Back up rural EV skeptics, 70 charging ports coming to Western Australia

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More than 70 electric vehicle charging ports will be added in rural Western Australia in a move that’s aimed at providing drivers with more options to refuel while cruising down the coast, according to WAToday.

Robert Dean and his partner Robin made a 13-day, 5,400 kilometer (3,356 mile) trip from Perth to Broome in their 2015 Tesla Model S. They stopped every 400 kilometers (249 miles) to recharge on their journey, which they made before the charging port announcement.

“People were saying, ‘You can’t do that!,’ but I knew we could,” Rob told RAC. “It became a challenge to prove we could and I thought we could actually do it quite easily.”

The journey is a major blow to skeptics who have said electric vehicles are only useful in urban areas where a multitude of charging stations are available. As indicated on the Teslarati app, Western Australia already has a network of charging stations with a Supercharger station coming soon.

Source: Teslarati app

The challenge for Dean was a mere issue of planning out where along the journey he would stop to recharge, and a new deal between Synergy, a Western Australian electricity retailer, and the Australian Electric Vehicle Association will make it even easier for those who want to try Dean’s trip.

The forward-thinking in Australia is the latest example of how Elon Musk and Tesla’s commitment to sustainability has driven innovation at home and abroad. Musk has detailed that one of his goals, in addition to focusing on Tesla’s development, is to drive other companies to go electric.

An added 70 charging ports in rural Western Australia should be considered by Musk as a victory for sustainability and Tesla.

Either way, Dean’s experience with the Mayor of Carnarvon, who installed his own station for recharging Teslas, seems to reflect Musk’s shared mission for providing sustainability and bettering the planet with green energy.

“One of (the mayor’s) friends put in a Tesla connector at his motel,” Dean said. “He’d heard about the technology and asked me if he could get one (connector). I told him to ring Tesla and they sent one right out. For free. It’s worth around $1,500.”

WAToday also reported that Synergy hopes to have “90 percent” of the charging stations installed by September. Geoff Roberts, Synergy’s commercial general manager, said the company would continue to expand its involvement.

“Synergy has formed strong partnerships with industry groups like AEVA and the Electric Vehicle Council of Australia to understand what the future is likely to look like and to examine ways in which the business can play a leading role in enabling the take up of electric vehicles,” Roberts said.

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