Tesla supercharges the road to Gundagai with Sydney-Melbourne charging network
Tesla's bid to power up the east coast is one step closer with news that the electric vehicle company has secured supercharging sites in Gundagai, Goulburn and Wodonga.
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In its continuing bid to bring power to Australia's east coast and to give Tesla drivers peace of mind when they head on the weekend road trip, Tesla has announced three new supercharging stations between Sydney and Melbourne.
The electric vehicle manufacturer has confirmed that it has secured sites for superchargers at Gundagai (100km west of Canberra) and Wodonga on the Victoria-New South Wales Border, and has begun work on a site in Goulburn, between Canberra and Sydney.
The announcement is the latest in Tesla's bid to expand its presence in Australia off the back of the opening of its first showroom in Sydney in late 2014. While the company's Australian charging network is a long way off rivalling its US footprint, Tesla has been slowly but surely expanding across Australia's east coast in a bid to make the complete Tesla offering more appealing to potential buyers.
The company announced a number of supercharging stations in Sydney in December last year, each of which is capable of bringing the flagship Model S vehicle from a 0 to 50 percent charge in 20 minutes, with a full charge taking just under an hour. Tesla later added superchargers in Melbourne and rolled out lower-powered Destination Charging stations in regional areas across the east coast.
At launch, the company committed to connecting Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney with superchargers in 2015, followed by "all major cities on the east coast" in 2016. This latest commitment to Gundagai, Goulburn and Wodonga is now another step towards this goal.
According to Tesla Marketing and Communications Manager Heath Walker, Tesla is aiming to connect "the most used routes" on the eastern seaboard, and the company is already scoping new sites further north. With a strong supercharger network, Walker said the company could overcome one of the major "perceived barriers" for Tesla ownership: range.
"Although upward of 90 percent of charging is done at your home whilst you sleep, Superchargers provide free long distance travel and show that electric vehicles are a no compromise and compelling option for all motorists," he said.
"Our destination program is also quickly growing with sites across all major cities, and a plan to connect cities with great overnight or three phase charging locations. Destination charging focuses on charging via the Tesla wall connectors at locations where our owners will be staying for a longer period of time, including shopping centres, hotels, wineries and resorts."
While getting drivers behind the wheel of its in-market Model S is obviously a major priority for the company, Walker said superchargers formed part of Tesla's broader strategy.
"Tesla wants to continually invest in the Australian market to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles," he said. "Superchargers assist with this, enabling free long distance travel for our owners."