Supercharger EV network to link East Coast

Electric car company Tesla has announced it will build a network of fast charging stations to link major Australian East Coast cities. The system will allow Tesla owners to drive their cars from Melbourne to Brisbane utilising free EV recharges.

The announcement of the recharge system, dubbed a 'Supercharger Network' by Tesla was made at tonight's opening of the brand's first Australian retail showroom at St Leonards on Sydney's North Shore. The company already has a similar network in operation on the west coast of the USA.

Tesla's Australian head of marketing and communications Heath Walker told motoring.com.au the network will be fully operational by the end of 2016. The company also claims it will have a Supercharger network linking Sydney and Melbourne (via Canberra) up and running by the end of next year (2015).

The network typically requires charging stations placed at around 200km intervals. Tesla claims the stations can charge one of the US-based manufacturer's cars to 50 per cent capacity in around 20 minutes. Tesla says depending on the model, this can deliver up to and perhaps 300km range.

Tesla's first Supercharger installation is already operating at the company's St Leonards showroom. In addition, Sydney Tesla owners can park and recharge free of charge at an installation at Star casino in Pyrmont.

An additional Supercharger station is expected to be commissioned at the company's combined retail and service presence in Melbourne. The location of that facility is still to be announced.

This evening's St Leonards opening also saw the first local deliveries of the company's Model S. In total nine new owners took delivery of their vehicles. Some owners have been waiting up to four years for their cars.

Tesla would not divulge the size of its Australian order bank for the all-electric 5 Series-sized executive saloon but Walker stated a "significant" number of deliveries would be made to Australian owners "before Christmas".

Tesla has made waves in the local marketplace, not only by virtue of its all-electric mantra, but also by its sidestepping of the VFACTs vehicle sales reporting program and, more importantly, its decision to institute near-parity pricing with the USA.

Tesla's sales model is direct to customer, both online and via company owned retail stores.

Back in May, Tesla announced local Model S pricing via its website. The four-model line-up announced at that time kicked off at just over $96,000. The then top of the range Model S P85 was priced at $133,257 plus on road costs.

Tesla has since announced a dual-motor all-wheel drive version of the Model S which is the new range-topper.