2 days ago
Bunnings quietly rolls out 'brilliant' new store feature for EV drivers
As more and more electric cars appear on Australia's roads, drivers will have another, and very familiar, place to recharge their battery-powered vehicles. Retail giant Bunnings Warehouse is rolling out a range of EV chargers in the carparks of selected stores, meaning EV owners can charge up while they shop.
Yahoo understands that Bunnings has so far installed chargers at 14 of its store locations in NSW, Victoria and WA, as well as New Zealand. The company currently has two more stores to be equipped with chargers in the coming weeks.
Given the retailer has more than 500 stores across Australia and New Zealand, the rollout is currently being hyper targeted to where the retailer believes demand is strongest.
Sydney woman Sarah Aubrey who runs a social media business dedicated to developments in electric vehicles, battery technology and electric home appliances described the chargers as "brilliant" after happening upon a 120kW installment at the retail giant's Alexandria store in the city's inner west this week.
"You're at Bunnings, you're spending some time here lollygagging, 120 kilowatts, that is very fast," she said in a video sharing the find with her followers. "So you'll be good to go. I am so stoked about that, that is awesome."
Bunnings Director of Stores Rod Caust told Yahoo News Australia the early rollout was about "meeting the changing needs" of customers.
"As electric vehicles become more common in Australia and New Zealand, we're installing EV charging stations in some of our store car parks so our customers with EVs can charge up while they shop," he said.
The Bunnings chargers include a mix of 22kW, 50kW and the super fast 120kW chargers seen in the Alexandria store.
Customers will be able to use their chosen EV charging station app to see if their local store has chargers installed with signage and instructions in relevant carparks to help customers.
Late last year the mega hardware store began stocking a range of new EV-related products, including Tesla's Powerwall home batteries as the EV trend gained more and more momentum.
"We're launching a range of electric vehicle chargers and accessories across selected stores to make it easier for our customers to own and maintain EVs," Bunnings director of merchandise Cam Rist told Yahoo News in November.
"The range, which includes wall-mounted EV chargers that can be installed in customers' homes, is currently being rolled out to 40 pilot stores across Australia in a phased approach. We know the EV market is growing rapidly in Australia and we're pleased to be making these products more accessible to customers at an affordable price, which have been traditionally hard to find in retail stores."
More than a third of Australians believe misinformation about electric vehicles, while almost half accept the myth battery-powered cars are more likely to catch fire, a study shows.
Researchers from the University of Queensland and three German institutions released the findings late on Monday, following surveys of more than 6,300 people in Australia, the United States, Germany and Austria.
Their results mirrored concerns in a recent NRMA study, which found misinformation about battery safety was preventing motorists from investing in low-emission cars.
The UQ peer-reviewed research, published in the Springer Nature Energy journal, included the results of four surveys, the first of which asked non-electric vehicles drivers for their opinions about false information about the cars.
Despite the untruthful claims, more than one in three Australians on average went along with the assertions (35 per cent) - slightly lower than the average across all four nations (36 per cent).
Related: Astounding EV detail in Chinese city that's on 'another level'
Incorrect statements that EVs were more likely to catch fire than petrol or diesel cars gained the highest acceptance from Australians surveyed (47 per cent), while 44 per cent also believed EV batteries were deliberately non-upgradeable.
Other claims about manufacturing outweighing the lower emissions of electric cars (35 per cent) and EV accidents being under-reported (26 per cent) were also concerning, University of Queensland environmental psychologist and co-author Chris Bretter said.
"We know this sort of false information is out there and circulating but the scale of acceptance is concerning and poses a significant challenge to the global transition to more sustainable transport," he added.
The findings come days after NRMA released a report, prepared by Ipsos, that found two in three Australians remained concerned about electric vehicle battery fires and safety despite low incident reports.
Eight electric vehicle fires have been reported in Australia to November 2024, according to EV Firesafe, including one with an unknown cause.
with AAP
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