including the amount of energy
supplied, charging time, CO2 and fuel savings, there’s even the option of charging other
EV users.
Our first use of the Wallbox was on the Volvo XC40 Recharge and it all worked perfectly.
We’ll follow up our experience when we review that vehicle shortly.
For more information check out the Jet Charge (www.jetcharge.com.au) and Wallbox
(www.wallbox.com/en_au) websites.
