An unusual charger layout at Miami Aquatic Centre

21 Jan 2023 Miami Aquatic Centre post 1312

NSW → QLD Road Trip 2022–23

We charged up at Miami Aquatic Centre. The charger is between the parking spots, in a layout I haven’t seen before. I guess it’s more flexible to plug into front or rear car chargers without turning the car around.

The display seemed to indicate 75kW, but I only got 37kW out of it, even though I was the only one connected.

I checked in on PlugShare, so I could be alerted if anyone was waiting, while I charged up to 100%. If anyone else was waiting, I would disconnect after 95%, when the charge rate slows.

However, there was a guy waiting in an MG. He hadn’t checked in using PlugShare and the Chargefox app doesn’t facilitate waiting, so I didn’t know he was waiting. I happened to look sideways at one point to see him parked in the other EV bay, which he’s not supposed to do, since it blocks others who might want to use the Chademo connector. But if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have noticed.

He is an Uber driver and this was his second time charging that day. He said he is waiting on a wall charger or cable for home, since MG is currently out of stock in Australia. He’s annoyed that all of the solar power from his roof can’t currently be used in his car.

I unplugged and moved, so he could connect to CCS2. At the same time, another EV arrived to connect to the Chademo plug. They were debating whether the charging rate would be shared between them, but I didn’t stay long enough to find out . It seems I got there at just the right time.

My conclusion in all of this is that we need a better queuing mechanism.

We spent thirty minutes charging, using the time in the car to catch up on emails, blog etc. But we would have preferred to charge when we were shopping earlier at the nearby Robina Town Centre. We were there to grab a few clothes and a feed in the food court. It would have been perfect to just plug into a destination charger, while there anyway for a couple of hours. I am surprised and disappointed that a shopping centre that big doesn’t include EV chargers. I found web news articles that talked about government initiatives to install some there, back in 2020! What happened Mark Bailey MP and Annastacia Palaszczuk MP?

17 comments

Linda M R-b via Facebook ↗ 22 Jan 2023

Pacific Fair shopping centre has super chargers AND destination chargers - a little further north, but very handy!

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Kylie Gilroy via Facebook ↗ 22 Jan 2023

Other Plugshare check in's have mentioned it's capped at 37/38 kW so must be a little fault

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Chris Rollie via Facebook ↗ 22 Jan 2023

Just a quick random question - on your trip up north, did you use any chargers that benefit from the RACQ/NRMA discounts? I'm looking at the charging map on all the apps and I can't see any that offer 20% discount? I'm doing a trip from Warwick to Mackay in Feb. Cheers!

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1. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au 22 Jan 2023
  
  Chris Rollie almost all of the chargers that we used between Port Stephens and Port Douglas had an RACQ or The NRMA badge on them. We’re insured through NRMA, but not a member, so don’t currently have access to the 20% discount on charging. All of the NRMA chargers we used (in NSW) were free.
  
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  1. Chris Rollie via Facebook ↗ 22 Jan 2023
    
    Tesla Tripping cheers!
    
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  2. David Forsyth via Facebook ↗ 23 Jan 2023
    
    Chris Rollie20% discount only applies at the ultra fast chargers 350kw, not the 50kw chargers. I’ve just completed a trip from Port Macquarie to Airlie Beach and back.
    
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  3. Chris Rollie via Facebook ↗ 23 Jan 2023
    
    David Forsyth so rarely useful? I'll have to have a look at the route that I'm taking and see if there's any 350kw chargers on the way. I plan on doing more long trips in the BYD so I'll have to see if it's worth it.
    
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  4. David Forsyth via Facebook ↗ 23 Jan 2023
    
    Chris Rollie I’ve only used it once when charging in Port, might change my stops when travelling south to Sydney to use the Chargefox ultra fast chargers and get the 20% discount rather than use the supercharger network
    
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Greg Hayden via Facebook ↗ 22 Jan 2023

So, Tom and Fran you where at the destination charging point of an Aquadic Centre and didn't go for swim to do some exercise. WOW

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Maton Bass via Facebook ↗ 23 Jan 2023

Sounds like another QESH failure. Interesting when people that have solar (like me) think they can charge their car from solar and all will be free and well. Cool story, but the Uber driver won’t be working for 8 hours from 10am till 6pm whilst his car charges lol. But that’s fine if he’s a night driver though.

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1. Linda M R-b via Facebook ↗ 29 Jan 2023
  
  Maton Bass have you heard about battery storage? 😏
  
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  1. Maton Bass via Facebook ↗ 29 Jan 2023
    
    Linda Mae Reeb yep. I have a Tesla Pwerwall 2. It can charge 30% of my Model 3 but then there’s nothing left for the house which is more important. I live in a blackout prone area.
    Battery storage and EV’s aren’t really compatible yet unless you have at least 3 Powerwalls ($40k+ worth) which doesn’t make sense. My return trip to work each day is 180km+-
    
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2. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au 29 Jan 2023
  
  Maton Bass I suspect he would charge in the morning and perhaps when home later for lunch. But yes, charging from solar isn’t really possible when you’re driving 😉
  
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Daniel Rafferty via Facebook ↗ 28 Jan 2023

It's really not good enough. Either put in more chargers in that location for people to use or install 150kw chargers instead of 75kw

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Sâm van der Wijngaart via Facebook ↗ 28 Jan 2023

Needtocharge App would have done the trick

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1. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au 29 Jan 2023
  
  Sâm van der Wijngaart Good point. I have registered on that app, but no one has yet used it to tell me they need to charge
  
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  1. Sâm van der Wijngaart via Facebook ↗ 29 Jan 2023
    
    Tesla Tripping have you got a sign in the window? Needs that really
    
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