One of Victoria’s charging blackspots finally gets a new DC charger

EV charging infrastructure is improving in many parts of Australia as more drivers make the switch to cleaner vehicles. Despite this uptick in chargers, there have been various blackspots that need charging infrastructure to connect regional towns and tourist destinations.

One of these has been access to the very popular Wilson Promontory National Park in Victoria where DC fast charging infrastructure in many parts of the state including the South Gippsland region has not kept up with the uptake in EVs. 

That’s until now when there is finally a 50 kW DC fast charger in the town of Leongatha, located 136 km southeast of Melbourne. It was shared on the popular Electric Vehicles for Australia facebook group by Sarah W who was one of the first EV drivers to charge her MG ZS EV: 

“It is possible I am the first to use this beautiful new charging station (Chargefox) provided by the South Gippsland Shire at Leongatha. 100% renewable energy at work.”

Others were also pleased with this new charger going in the town and shared previous experiences of charging in the region: “That is fantastic. Last time I visited my relatives in Foster we went to Fish Creek pub for a charge and used their 10A power point. This will make those trips that much better.”

Others noted the new brand for the charging provider, the China-based Sinexcel. 

Given many fast chargers across the country are made by Tritium with some having reliability issues in the past, new charger models are a positive sign and welcomed by many EV drivers. “Never heard of it, I guess it remains to be seen how reliable it is, said one.”

According to another EV driver, sites are pencilled in for five other towns: “They are going in shortly at Korumburra, Meeniyan, Foster, Fish Creek and Yanakie. All 50kw.”

Given the region’s popularity for day trips and the road-tripping crowd, more chargers in South Gippsland and many other parts of the country are going to be needed, just to keep up with the demand. This in turn will fill the many charging blackspots EV drivers in Australia face today.