Holden Charging Towards Volt Launch

General Motors Holden and ChargePoint unveiled the first electric vehicle charging station for Volt drivers in Port Melbourne outside Holden’s AUSTRALIAN headquarters today.

The Volt charging station is powered by Origin’s government-certified 100 per cent GreenPower and will be available to Holden Volt drivers in one of Melbourne’s fast-growing business and industrial precincts.

The Holden Volt can recharge in less than four hours using the dedicated level two, 3.3kW charging station.

To support the Volt launch, ChargePoint has also installed six more green energy charging stations in Holden’s engineering and design headquarters and at its Proving Ground in Lang Lang for Holden employees driving Volt evaluation vehicles and working on the program.

Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency, Industry and Innovation, the Hon Greg Combet AM MP was the first member of the public to plug into the petrol pump of the future with one of Holden’s first Volt vehicles.

Joining the Minister for the unveiling was Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, ChargePoint CEO James Brown and Holden’s Executive Director Engineering Greg Tyus.

Mr Tyus, whose engineering team is responsible for preparing the Volt for Australia, said Volt would change the way Australians think about sustainable transport and Holden.

"Volt can travel a distance of up to 80 kilometres on pure electric driving – more than enough for most drivers to commute each day without visiting a petrol station.

“You can drive emission free and recharge at home from a standard power outlet in less than six hours for around $2.50,” he said.

“If you need to drive further in one trip the Volt’s back-up generator, a 1.4 petrol engine, will kick in seamlessly to recharge the battery and take you more than 600 kilometres. With this sort of range, suddenly Volt becomes an extremely attractive electric vehicle and possibly your only car.

“Our engineering team is doing the final validation work around the launch of Volt in Australia. We’re really excited to have our first cars on the road and we’re looking forward to announcing more details to customers soon,” Mr Tyus said.

Speaking at the launch, ChargePoint CEO James Brown said there would be a growing need for infrastructure in Australia to support new EVs coming to market.

“In the coming years more and more of the world’s most respected car manufacturers will head down the EV path and ChargePoint will be there to ensure use of the best possible technology to support the charging requirements of these vehicles,” he said.

Origin Executive General Manager Corporate Affairs, Phil Craig, also welcomed the opening of the new piece of EV infrastructure. “Origin is seeking to support this new technology with electric vehicle charging equipment and services, delivering a simple and effective one-stop solution to consumers,” Mr Craig said.

“Together with Holden, Origin hopes to encourage the take up of more electric vehicles in Australia.”