The first trailer-friendly Supercharger site in Australia has been opened in Western Australia, with multiple stalls geared to cater for drive-thru fast charging.
It was first reported to go live by the Tesla owners club of Western Australia on X and feature 4 of Tesla’s V3 supercharging stations, all of which have drive-thru parking, ideal for those towing a trailer, boat or a caravan with their EV.
It’s available to both Tesla owners and those with non-Tesla EVs as well. Non-Tesla EVs can charge at this site for 83 c/kWh.
The @Tesla @TeslaAUNZ @TeslaCharging #Kojonup #WesternAustralia wholly caravan and trailer compatible 4 stall V3 #Supercharger site is now fully operational. pic.twitter.com/WeCPgbFygG
— Tesla Owners Club Western Australia (@tesla_wa) March 28, 2024
The new site is in the town of Kojonup which is located 250 kilometres south-east of Perth. The town is also along the Albany Highway, meanwhile, the site is at 14 Benn Parade in Kojonup. Amenities-wise, there is a toilet nearby.
On the back of this site going live, one EV driver said: “Big thanks to all involved the network is growing beautifully.”
In March, Tesla also opened the Bowen supercharger site in Queensland which now takes the crown for Australia’s most-northern supercharger site in the country.
This site has 6 of Tesla’s V3 chargers, with one of the bays made for vehicles to drive into, which can also help if towing a trailer.
Sites with trailer-friendly features are likely to increase with time.
In March, a Tesla Cybertruck lead engineer, Wes, replied to a post on X showcasing a charging Cybertruck while towing an RV.
He commented on the focus around drive-thru chargers and the upcoming updates to the user interface to show “trailer-friendly” superchargers: “Supercharger team is always looking for opportunities to install these at new locations. Will show trailer friendly stalls on the in-vehicle UI to make it easier when road tripping with a trailer”.
That would be a positive outcome given unhitching isn’t always possible at most of the existing charging station sites. New trailer-friendly features in the car will help with better route planning for drivers looking at towing trailers, caravans, boats and other larger objects.
As more drive-thru bay-equipped Tesla supercharger sites have started to be opened across many countries and now in Australia, it would be interesting to see the evolution of larger drive-thru charging sites across the country.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.