Update:Â Ampol to roll out 10-bay EV charging stations at some of its forecourts
Tesla will build four new 15-bay EV super-charging stations in NSW as part of a first round of state government grants that will secure another 500 fast and ultra-fast charging bays over the next two years.
State treasurer and energy minister Matt Kean unveiled the $39.4 million of grants on Sunday, with money going to the likes of Tesla, BP, Ampol, Evie Networks and solar farm owner Zeus Renewables.
The grants will help to build 86 new EV charging locations in Sydney and regional areas.
Tesla charges ahead
The biggest, however, will be four 15-bay super-charging stations to be built by Tesla at key locations up and down the coast and on the main holiday routes – at Marulan and Albury south of Sydney, and at Coffs Harbour and Raymond Terrace to the north.
The 15-bay locations will be the biggest charging stations to date in Australia, and it’s no surprise that Tesla is the one building it, given that it dominates the Australian EV market.
Tesla is expected to lift the number of EVs sold in Australia to more than 50,000 by the end of the year, which would be a near doubling over 2022, boosted by the arrival and huge popularity of the Model Y crossover.
Tesla has the most supercharging stations in the country, and most of them have at least four superchargers, in contrasts to other providers who sometimes have just one or two, often leading to time-consuming queues for those with no other options to charge on a long trip.
Australia still lags behind
The 15-bay charging stations may well be the biggest in Australia, but remain a fraction of the biggest planned in the rest of the world. As The Driven has reported, Tesla is planning a 164-bay supercharging station in central California, which would be the biggest in the world.
Other network operators are reluctant to commit to that many bays in a single location, possibly because that – apart from Tesla – there are not so many other EVs on Australian roads.
“It is something we are considering as demand increases and the infrastructure can be supported,” said Chris Mills, the head of Evie, which also received the promise funds from the NSW government in the first round.
“The energy costs for such an installation would be very high, so driver demand would also need to be high to cover them,” he said, adding that current EV numbers were insufficient.
“We don’t forecast driver demand being sufficiently robust to support such an installation for a couple of years yet.”
Good news for non-Tesla EV drivers, too
The good news for non-Tesla drivers is that Tesla is gradually opening up its super-charging network to non Tesla cars, starting in Europe. But there is no confirmation yet on if and when this will happen in Australia.
The Driven reached out to Tesla to ask if the planned 15-bay superchargers would be located at the same locations as its current set up in Albury, Coffs harbour and Raymond Terrace, but did not hear back.
For a full report on the NSW funding program, and maps of the likely locations of the 500 new fast and ultra-fast charging points, please click here. Biggest charging stations in Australia – up to 15 bays – to be rolled out in NSW
See also:Â Ampol to roll out 10-bay EV charging stations at some of its forecourts
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.