Australian Supercharger network

[lennier]

Yes but UK has almost the same number of cars and already has way more superchargers in a way smaller area. Tesla may have been pleasantly surprised by unexpectedly strong Australian sales but I think that they need to become more ambitious in their supercharger plans and rollout for Australia.

Absolutely, I think they should be re-assessing their rollout plan. However for the plan they've released so far (unchanged from announcement) I think there's no reason to believe it won't be achieved. Current levels of demand would seem to indicate a rethink would be well warranted though.

 

[alexeiw123]

Drive.com.au has an article stating construction starts at goulburn next week.
I'm heavily exposed to electricity network planning, and believe me, don't under estimate the hold ups due to red tape. Once they break ground, it'll be operational in no time.

 

[doctorwho]

My comment is only partly about the daly but mainly that the scope of their supercharger ambitions is too narrow. The Model 3 is a car that will sell well in regional centres where people routinely drive long distances. Tesla need a supercharger network in place before they start selling them here, at the current pace this won't happen as their underlying assumption is that its a product that appeals primarily to urban buyers

 

[WhiteStar]

..their underlying assumption is that its a product that appeals primarily to urban buyers

Right...it's stands to reason that this assumption is hobbling still very impressive sales that otherwise would have been stellar by now if there were a bunch of Superchargers already operational. Urban dwellers like to get out of town to less crowded picturesque rural regions further afield. Buy a Tesla right now and those regions are mostly out of reach for another year or two. I understand there's a lot of red tape in the way...but even bureaucrazy can be quickly defeated with enough corporate will and allocation of high level skills and assets.

 

[meloccom]

By the tone of some of Evan's tweets I'm going for the delays being due to red tape.
Also, St Leonards got it's extra Sub Station about a month ago but still only a few Superchargers are active, this can only mean the authorities won't let them turn it on yet.

 

[Chuq]

It's hard to compare the UK and the Australia SC rollouts. Tesla has said they are designed for long distance travel and going by the initial USA rollout are placed on the most popular routes, at far enough distances to enable long distance travel (about 175-200km). If you look at the UK rollout there are about 8 in London and then others at major cities - some of which are only 30, 50, 100km outside London. Some areas like Bristol, Exeter, Birmingham have two SCs for no obvious reason (they aren't even on opposite sides of the city) yet Norfolk area has nothing.

If Telsa wanted to cover the UK in the same sort of density as they have planned for Australia by end 2016 they could do it with about four superchargers. If their sales numbers are the same as ours, it really makes you wonder why they have about 20...

 

[Mark E]

If Telsa wanted to cover the UK in the same sort of density as they have planned for Australia by end 2016 they could do it with about four superchargers. If their sales numbers are the same as ours, it really makes you wonder why they have about 20...

The UK govt is supportive of EV's and offers incentives like no congestion tax etc. The Australian Govt are too busy getting in the way and slowing down anything that is deemed to be green. The irony is that at the moment the market for the car should really fit their target demographic and ideology. It's an expensive car appealing to more affluent buyers, it can be powered by 100% local energy - coal even! Its not a train or public transport, and they could claim that its a form of direct action in reducing CO2 without any new taxes.

I suspect that Tesla has been taken by surprise with the level of interest here, probably also underestimating the massive impact of their worldwide parity pricing model. The S85D here is an absolute bargain compared to equal performance cars, and the P85D even more-so. The closest to the S85D in performance is the HSV GTS which although cheaper is massively more expensive to operate. Any performance comparable German rival will cost considerably more.

 

[ixat]

Yes but UK has almost the same number of cars and already has way more superchargers in a way smaller area. Tesla may have been pleasantly surprised by unexpectedly strong Australian sales but I think that they need to become more ambitious in their supercharger plans and rollout for Australia.

It is easier to drive around the UK than it is to drive around Australia. There are more SCs there because they will get more use, even if number of cars sold is similar. Because it is easier to drive around Britain because of the size and density, means they will be used more often, how many owners will make a Mel/Syd trip more than say, 4 times a year? Not too many I reckon, holidays mostly. Whereas in the UK you could easily be driving between cities twice a week.

Not to mention that there will always be more Teslas in Britain or the UK eventually because of the population differences between there and Australia.

 

[doctorwho]

I agree that potential sales in the UK are much higher, however despite all the extra chargers, free home chargers from the Government etc, the sales are surprisingly poor. Despite that they have way more superchargers despite the much smaller traveling distances between cities. I'd dispute that its easier to drive distance in the UK though - much much more congestion and permanent motorway roadworks and delays. I wonder of the supercharger disparity reflects Tesla overestimating UK sales and under-estimating Australian sales.

 

[Chuq]

I don't know if anyone has seen this already:

Superchargers
Sydney and Melbourne already have a handful of Superchargers in place for Tesla customers, but the carmaker is pushing ahead with its plans to create an east coast corridor of the devices in Australia.
The Goulburn location in southern NSW is on track to be operational soon, but Tesla already has additional locations in the works.
The carmaker isn’t saying where just yet, but Mr Walker told us to expect these locations to follow shortly after the Goulburn site.
We can rule Canberra out for 2015, but the nation’s capital is on the list for future Supercharger locations.
“The more the merrier”, potential owners may say, but Mr Walker stressed that Tesla is not about to flood the landscape with Superchargers.

From Tesla Australia: Next Billion Event, Model S And More Superchargers Soon

 

[Daemon]

No Canberra this year? That's pretty disappointing, I originally delayed my delivery to September thinking that I would at least have the supercharger as a backup if I couldn't get home charging sorted out.

 

[TesAus]

By the tone of some of Evan's tweets I'm going for the delays being due to red tape.
Also, St Leonards got it's extra Sub Station about a month ago but still only a few Superchargers are active, this can only mean the authorities won't let them turn it on yet.

The missing superchargers at St Leonard's went live last Saturday night. "James" from Tesla showed us the note on the Nav that showed an outage of their availability and all were being used on Sunday morning.

We did ask whether the "outage" notification on the Nav was just a text entry or would prevent the Nav from routing you via there if you were low on charge. They weren't sure on that one!

 

[WhiteStar]

From Tesla Australia: Next Billion Event, Model S And More Superchargers Soon

“The more the merrier”, potential owners may say, but Mr Walker stressed that Tesla is not about to flood the landscape with Superchargers…Walker said the carmaker was keen to avoid sending the wrong message by creating an image that its cars need frequent recharging.

Interesting article. I can see the logic in this…although I guess it depends on what Heath Walker means by flooding the landscape…if he means putting them everywhere in cities would send the wrong message - that definitely makes sense. However I don’t see a problem putting them 200 km or so apart along all freeways and highways in the country eventually. That would send the right message.

 

[Chuq]

Another interesting article!

 : Tesla EV charging stations network to be rolled out in Australia | Press Releases Online

So far, Superchargers have been installed within Sydney and Melbourne and will soon include a Goulburn location. In the long term, Tesla’s plan sees the EV network linking Melbourne to Brisbane and then eventually all the way over the Adelaide.

Go Adelaide!

 

[Chuq]

It seems there has been a few discoveries the past few days:


Port Macquarie NSW - officially announced (Thanks Colina) - SYD - BNE Supercharger Route - Page 4


Keith SA - proposed (Thanks Daemon - Nominations for superchargers Melbourne to Adelaide and SA)
Note: Adelaide and Horsham Vic also implied.


And I've just found these:


- Dubbo NSW - proposed - http://www.dubbo.nsw.gov.au/LiteratureRetrieve.aspx?ID=149933


"Thursday 22 October 2015
Attended a meeting with Mr E Beaver from Tesla to discuss a Supercharger Network Station in Dubbo."


- Forbes NSW - Forbes Council also published this:
- http://www.forbes.nsw.gov.au/f.ashx/docs/meetings/15-October-2015-Business-Paper.pdf
"RECOMMENDATION
That Council approach Tesla to make enquiries as to the feasibility of providing a refuelling station in Forbes. "
But note this is council approaching Tesla, not the other way around.


Here is the "what if" map of these locations:
I notice Forbes (north of Gundagai / south of Dubbo) isn't on a major highway junction like the others. But good luck to them anyway!

Exciting times ahead!

 

[ColinA]

It seems there has been a few discoveries the past few days:

Exciting times ahead!

Great summary of the current state of play... thanks!

 

[WhiteStar]

RECOMMENDATION
That Council approach Tesla to make enquiries as to the feasibility of providing a refuelling station in Forbes

That is very interesting. I wonder if it’s the first of many approaches by councils all over Australia? It’s clear that Superchargers are great for small town commerce and that fact alone should ensure a faster & more comprehensive Supercharger rollout than anyone imagined.

 

[ColinA]

That is very interesting. I wonder if it’s the first of many approaches by councils all over Australia? It’s clear that Superchargers are great for small town commerce and that fact alone should ensure a faster & more comprehensive Supercharger rollout than anyone imagined.

And it's a whole lot better than Tesla having to go to councils begging and pleading to be able to put something like this in! A very positive shift.

 

[ixat]

Parkes would work better because of the crossroads, although it is only 120km from Dubbo; it'd also end up being moot if Orange or Bathurst got a supercharger IMO.


With the SA route (including Ballarat), you could easily cover most of Vic with a few more supercharger locations:

Lorne & Warrnambool for great ocean road link & coastal Melb-Mt. Gambiar-Adelaide route. Sale & Cann River for the coastal Melb-Syd route (and Cooma or thereabouts on the NSW side of the border) and Ouyen or Mildure for the north of the state and either Bendigo or Echuca for the Murray area, linking to Hay in NSW, which also allows Adelaide-Mildura-Hay-Gundagai with a few longer legs, 300km on a few of them.

Then I'd just say Leongatha (or Korumburra) in south gippsland as a link to The Prom and to open up the southern coast for holidays.

 

[paulp]

And it's a whole lot better than Tesla having to go to councils begging and pleading to be able to put something like this in! A very positive shift.

Low key country councils in Australia are generally very receptive to anything that generates any community income.

- - - Updated - - -

Parkes would work better because of the crossroads, although it is only 120km from Dubbo; it'd also end up being moot if Orange or Bathurst got a supercharger IMO.


With the SA route (including Ballarat), you could easily cover most of Vic with a few more supercharger locations:

Lorne & Warrnambool for great ocean road link & coastal Melb-Mt. Gambiar-Adelaide route. Sale & Cann River for the coastal Melb-Syd route (and Cooma or thereabouts on the NSW side of the border) and Ouyen or Mildure for the north.

Maybe we should let Tesla do melb to adel, and after a joyous celebration of the opening, we could then bombard them with new options. It sounds like Evan Beaver is actively on the case already, and I'm sure tesla have a secret strategy on where next.