In 2023, electric vehicle sales continued to grow dramatically year on year, accounting for around 8% of new vehicles sold (we’ll get the exact numbers in January). With the growth in EVs, it is critical that charging providers keep ahead of demand for fast-charging infrastructure.
We know from experiences last Christmas holidays that demand was starting to outstrip supply over the peak holiday period when Aussies travel to see family and friends or to get away from them.
The good news story here is that chargers have dramatically grown in numbers during 2023, led by a massive investment from market leader Tesla who has the most EVs on the road in Australia including their Model Y which is the highest-selling vehicle globally.
Tesla has made serious investments in Superchargers this year, including introducing the first V4 supercharger site in Albury, NSW.
In December alone, the company installed a massive 82 new chargers, primarily along the east coast of Australia, where the majority of the population lives.
Below are the new sites that came online this month, including a new 2-stall temporary sled at one of Australia’s most famous tourist attractions, the Big Banana.
There is certainly good growth in the DC chargers rolled out by 3rd party charging networks like Evie Networks and Chargefox, but none compare with the scale at which Tesla operates.
In 2023, Tesla also started opening up selected supercharger sites for use by non-Tesla EVs, offered at a higher price than for Tesla customers, along with a subscription option for those who plan on regularly charging at Superchargers. The reliability of Tesla superchargers has been industry leading and this year the Government introduced new requirements for EV chargers to ensure increased uptime for customers that rely on the infrastructure being available.
