Tasmanian Fast / Ultra Fast chargers

[Dave3333]

I just noticed on the Electric Vehicle Council site (Electric Vehicle Council) that their map of charging locations has changed for Tasmania! I think the map comes from Plugshare, so perhaps go straight to that, but there are several new superchargers listed as "coming soon" now showing on the map.

There're only so many times I can click refresh on the Tesla site waiting for my Model 3, so I've been checking these charging sites daily as well...!

 

[Chuq]

I just noticed on the Electric Vehicle Council site (Electric Vehicle Council) that their map of charging locations has changed for Tasmania! I think the map comes from Plugshare, so perhaps go straight to that, but there are several new superchargers listed as "coming soon" now showing on the map.

There're only so many times I can click refresh on the Tesla site waiting for my Model 3, so I've been checking these charging sites daily as well...!

Yep, I was looking at Plugshare yesterday and noticed those same ones pop up I can confirm that the three southern ones (New Norfolk, Geeveston and Hobart) are all correct so far as the precise locations go. I don't know about the others (Queenstown, Elizabeth Town, Scottsdale) but assuming they were all added by the same person I would guess those are probably correct too.

I don't know about the "soon" part of "coming soon", I think it will be unlikely that any of these will be installed by the end of this year, but a condition of the government grant was that the station be installed within 12 months so I think we'll see a lot of activity in the first half of next year!

 

[Dave3333]

Yep, I was looking at Plugshare yesterday and noticed those same ones pop up I can confirm that the three southern ones (New Norfolk, Geeveston and Hobart) are all correct so far as the precise locations go. I don't know about the others (Queenstown, Elizabeth Town, Scottsdale) but assuming they were all added by the same person I would guess those are probably correct too.

I don't know about the "soon" part of "coming soon", I think it will be unlikely that any of these will be installed by the end of this year, but a condition of the government grant was that the station be installed within 12 months so I think we'll see a lot of activity in the first half of next year!

Exactly - sooner rather than later would be nice, but at least they're coming. The EVC site lists them as CHAdeMO, but hopefully they'll be CCS too. Now to just get those super fast ones in Campbell Town as well that you mentioned last month...

 

[Chuq]

Exactly - sooner rather than later would be nice, but at least they're coming. The EVC site lists them as CHAdeMO, but hopefully they'll be CCS too. Now to just get those super fast ones in Campbell Town as well that you mentioned last month...

Yep, they will all be both CHAdeMO and CCS2 - another condition of the grant!

Worth noting that the Chargefox one in Campbell Town is separate to the grants (it was announced beforehand, and they said it would be before the end of this year), so when I said not to expect to see anything this year - I didn't mean that one

 

[Chuq]

By the way, since this thread is active - a good time to remind people - the TOCA (Tesla Owners Club of Australia) AGM is next Saturday at 2pm, and someone has arranged a Tassie venue (in Taroona). Members can access the location via the TOCA website.

I may or may not be able to make it personally, but it would be great as a meeting place for Model 3 order-ers (or reservation holders - all welcome!)

Ping @Dave3333 @nigwil @zjrobinson and probably more that I've missed!

 

[Dave3333]

Hey - do you (or anyone else) also know what the state of play is requiring a type 2 to type 2 cable for chargers in Tassie is? I know many people on the Model 3 forum are purchasing those to keep in the boot as not all public chargers have a cable installed. How many public chargers fall into that boat in Tassie?

Obviously I don't want to spend all the money on purchasing one if it's not even remotely useful here!

 

[Chuq]

I would probably get one anyway. At the moment the following sites have Type 2 sockets:

Ones with a red "T" have a Tesla destination charger alongside it, and the one with "DC" has a DC fast charger alongside. However there is always a chance that one or the other may not be working, or access to one of the chargers is blocked. In some cases (e.g. the Waratah one) the Type 2 is faster than the destination charger. Having a Type 2 cable is good backup. Also, all new AC chargers going in are going to be Type 2 socket, so the number is only going to increase. Electric Highway Tasmania has said all of their DC fast charger sites (Burnie, Queenstown, Derwent Bridge, Swansea and St Helens) would have a Type 2 AC charger as backup.

 

[nigwil]

Ping @Dave3333 @nigwil @zjrobinson and probably more that I've missed!

Thanks Chuq for the reminder. I am at doing a tricky upgrade at work over the weekend, but if it is going ok by that time, I will try to get there.

 

[Dave3333]

Anyone know if there's been any progress on the installation of these new rapid/ultra-rapid chargers? There haven't been any updates on the plugshare, chargefox or goevie sites regarding these for some time...

 

[Chuq]

Anyone know if there's been any progress on the installation of these new rapid/ultra-rapid chargers? There haven't been any updates on the plugshare, chargefox or goevie sites regarding these for some time...

You've probably seen my posts on Facebook But for the benefit of others following this thread, here is the current state of play:

Addresses in blue are confirmed via multiple sources.

(The "speculation" one should probably be more in the "coming soon" category, but I used it to separate ones which had received grant funding - and therefore have a time limit on when they must be built - from others.)

 

[Dave3333]

You've probably seen my posts on Facebook But for the benefit of others following this thread, here is the current state of play:

Addresses in blue are confirmed via multiple sources.

View attachment 481797

(The "speculation" one should probably be more in the "coming soon" category, but I used it to separate ones which had received grant funding - and therefore have a time limit on when they must be built - from others.)

Nice! Hopefully the "coming soon" translates into actually coming soon... I was hoping some would be ready by Christmas, but that doesn't seem too likely.

 

[Chuq]

I was hoping some would be ready by Christmas, but that doesn't seem too likely.

Yeah, although it was expected that most of the work is in the planning, grid connection etc. side of things and we wouldn't see visible activity until late in the 12 month install window, I kind of hoped at least one or two might be more fully progressed than this

 

[Chuq]

Update from the meeting - the Scottsdale one should be active before Christmas!

 

[Chuq]

Here's an update on all of them @Dave3333 and @nigwil will probably have seen most of these updates via Facebook (in fact Dave contributed one of the photos!) but there is a lot going on at the moment!

AEVA - Tasmanian fast charging network rapidly expanding

 

[Chuq]

The first two sites from Electric Highway Tasmania (the company formed by some AEVA members, as mentioned in the news article in the first post of this thread) are now active!

Derwent Bridge:

Queenstown:

Still to come this year: Burnie, Devonport, Swansea, St Helens
Next year: Smithton

(these just refer to the EHT sites - many others coming!)

All EHT sites to have 22kW AC as well (still to come at the two above) and also credit card readers so no app/RFID card needed (although they will be on the Chargefox app as well for those who already use it).

 

[miimura]

That is a clever way to keep the cables off the ground that I have not seen implemented that way before.

 

[Chuq]

Latest update:

Apparently Geeveston opens on Monday and Burnie the following week.

I went to the Evie Brighton site today, an upgraded transformer has been installed but no EV-specific construction has begun.

It's also worth mentioning that Electric Highway Tasmania proposes to install a 25 kW DC charger in Ouse, which is a town which splits the 140 km distance between New Norfolk and Derwent Bridge. The logic is that pretty much all new vehicles would be able to skip the charger, but it would be very useful to owners of older vehicles (Leafs) or as a backup in case a driver over estimates and looks like falling short of the next 50 kW charger. I expect the DC charger just connects to a 22 kW supply, making it very cheap to install.

There are a number of other towns where they intend to apply this same concept.

 

[Nickdp]

... <snip> ... many people on the Model 3 forum are purchasing those to keep in the boot as not all public chargers have a cable installed.

Most (maybe all?) Type 2 public charging outlets that have a cable installed ("tethered") are actually Tesla HPWC's, great for all Tesla drivers, and they can also charge other EV's depending on how the Destination charger is set up (legacy mode).

... <snip> ... How many public chargers fall into that boat in Tassie?

There's no way of directly ascertaining how many Type2 charging outlets have a tethered cable. The best way is to view the photos and read the comments left by others, but that is at best a guide and relies on the goodwill of previous visitors to leave accurate comments.

... <snip> ... I don't want to spend all the money on purchasing one if it's not even remotely useful here!

On the contrary, I think every Tesla driver should have a Type2-to-Type-2 charging cable and a Type1-toType2 adaptor cable. This will be adequate for public Level 2 charging outlets. Obviously Plugshare helps to find these locations!

What most people don't realise (and luckily for Model 3 owners), is that you don't need the industry-standard 22kW Type 2 charging cable that retails for over $300 (for example this one). Model 3 (and S & X pre-Raven) have 11kW on-board chargers, so an 11kW cable is perfectly matched and is much cheaper (for example this one). Note that you can also buy it as part of a bundle here with the Type1-to-Type2 adaptor, and it is cheaper again. Don't forget to use the Amperage pulldown and select "16A - 11kW".
Not forgetting TOCA members qualify for 10% discount.

 

[Chuq]

I would probably get one anyway. At the moment the following sites have Type 2 sockets:

View attachment 441183

I believe I have seen pics from FB of @Dave3333 charging at his work charger which is a Type 2 socket, so I think he has the cable thing sorted

In the meantime, I did an updated version of the map above showing Type 2 only - we recently had a Zoe visit one of our meetings so I thought a Type 2 map was appropriate. Certainly filled out a bit more. Of course there are a lot more DC chargers now, but many are only one stall and have a Type 2 adjacent to them, so not a bad idea to have a backup. (Note: Not a single Type 2 station in Tassie has a tethered cable, to my knowledge)

Funny how the most commonly travelled route in the state, the Midland Highway, is a desert! (It's the same for Tesla destination chargers, and also mostly for DC chargers until the Campbell Town 350 kW site was done.)

 

[Dave3333]

I believe I have seen pics from FB of @Dave3333 charging at his work charger which is a Type 2 socket, so I think he has the cable thing sorted

Yep - I think I was asking those questions about a year ago, so I am definitely sorted with a cable now! Over the weekend I tried out the Campbell Town charger, and was a bit alarmed to discover that the first stall I tried didn't work at all. Luckily the second one did. Although I had enough charge to make it to Freycinet anyway (just).

On the way back to Hobart I checked out the Swansea EHT location, but couldn't see any signs of activity (unless I was looking in the wrong place...).