-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Supercharger - Tuggeranong ACT
- Thread starter Tobz
- Start date
RichardV
Member
There is a photo of a blue tesla connected and a green light visible. I would call that confirmed.
Chuq
Active Member
RareEarth
Member
Interesting Plugshare comment on this site from a MG ZS EV owner. "Looks like a Tesla supercharger, so until they unlock them for everyone else, completely useless to the rest of the EV population."
Technically correct but perhaps this person needs to go back to their MG dealer and ask when they will be building their own charging network, or if they even care how their customers are going to charge their vehicles once driven away from the dealer.
Technically correct but perhaps this person needs to go back to their MG dealer and ask when they will be building their own charging network, or if they even care how their customers are going to charge their vehicles once driven away from the dealer.
Chuq
Active Member
Yeah I saw those. I completely empathise with owning a non-Tesla EV but it's just whining at that point.
There is a valid complaint in that they are listed as "CCS" on Plugshare, but that's due to Plugshare's rules on adding superchargers and people trying to bypass them with workarounds.
Yes, that's the one! Head straight down the down ramp as soon as you enter.
I charged there yesterday evening on my way back to Sydney from a day trip to the Snowy Mountains
I trusted to the navigation from the in-car nav, not being familiar with that area of the ACT at all. The car deposited me at the carpark entrance off Soward Way, which it turns out is just about as far away from the Superchargers as possible. From the photos in here and PlugShare I knew the Supercharger was in the underground part of the carpark, so I headed down the ramp but it took me a bit of driving around to find them, not helped by the carpark being completely manic - being mid-afternoon in school holidays - so I couldn't see the chargers until I was nearly on top of them.
In hindsight I agree with the advice above that the entrance/ramp off Pitman St would be by far the better way to get to them, I left that carpark that way afterwards.
Other minor notes: the parking spaces are pretty narrow, and the lanes in the carpark too, making entering/exiting the bays a bit tricky for a car with the turning circle of an ocean liner like my Model 3. Also I have never seen such new/unused charge handles on a Supercharger; it must have very low usage (the usage-over-time graph in the car shows that too). It is also rather more of a diversion to get to/from this charger from the Monaro Highway - in terms of time - than I would have assumed from a quick look in the nav system.
I personally hate that carpark precisely due to what you've described. The location is also a bit strange for a supercharger. Tuggeranong isn't really an area that visitors would frequent, nor part of the Snowy-Sydney route. I reckon it only gets traffic when Plugshare reports the Majura one is full - which only happens during busy long weekends.
I think if the car's navigation system had dumped me near the top of the carpark entrance ramp in Pitman St (rather than at a busy set of traffic lights at the opposite end of the carpark AND where there were multiple car parking entrances to the multi-level carpark to the left, and right, and straight-ahead) I would have done rather better. I *think* you would be able to see the lit-up Supercharger stalls when proceeding down the ramp off Pitman St, or at least the bottom of the ramp is only a couple of rows of parking away from the chargers so a random drive-around would encounter them a lot sooner.
I don't think shopping centre carparks are a good location for Superchargers at all FWIW - destination chargers definitely (or even those "Urban Superchargers" (75kW or so) that we don't seem to have yet in Australia, but V3 Superchargers NO. Aside from finding the damn things (when let's face it, mostly when you need a Supercharger you are in a city you DON'T live in, so have no idea about the carpark geography in some giant shopping centre(*)) they just charge too quickly for a shopping centre visit and nobody is going to charge, start shopping, finish charge, move car, continue shopping - least of all if they have any family/kids in tow.
The upcoming Heatherbrae Pies Supercharger at Sutton Forest is almost my ideal Supercharger situation: just off a major motorway with easy on/off ramps in both directions, located at the sort of food place you naturally stop for (only) 15-20 minutes at (and with other food places really close by), easy to find the chargers in the carpark, chargers aren't in _that_ good a location that they are the first spots to be taken/ICEd by non-charging cars, etc. Shopping centre superchargers tick exactly NONE of those boxes.
(*) I think the Macquarie Centre Supercharger (NW Sydney) might be actually _more_ difficult to find than these Tuggeranong ones. The nav system at least lands you at the correct carpark entrance before leaving you to guess the rest BUT if somewhere the car would say "Drive through the carpark as though you were going to the Valet Parking" you'd have a better time of it.
I don't think shopping centres are too bad - if you're on a long trip at least they generally have multiple food options and decent bathrooms, and they're usually well-trafficked areas which makes them seem a bit safer for the solo traveller. I imagine a few people I know would be a bit iffy about stopping at somewhere like the Heatherbrae chargers at 9pm on a dark winter night.
It's been discussed here before that one practical reason that DC chargers get installed at shopping malls is that older malls were originally provisioned with large power feeds that are now significantly underused, because HVAC, refrigeration and commercial lighting has all become a lot more efficient in the intervening years.
The Macquarie, Tuggeranong and Broadway chargers are all pretty difficult to find though the first time (without the clues from Plugshare anwyay!) - surely Tesla could invest in some lit-up TESLA signage similar to the chargers themselves to point out the route through the carparks.
It's been discussed here before that one practical reason that DC chargers get installed at shopping malls is that older malls were originally provisioned with large power feeds that are now significantly underused, because HVAC, refrigeration and commercial lighting has all become a lot more efficient in the intervening years.
The Macquarie, Tuggeranong and Broadway chargers are all pretty difficult to find though the first time (without the clues from Plugshare anwyay!) - surely Tesla could invest in some lit-up TESLA signage similar to the chargers themselves to point out the route through the carparks.
Last edited:
Only that with how quickly Teslas charge, you wouldn't get enough time to do all those things. It takes a while to walk inside shopping centres. Doing all that in 15-30 mins is almost impossible. It'll just give me Tesla idle fee anxiety.
If you're headed between the Monaro and Barton highways, Tuggeranong isn't bad at all. Especially in the busy season when Majura Park will be packed.
You've got enough time for a visit to the knife.point food court. If any other stalls are occupied, dial your charging goal up to 100% to avoid idle fees. But they won't be.
And if you're an uber driver, these are fantastic. If you accept a run to Tuggeranong from anywhere else in Canberra, it really taxes your battery. Even 10 minutes here avoids a ruined shift.
You've got enough time for a visit to the knife.point food court. If any other stalls are occupied, dial your charging goal up to 100% to avoid idle fees. But they won't be.
And if you're an uber driver, these are fantastic. If you accept a run to Tuggeranong from anywhere else in Canberra, it really taxes your battery. Even 10 minutes here avoids a ruined shift.
Similar threads
