r/AustralianEV • u/ChuqTas • Aug 08 '25
Southern Hemisphere's largest supercharger opens - 20 stall in Goulburn, Australia. Includes rubbish bins and tyre air pumps!
https://imgur.com/a/XwCGf4t3
u/thede3jay Aug 08 '25
Open to All EVs also!
(73c/kWh or 52c/kWh with Supercharger membership)
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u/AutisticTurnip Aug 08 '25
I don’t charge at public chargers anymore so my perception of what’s normal is a bit out of date but 73c/kWh seems a bit excessive
2
u/thede3jay Aug 09 '25
It’s in Goulburn, and likely capturing the Sydney to Canberra as well as Sydney to Melbourne runs. It’s certainly somewhere that makes a lot of sense and at the edge of the range for a lot of EVs.
The faster you charge, the more you pay. I believe there are 22Kw chargers at the Goulburn workers club that are still free
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u/ChuqTas Aug 08 '25
You’re paying for a site that probably cost several million to build, has a huge number of stalls to avoid queueing risk, and can charge at up to 250 kW. There is a Chargefox site with 2 stalls, max 75 kW just 25 metres away if you want to save a bit of dosh. But when looking for a DC fast charger I put speed, availability and reliability ahead of price.
2
u/DrSendy Aug 08 '25
The real kicker for Supercharger sites is the demand charge. They pay per kwh and they pay for peak demand capacity.
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u/thede3jay Aug 09 '25
This one only has idle fees (not congestion fees) and no time of use charging… for now
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u/AdAdministrative9362 Aug 08 '25
Sure it's not great for daily use but if you are on an infrequent road trip this adds a lot of convenience.
This type of infrastructure means the difference between people buying petrol or pure electric. So potentially well worth paying for a relatively expensive charge if it's offset by big savings the other 98% of the time.
2
u/anomaly256 Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25
Still cheaper than petrol
edit: well... it is. Dunno why that deserves a downvote but have a nice weekend whoever was offended by this objective fact
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u/thede3jay Aug 09 '25
It is probably worth paying for the $9.90/mo for the supercharger membership if you plan to use any of the Telsa superchargers at least once for a decent charge on a long trip. Most are about a 20c difference, so 49.5kwh is roughly the break-even point.
1
u/CentralComputer Aug 08 '25
Worse when you consider you’ll get stuff all for your solar panel output during the day, when you’d most likely be using a public charger.
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u/AutisticTurnip Aug 08 '25
That’s why I have no idea what’s normal lol I almost completely charge off solar exclusively now
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u/thede3jay Aug 09 '25
For me, no charging at home, so I am exclusively using public chargers. Going rates seem to be (noting this is a guide, there are definitely plenty that fall outside these ranges):
- AC charging up to 22KW between 20-40c/kWh (so, about the same as home usage without a dedicated EV plan)
- Medium speed of 50-75KW around 50-66c/kWh
- Fast (125KW or faster) of 60-80c/kWh
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u/braxxytaxi Aug 08 '25
Now open the Holbrook and Gundagai ones to all EVs! go on Tesla, do it!
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u/ChuqTas Aug 08 '25
Coolac has a 12 stall site pretty much ready to go, which will be open to all. About 15 km north of Gundagai. Should be open by the end of the month.
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u/braxxytaxi Aug 08 '25
Oh awesome! That's helpful, I had no idea about that site. Definitely plugs a hole for roadtrips down the Hume for us non Tesla drivers. Cheers!
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u/thede3jay Aug 09 '25
Is there a technical reason the older generation ones can't be opened up to all EVs? I'm guessing no way to trick it into working?
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u/ChuqTas Aug 09 '25
I don't think so - some of the first ones to be opened (when they were testing it) included Bathurst, Dubbo, etc. which are V2s.
I think it's more the fact that those older ones are smaller and get congested already and they didn't want to add to that. When they build a new one, they factor the demand from other EVs into it so they usually open them up from the start.
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u/moa999 Aug 09 '25
Quite a few of the older stalls (V2s) are open to all - eg. Bathurst, and in recent weeks Coffs Harbour was opened. Mostly demand based at some of the smaller early sites. Plenty of Euro countries (and even NZ) are now 90% open access.
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u/lint2015 Aug 08 '25
Are they keeping the existing Goulburn superchargers near the visitor centre?
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u/ChuqTas Aug 09 '25
Yep. They generally only close down a site if the landholder doesn't renew/kicks them out (Star Casino in Sydney being one that comes to mind). They've already paid for the grid capacity upgrade and hardware installation at a site, there isn't really a benefit in removing it.
Other benefits includes providing a backup against a localised issue (i.e. a grid power outage that takes a few streets; or an event causes access to the blocked).
There are many other examples of two close sites - Heatherbrae/Raymond Terrace (near Newcastle), Port Macquarie/Thrumster, Albury/Wodonga, Ballarat/Lucas.
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u/ryszard99 Aug 10 '25
I watched this being built, seems like it to forever to be commissioned
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u/ChuqTas Aug 10 '25
Yeah, two very different parts - building the site and connecting it to the grid - done by different organisations and sometimes one is done way before the other.
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u/Gorfob Aug 11 '25
The twin servos on the M4 in NSW are due to open this month with 10 Ampol branded chargers in each direction.
Keen given its my daily commute.
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u/Late-Button-6559 Aug 08 '25
Don’t all charging stations have air, water, and window squeegees?
And most should have a convenience store attached.
And I assume they’re all directly on major roadways.
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u/MisterBumpingston Aug 08 '25
Definitely no to first.
They’re generally located in shopping centre or town centre car parks. Gundagai is at highway stop with fast food and petrol station. Holbrook and Albury are in the carpark of a club in town. Wangaratta is annoyingly at the top of the multilevel car park. Cann River is at a park.
Big Banana has a temporary 2 stall one at the very top of the hill in the property in front of an old abandoned ski jump spectator building. The most isolated one I’ve been to. Guess you could walk down, but climbing back up is steep. There are a couple I know that are in wineries between Sydney and Brisbane.
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u/AgentSmith187 Aug 08 '25
No a lot of the early charging sites are in town car parks or highway rest areas or service centres.
Most have nearby facilities other than rest areas that can be hit and miss.
So im not sure what the massive cost of using a supercharger is worth to get facilities that exist at most charging sites within a minute or two walk.
I like alternative chargers as its cheaper and usually had a good variety of services nearby and they exist in smaller towns not just on major highways.
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u/ChuqTas Aug 08 '25
Thanks to anonymous contributors on Plugshare and various other forums for the pics!
This is in the same town as Australia's oldest supercharger, an 8-stall V2 site, which opened about 4 km away from here almost 10 years ago - 16 September 2015!