RACV is partnering with Chargefox to upgrade EV chargers across 5 sites in Victoria. This will ensure faster and more reliable charging at these locations. While some charging stations may be temporarily unavailable during the upgrade process, the long-term improvements promise to make your electric vehicle journey much more efficient.
Affected Locations and Dates
The following locations will be offline during specified dates:
- Airport West (30th September – 14th October),
- Barnawartha (10th October – 16th October),
- Euroa (10th October – 16th October),
- Horsham (14th October – 25th October), and
- Torquay (23rd September – 25th September).
Please be aware that these dates may change, and it’s advisable to check the app for real-time updates. Hopefully Plugshare and ABRP will be updated quickly as the changes progress.
Impact on EV Drivers – Especially Hume Highway
Plan ahead and ensure you have alternatives arranged when travelling in these areas. Stay updated with the ChargeFox App.
Critically both Euroa and Barnawartha will be affected at the same time and the Airport West upgrade also partially overlaps. So travelling the Hume Highway will require some additional planning.
Here are some alternatives I’d reccomend for a Hume Highway trip at that time. Working North to South:
- Tesla supercharger in Albury, only a short distance north from Barnawartha, which is available to non-Teslas. Located in a club carpark in central Albury and lots of bays.
- BP Pulse Gelnrowan – I’ve not used this one, but heard it’s OK. Plugshare score of 10 and a total of 7 CCS2 bays (3 Northbound and 4 Southbound)
- Evie’s charger at Avenal is a good stop (and has some of the best salad rolls I’ve seen in a service station). Only a couple of chargers, but fast.
- Tesla Kilmore – another one I’ve not used, but Plugshare indicates it’s open to non-Tesla, and gives it a Plugshare rating of 10 and 3 bays.
- BP Pulse Northpoint is not far from Airport West. I experienced my fastest ever charge here, getting 237kW out of the charger at it’s peak, even though my car is only rated to 235kW. 17% to 83% in 17 minutes. Only 2 bays. Lot’s of food options.
Don’t get caught out
Don’t get caught out without the right charging options. If you do happen to be unable to charge at your preferred ultra-rapid charger at any time, it’s always useful to have these two items in the boot. They might just give you a big enough boost to get to the next fast charger.
Don't leave home without this item. I've used this charge cable quite a few times. On my Tasmania trip, I was able to get FREE electricity on multiple occasions where a BYO charge cable was required.
There have been several occasions where I'd have been downright stuck without this vital piece of kit, as the only chargers available were BYO cable jobs.
This is a great item for when you want to plug in to a regular power point. Whether you're at a camp ground or an AirBnB looking to top up overnight, or at home you can charge up practically anywhere with a power point.
Granny charging isn't fast, but it does get the job done. If you're charging while you sleep, who cares if it takes a while, especially if that electricity is sometimes FREE.
