Supercharger - Gundagai NSW

[moa999]

Also Covid meant less travel the last couple of summers.

Plus as you say the Tesla fleet has grown massively this (and last year).

Also remember that Sydney - Melbourne was complete by 2016 when it was just a handful of Ss on the road and Sydney-Brisbane by 2017. Subsequent sites have focussed on geographic expansion, other than I think Maclean on the Hume.

I suspect Tesla will prioritise the larger 12-15 stall sites at Albury, Coffs, Gundagai, Marulan, Taree, Yass for construction in the next 12 months.

 

[RichardV]

Is this the first summer where this kind of stuff has been happening? I recall only very occasional reports of queuing in the past - but this time it seems quite widespread.

I guess that is what happens when infrastructure has not scaled with a doubling of BEVs in 12 months

If this is the situation when BEVs are 0.36% of the fleet in NSW, what will it be like when BEVs are 10% of the fleet?

For comparison, and those that know the Yass service centre, this was the queue to enter the service centre stretching back to the main road to Yass on the 27th. It is not just EVs queuing during peak holidays.

 

[Vostok]

The situation heading north from Sydney is a bit dire. Evie Taree has been out of action since 14 Nov (the only site of theirs currently busted), now NRMA Nabiac has gone offline. A Plugshare check-in from an MG-ZS owner said they had to get towed to Karuah.

The two 350kW units at Chargefox Karuah are still working, but the 50 kW unit isn’t. Heatherbrae, Port Macquarie and Coffs SCs are being hammered with regular full houses. Growing pains!

 

[Onshore]

All the Chargefox chargers at Gundagai are now down which is no doubt making things worse.

And chargefox say there’s a technician booked for - get this - January 20th.

They just don’t treat it like critical infrastructure. Tesla does.

 

[cafz]

Subsequent sites have focussed on geographic expansion, other than I think Maclean on the Hume.

Pacific Hwy

 

[cafz]

The situation heading north from Sydney is a bit dire. Evie Taree has been out of action since 14 Nov (the only site of theirs currently busted), now NRMA Nabiac has gone offline.

Yeah, not great for non-Teslas on that route.

The note from Evie in Plugshare says it's a "critical failure beyond Evie's control", since it apparently affects both chargers I wonder if it's a problem with the electricity supply infrastructure there?

 

[Shock-On-T]

Is this the first summer where this kind of stuff has been happening? I recall only very occasional reports of queuing in the past - but this time it seems quite widespread.

I guess that is what happens when infrastructure has not scaled with a doubling of BEVs in 12 months

If this is the situation when BEVs are 0.36% of the fleet in NSW, what will it be like when BEVs are 10% of the fleet?

I queued at Port Mac and Heatherbrae last week, as the only car in the queue and only for a few minutes.
It's exacerbated by the slower charge speeds you get when you finally get a spot.

 

[moa999]

And I suspect people overcharging (itself exaccebated by queues and non-working chargers).

On that journey I arrived at chargers with 9-17% battery (other than Jugiong where it was 25% as I wanted Yass and even Murrambatem as possible fallback options.)
And left with 66-82% so didn't feel the slower part of the charging curve.

 

[Skurfer]

I stopped at Wodonga SC yesterday around lunch time. All 6 stalls were in use and I was the 9th car in line waiting. Was on my way to melbourne so so plugged Euroa into the nav and it reckoned I would get there with 1% remaining. Decided to go for it and drive a bit slower than waiting 90 minutes for a charge.
Made it with 5% remaining driving at 105kmh with only 1 car at Euroa. Lucky to have a LR

 

[Vostok]

I stopped at Wodonga SC yesterday around lunch time. All 6 stalls were in use and I was the 9th car in line waiting.

 

[rx80]

Made it with 5% remaining driving at 105kmh with only 1 car at Euroa. Lucky to have a LR

What was your SoC when you arrived at Wodonga?

 

[danesuper6]

And I suspect people overcharging (itself exaccebated by queues and non-working chargers).

On that journey I arrived at chargers with 9-17% battery (other than Jugiong where it was 25% as I wanted Yass and even Murrambatem as possible fallback options.)
And left with 66-82% so didn't feel the slower part of the charging curve.

This is something that people need to get used to. We've never put just enough fuel in our ICE cars to get to the next stop, we've always filled them up to the top. It's going to take some time for everyone to get used to it

 

[moa999]

Agreed. And possibly something all EV manufacturers and Charging Providers could do more education on.

 

[Vostok]

This is something that people need to get used to. We've never put just enough fuel in our ICE cars to get to the next stop, we've always filled them up to the top. It's going to take some time for everyone to get used to it

At peak holiday times maybe every DCFC network needs to start charging idle fees if there is 0 or 1 stations free, with a rate that becomes increasingly eye-watering the more minutes you overstay. And further, limit charging to 90% under those conditions. That last 10% will really kill site throughput and massively inconvenience others.

The number of cases where someone absolutely needs that last 10% to get to their destination because there are zero intervening charging options is getting smaller by the day. If someone in that situation seriously has no other option, they should plan their trip to arrive at the final charger in their leg at a non-peak time when charging to 100% is permitted. It is a relatively small inconvenience to pay for the greater good.

I’ve seen Plugshare reports in recent days of people who have not unplugged when charging has finished (not at Tesla SCs) or are charging to 100% to soak up time while they have wandered off somewhere. People are understandably peeved when that happens.

 

[PC__LoadLetter]

This is something that people need to get used to. We've never put just enough fuel in our ICE cars to get to the next stop, we've always filled them up to the top. It's going to take some time for everyone to get used to it

So you've never been poor? Filling up enough to reach payday, or discount Tuesday, is very much a thing. Even for those who later became financially comfortable. Especially if you still live in an area where siphoning still happens. Chromers don't tend to buy at servos.

 

[danesuper6]

So you've never been poor? Filling up enough to reach payday, or discount Tuesday, is very much a thing. Even for those who later became financially comfortable. Especially if you still live in an area where siphoning still happens. Chromers don't tend to buy at servos.

Oh of course I have, I ran the car spluttering into the driveway of the petrol station quite a few times in my day.

My reply was about holiday season and the very much ingrained sense that we need to fill our cars to the bream to make it as far as possible during said holiday travel. That's the thing that EV users need more education on, when and where an appropriate amount of charge is appropriate.

 

[Vostok]

That's the thing that EV users need more education on, when and where an appropriate amount of charge is appropriate.

Pricing is the quickest and most effective form of education.

 

[Chuq]

Pricing is the quickest and most effective form of education.

Yep. That's why I have no issue with charge network operators that have a time based component. If they're going to hog the space, as least they're contributing to the cost of expansion.

 

[Skurfer]

What was your SoC when you arrived at Wodonga?

I can't remember but I had stopped at Gundagai, charged to 76% with the view of a quick top up at Wodonga to then drive the 3.5 hours rest of the way home from there.
At the drive to Wodonga I did notice the nav at some points saying 25 minute wait at Wodonga (most of the time it said 10 or 5) so I had plugged in Euroa to see if I would make it and it was showing 4% so erred on caution at the time. The nav doesn't take into account how many other cars are waiting there, just when cars are due to come off the chargers.

A massive thing no one is talking about is the fact the V2 Tesla chargers (which make up the bulk of the chargers) being paired so when 2 cars are plugged into the pair, it splits the 130kw into 2x 75kw. Such a slow charge rate at the point you need it to be fast as it is busy as all the stalls are in use. And you get charged the highest cost per kWh in the country out of all the providers for the pleasure.

I'll also add that with many people road tripping in their lower range cars, most are having to charge to close to 100% to hit the next charger, also expecting that due to the poor EV infrastructure, it will most likely be a 1 stall 50 or 75kw charger somewhere near where they are going or it is out of order. I've done 25k kms so far in the 4.5 months I've had my Tesla and many many people I talk to seem surprised at how much harder it is to road trip in an EV. Great for around town when you're charging at home, much more difficult on a trip with having to plan stops, put up with chargers not working, have plan Bs and C's, waiting at full charger sites and things like that, checking plugshare against ABRP to make sure chargers are working, checking weather and wind for some legs where it may be borderline, getting to your accommodation with a AC charger to find 2 other EVs there and you have to barter with each other for a charge time.
People are keeping a brave face as they have their new shiny 70k car but through conversations I've had, not too many will be taking the EV again on holidays.at busy times.

 

[Lachlan Smith]

I believe the DCFC protocol can limit the SoC the car can charge to. Tesla will move the slider to 80% when a charger is congested for example, and some third-party chargers have notes on plugshare that will only charge to a lower state of charge (e.g. QUT Gardens Point - 95%).

A split V2 is actually 65 kW which is what I was pulling at Port Macquarie today. Makes Tesla's premium of $0.66 seem expensive compared to 50 kW chargers in the range of $0.30 to $0.40 (free if you consider NRMA). At least that premium gets you a reliable charger.