A Telstra service outage is currently disrupting leading electric vehicle (EV) charging network Chargefox, with connectivity issues and difficulties accessing charging services affecting Australian customers.
The outage has affected both the charging stations and the Chargefox application, and there’s no timeline yet on how long the outage will affect the firm.
“At 3:30am on Sunday morning (June 2), there was an outage on one of our two Telstra networks,” Chargefox CEO, John Sullivan told CarExpert.
“We discovered that there was a problem with the Telstra network, and technicians were sent out that morning. They deduced there was a problem with their infrastructure at the very top and installed a new part.
“By 6pm Sunday afternoon, we received an update saying that the changes made did not remediate the issue. At 8am Monday morning (June 3), Telstra provided us with another update saying they found the issue and are looking at a restoration of the problem.”
If you happen to pass by an EV charging station that’s a part of the Chargefox network, you might still be able to charge your vehicle.
“Some of our chargers are configured to go to ‘free-vend’ [depending on the owners of the chargers]. This means if you go to a charger, it could be free of charge, while others monitor every kWh that leaves the charger,” Mr Sullivan explained.
“However, the communication between available chargers and our application is not working properly, therefore, we don’t know if every single charger has switched to free-vend.”
Because the Western Australian EV highway chargers are managed by Horizon and Synergy, they have automatically switched to free-vend, in times with disconnection or restrictions on communication occur.
Fortunately for metropolitan drivers, there is ample opportunity to charge your vehicle at other available stations.
Mr Sullivan said “if your ‘favourite’ charger isn’t work, there will be another working charger in close proximity. I don’t think people in metro areas will be left stranded because our network is so broad that it gives drivers optionality.”
For rural areas, Mr Sullivan advises EV drivers to be more mindful about planning their next charge, so long as they’re able to choose chargers.
“Rural areas are unfortunately different. If there are other guaranteed-working chargers, use those. I would not rely on the chance of a charger possibly working.”
Last week, Chargefox announced its application now shows and provides access to 60 NRMA charging locations, allowing EV drivers to use one platform and account rather than multiple.
