Australia’s largest – if not the largest – electric vehicle ultra-rapid fast-charging locations has been closed after damage from recent floods saw the site host permanently terminate leases at the 54-year-old shopping centre.
The site was home to both a Tesla V3 Supercharger site and a Chargefox ultra-rapid charging site, which included six Tesla Superchargers, as well as one 50kW and two 350kW fast-chargers.
While Airport West in Melbourne is Chargefox’s largest site, there are no Tesla chargers there. Broadway in Sydney and Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast each have eight Tesla Superchargers but no other DC fast-chargers. Macquarie Centre in Sydney has 10 Superchargers and two Evie Networks 50kW sites.
The Toombul facilities will now need to seek a new home. The Chargefox site was located in the highest rooftop carpark, and an additional AC charger was located in an undercover rooftop area. The Tesla Superchargers were located in the undercover level of the shopping centre’s rooftop carparks.
The shopping centre suffered heavy flooding, including in lower level carparks, in the February flood events.
Marty Andrews, CEO of Chargefox, confirmed to The Driven that the Chargefox sites, which it operates on behalf of the RACQ, were not damaged in the floods. But, access was cut off because of damage to the shopping centre after unprecedented floods.
The future of the shopping centre is as yet unknown but the latest news suggests that it will not reopen any time in the near future. Mirvac has told media outlets that it is assessing the extent of the damage at the site, and it is thought it may be razed to make way for high-rise apartments.
A spokesperson for Mirvac said the company is committed to retail in the area, but had no further comment on electric vehicle fast chargers.
The closure of the Toombul shopping centre has proved a blow for the EV community. The inability to access the Toombul Superchargers and fast-chargers added to frustrations with many chargers out-of-action due to parts supply issues.
This article has been updated with information from Mirvac about the future of the shopping centre, location of the Tesla Superchargers and information about the Macquarie Centre site in Sydney.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.