We were up in Sydney a few weeks ago to visit some friends in North Sydney, and because it was convenient, we stayed in the Mary MacKillop Place Hotel. When we arrived, we asked if they had any charging facilities for EVs. We were told that there were a couple of parking spaces in the carpark which had 240 volt alternating current outlets nearby. As you probably know, this is the same sort of electrical supply you get in your average home. Charging your EV on these is called ‘trickle changing’, and differs very much from the direct current outlets at commercial changing stations. Trickle charging takes a long time; for instance giving your car an extra 200km can take over 24 hours, whereas on a commercial charger it might take 45 minutes. As we always take our trickle charging cable with us when we travel, we moved the car to one of these spots and charged it up overnight, at no charge (excuse pun). This facility was not listed in their brochures or online information.
Given the dramatic increase in the number of EVs being sold due to the idiocy of the Mango Paedo in attacking Iran at the behest of the monster of Gaza, Netanyahu, I suspect this facility will be a big selling point for motels and hotels in the not to distant future.
Another indication of the increase in the number of EVs about is that when we were charging the vehicle on the way to Sydney, the people who pulled up in the charging berth alongside ours, just as we had finished, had some trouble getting the thing going through their phone app. So, when we realised they were struggling, my partner got out of our vehicle and walked them through it successfully. This couple had only had their vehicle for a month, whereas we are, relatively speaking, old hands, having had our EV for a little over 19 months.