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Supercharger - Bowen, Qld

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moa999

2020 3 SR+ MSM
Mar 4, 2020
3,899
5,104
Sydney, AUS
6 V3 stalls under construction at Bowen, Qld.
Bowen is between Mackay (which has a coming soon pin on the Tesla map) and Townsville.

In the Woolworths Bowen carpark - Cnr of Richmond Rd and The Soldiers Rd

Likely part Qld Govt funded as the list included Soldiers Rd at Bowen.
Also seems to confirm information in this post that Bowen and Mackay were likely next.

Spotted under construction by Greg C on Facebook TOA (public group).

 
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Exciting stuff! This will be by far the northernmost SC in Australia, only about 550 km from Cairns. And since it's also out of range for the next one (Rockhampton, 520 km), it's pretty much guaranteed that Mackay, between the two, is next in line.
They actually need a charger between Mackay and Rockhampton, which is further than a MY RWD can drive on a full charge. That stretch of road is also home to two of the least reliable QESH chargers. If we charge in Rockhampton and then Carmila (QESH) that gets us to the Evie at Proserpine, then the Evie at Townsville. A supercharger at Carmila would mean high-speed charging all the way to Townsville, which is pretty good.

I don't know whether any of the spots between Rockhampton and Mackay have the electrical infrastructure for a set of superchargers, though. Maybe Sarina will be the choice. Mackay's QESH charger is a long way from the highway, too.
 
They actually need a charger between Mackay and Rockhampton, which is further than a MY RWD can drive on a full charge.

Agreed. Rockhampton to Mackay is ~335 km which is also almost not doable for most of the legacy model S/X fleet in Australia which are not equipped with 100 kWh batteries. Even the 100 kWh ones would need either a full or close to full charge to make it when factoring in driving conditions (headwinds, temperature affecting the need for cabin cooling, battery degradation).

Tesla would eventually need to install a SC between Rockhampton and Mackay. Otherwise there would be a hard dependancy of older Teslas on non-Tesla DC fast chargers.

A supercharger at Carmila would mean high-speed charging all the way to Townsville, which is pretty good.

Carmila is an intersting choice. It's ~235 km from Rockhampton, well within the range of most EVs (Teslas and non-Teslas in case the SC needs to be opened up to non-Teslas too) except the ones with really small batteries (Nissan Leaf etc.). It is also only ~100 km from Mackay which will have a SC soon.

Maybe Sarina will be the choice. Mackay's QESH charger is a long way from the highway, too.

Sarina is only ~40 km out from Mackay and ~300km from Rockhampton. Will be interesting to see if Tesla choose Sarina as a SC spot. I think it's quite unlikely unless either there is a heavy demand for DC fast charging which pushes Tesla to install 2 SCs, or if they move the Mackay SC location to Sarina instead.


Superchargers in Carmila or Marlborough would use more power than those entire towns. Superchargers + megapack would work though

Both Carmila and Marlborough have 1x 50 kW DC (split across CHAdeMO and CCS2) and 2x 22 kW Type 2 AC chargers installed. That's ~100 kW power available to existing chargers. I'm guessing Tesla could do a 3 stall V3 SC at either of those locations with the existing infrastructure?

Interestingly, both Marlborough and Carmila are similar in distances to each of the known (in case of Mackay) and built (Rockhampton) SC location. Marlborough is ~105 km from Rockhampton while being ~230 km from Mackay. Carmila is almost the same distance but the other way around.
 
They actually need a charger between Mackay and Rockhampton, which is further than a MY RWD can drive on a full charge. That stretch of road is also home to two of the least reliable QESH chargers. If we charge in Rockhampton and then Carmila (QESH) that gets us to the Evie at Proserpine, then the Evie at Townsville. A supercharger at Carmila would mean high-speed charging all the way to Townsville, which is pretty good.

I don't know whether any of the spots between Rockhampton and Mackay have the electrical infrastructure for a set of superchargers, though. Maybe Sarina will be the choice. Mackay's QESH charger is a long way from the highway, too.
I have done that stretch several times on a single charge in my MY RWD
 
Agreed. Rockhampton to Mackay is ~335 km which is also almost not doable for most of the legacy model S/X fleet in Australia which are not equipped with 100 kWh batteries. Even the 100 kWh ones would need either a full or close to full charge to make it when factoring in driving conditions (headwinds, temperature affecting the need for cabin cooling, battery degradation).

Tesla would eventually need to install a SC between Rockhampton and Mackay. Otherwise there would be a hard dependancy of older Teslas on non-Tesla DC fast chargers.



Carmila is an intersting choice. It's ~235 km from Rockhampton, well within the range of most EVs (Teslas and non-Teslas in case the SC needs to be opened up to non-Teslas too) except the ones with really small batteries (Nissan Leaf etc.). It is also only ~100 km from Mackay which will have a SC soon.



Sarina is only ~40 km out from Mackay and ~300km from Rockhampton. Will be interesting to see if Tesla choose Sarina as a SC spot. I think it's quite unlikely unless either there is a heavy demand for DC fast charging which pushes Tesla to install 2 SCs, or if they move the Mackay SC location to Sarina instead.




Both Carmila and Marlborough have 1x 50 kW DC (split across CHAdeMO and CCS2) and 2x 22 kW Type 2 AC chargers installed. That's ~100 kW power available to existing chargers. I'm guessing Tesla could do a 3 stall V3 SC at either of those locations with the existing infrastructure?

Interestingly, both Marlborough and Carmila are similar in distances to each of the known (in case of Mackay) and built (Rockhampton) SC location. Marlborough is ~105 km from Rockhampton while being ~230 km from Mackay. Carmila is almost the same distance but the other way around.
Doubt Sabrina will be done
Too close to mackay
 
Doubt Sabrina will be done
Too close to mackay
I was wondering whether Sarina would be an option instead of Mackay. Frankly, I would settle for the Carmila charger being more reliable.
I have done that stretch several times on a single charge in my MY RWD

From Rockhampton to Mackay? Mine absolutely will not make it at highway speeds (100kph, using TACC, A/C set to something reasonable like 23C). What percentage of battery do you start and finish on? I tried it just last month, charged to 100% at the Rockhampton SC and entered the Mackay QESH as a destination. I think it predicted I would be at something like -8% on arrival. I had to stop at Carmila and charge, which wasn't great because the DC there has tended to cut out frequently during charging sessions.
 
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In the planning system is a EV Station and Parking station south of Bowen at Proserpine. However, doesn't look to be fast charging..
That is interesting. Proserpine already has one QESH (DC and AC) charger and a two-berth Evie charger. The proposed site is very close to the existing QESH charger. I wonder if they will be adding a charger or moving one of the existing chargers.
 
Report active and charging successfully this morning by jowett777 from Plugshare.
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