But he stressed that Ampol intended to press ahead with its charging network plans and “ramp up” the rollout in the second half of the year, as more bays were connected to electricity supply.

Halliday’s comments come as Australian governments and fuel suppliers have begun investing heavily in supporting the greater development of electric car-charging infrastructure to combat motorists’ fear of being stranded and unable to recharge, that’s referred to as “range anxiety” and often cited as a barrier to a greater uptake of emissions-free vehicles.

Despite posting significant sales growth, electric vehicles remain a small proportion of Australia’s overall vehicle fleet, accounting for just 0.9 per cent of old and new passenger vehicles on the road. Ampol on Monday said it expected fuel demand to remain robust “well into the 2030s”.

The update on Ampol’s electric car charger plans comes as the ASX-listed company reported a 39 per cent drop (year-on-year) in underlying net profit after tax for the six months to June 30, from $329 million to $233 million, missing analysts’ forecasts. It also lowered its interim dividend by about a third, to 60¢ a share.

“Paying out an interim dividend from the midpoint of policy was weaker than expectations,” UBS analyst Tom Allen said.

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Earnings from Ampol’s Lytton refinery – one of just two refineries left in Australia after the COVID-19 lockdowns wiped out fuel demand and forced others to close – fell 11 per cent in the half to $89.5 million on an underlying basis. Production from the refinery, which processes crude oil into transport fuels, was 5.8 per cent lower due to a plant-wide outage and delays in the supply of catalyst due to disruptions in the Red Sea.

Ampol’s convenience retail earnings for the first half rose 4.7 per cent to $175 million, compared to a year earlier, the company said.

Shares in Ampol fell more than 4 per cent on Monday to their lowest levels since October 2023.