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Supercharger - Benalla, Vic (Withdrawn June 2024)Locked
- Thread starter Chuq
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lennier
Member
RichardV
Member
Maybe they will just go straight to the 20 stall install given the protracted approval.
The draft license has already had the once over,
So hopefully the signing is now a formality and they can start to get to work on the install.
Zoltrix77
Member
That's a bummer. Hopefully there's alternate plans to increase capacity on the Victorian part of the Hume Fwy.
No fanboy but surely the blame here lies with council dragging this out for so long. Tesla seemed ready to go a fair while ago.
Would much rather more chargers straight along the hume so not having to detour off. Adds a fair bit of time to head 10 mins in and out plus charging time. Usually why I take the ICE if on a bit of a time mission to get somewhere.
Think this was fairly likely after the firing and the press release that only mentioned NSW and QLD programs and sites already under construction.
Not even sure who else would be interested in taking over the sites... Maybe Woolworths could start an EV charging division buying Tesla Superchargers.
Not even sure who else would be interested in taking over the sites... Maybe Woolworths could start an EV charging division buying Tesla Superchargers.
Google says detouring through Benalla adds 6 minutes southbound or 5 minutes northbound over the freeway (at this time of day, anyway).
Zoltrix77
Member
Perhaps the council dragged it out, but now they have to do all the work again elsewhere should they wish to. My guess is its Musk's tantrum.
I think Benalla is/was good site, many people travel from the east of Melbourne and Shepparton via the Midland Highway. It is an intersection between the north south and east west. There was the usual McDonalds and KFC right near it, Woolworths, and the local bakeries and coffee shops.
There is already some 100kW BP chargers at the BP service station on the Hume direct at Glenrowan for those who don't wish to leave the highway or need to charge at 2AM in a 24/7 environment. Other than that, I don't know what else is on the highway that would suffice.
I am not sure what power is available in other areas and yeah, we need more stalls for busy periods. Seymour needs chargers too, but its not a Benalla replacement. Wangarratta is bigger, already has a (flawed) Supercharger station, but isn't a big cross location like Benalla.
I’ve used BP Glenrowan once… it’s an OK site, but limited amenity, and geez those liquid cooled cables are a piece of work.
The Wangaratta SC site is one the worst I’ve ever been to. It’s a fair detour off the highway, very poorly signposted on top of a multistory car park, and the lift to get down to street level is not at all obvious. But having just used Knockrow “after hours”, I might need to reconsider my rankings
Max Spaghetti
Member
Benalla would have been a nice option, but really the Euroa Supercharger could use an upgrade, currently only 6 stalls of the older style that share 130kW between pairs. It's a busy site that fills up at peak times. Hopefully Elon will follow up on his comment of "expanding existing sites". I currently rate the Euroa Corner Store as the best hamburger makers this side of the border, and only a short stroll away (and Gunning on the other side of the border, but sadly no DCFC there).
I agree that Wangaratta Supercharger is a PITA. I much prefer the Glenrowan BP, even though it is also only 150kW shared between pairs (to a max of 100kW per side) - I've always been the only one using it - it doesn't show up in Tesla Nav interestingly. Don't pay any attention to the big "OPEN 24 HOURS" sign on the McDonalds though, it hasn't been open 24 hours for a few years now.
I've given up on Avenel Evie (been dead for months), and Euroa Chargefox (Shell) has been curtailed to 50kW for a while now. Not a great section of highway for non-Teslas.
I've used Chargefox Barnawatha North a few times, and Wodonga Supercharger, but for the win I must say I like the Supercharger in Albury - it's not much of a detour off the highway and being just off Dean St is a great location. And it's undercover!
I agree that Wangaratta Supercharger is a PITA. I much prefer the Glenrowan BP, even though it is also only 150kW shared between pairs (to a max of 100kW per side) - I've always been the only one using it - it doesn't show up in Tesla Nav interestingly. Don't pay any attention to the big "OPEN 24 HOURS" sign on the McDonalds though, it hasn't been open 24 hours for a few years now.
I've given up on Avenel Evie (been dead for months), and Euroa Chargefox (Shell) has been curtailed to 50kW for a while now. Not a great section of highway for non-Teslas.
I've used Chargefox Barnawatha North a few times, and Wodonga Supercharger, but for the win I must say I like the Supercharger in Albury - it's not much of a detour off the highway and being just off Dean St is a great location. And it's undercover!
I wouldn’t be blaming Elon/Tesla for this. The council clearly dragged it out and Tesla got sick of it and cancelled. Or the council got greedy and wanted more money.
RichardV
Member
I am sorry but this is a certain level of cognitive dissonance thinking that Elons dissemination of the supercharger team had no impact here. Canceling the Benalla site and somehow thinking that an expansion of the Euroa site, as someone else postulated, is fanciful. The work negotiating with council for a Euroa expansion would involve far more work, the exisiting site would already be space if not power constrained, than continuing with the almost approved 20 stall Benalla location where parking is less constrained.
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Agreed. Tesla already has some 6/25 off-street parks in that very small Euroa council carpark (I wouldn't give Tesla more unless they bought the block), and suspect being a small town further power expansions might be very expensive power wise.
Whereas this Benalla site was near shovel ready for a frankly needed site on the Hume between Wangaratta and Melbourne.
If you get stuck waiting at Euroa in the next year or so, there is only one person to blame.
Whereas this Benalla site was near shovel ready for a frankly needed site on the Hume between Wangaratta and Melbourne.
If you get stuck waiting at Euroa in the next year or so, there is only one person to blame.
Midnight Man
Member
To be fair, this "withdrawal" may be a knee-jerk reaction from Tesla in the days after the initial disbanding of the supercharging team.
As we've seen, things are getting back on track, and it's entirely possible that they're already getting back in touch with council (and potentially other sites).
After all, it's not like (I am personally) seeing much slow down in new sites: x.com
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