Tin Dragon Cottages now have their first EV charger installed and operational.
The Tasmanian Government awarded Tin Dragon Cottages a grant as part of their Electric Vehicles ChargeSmart Grants – Destination Charging program. Grant recipients will set up EV stations in the North, South, North East, North West and East Coast. Locations will include public carparks at councils, businesses and visitor destinations.
What Type of Electric Vehicle Charger at Tin Dragon Cottages?
Tin Dragon Cottages has installed a Keba electric vehicle (EV) charger with a Type 2 socket. The charger will have a maximum output of 22 kWh using 32 A three-phase AC power.
In addition we have purchased two cables for type 1 and 2 plugs. Guests can ask to borrow these.
Even more exciting news is that Tesla have given us an additional Tesla charger which has been installed at The Barn. It is available free to Tesla owners.
Who Can Use the EV Charger at Tin Dragon Cottages?
The EV charger is available for overnight guests staying at Tin Dragon Cottages. Other visitors to Branxholm can also use the charger for short periods (up to two hours) by appointment (mob 040 750 1137). Our EV chargers are on the plug-share map of Tasmania.
There is no fee for Tesla vehicles. For other vehicles our minimum cost is $10 at the rate of $0.33 per kWh.
EV Charger Uses Renewable Energy
Your EV charge will be from 100% renewable energy. Tin Dragon Cottages generates up to 210 kWh of power each day from a combination of solar and hydro energy.
Tasmania to Become an EV Destination Island
The Tasmanian Government awarded grants of up to $50,000 to support the installation of Direct Current (DC) electric vehicle charging stations. These chargers will be available for public use.
Fast chargers provide a high rate of charge and are installed where drivers need to recharge and get back on the road quickly. So the good news is that Tasmania will be the tourist’s EV destination of choice in Australia. Furthermore there will be four EV chargers available in North East Tasmania.
Other EV Chargers in our Region
This list is growing rapidly. Of course you can go on the plugshare web page to view more. The following information is provided by the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (Tasmania).
Launceston
There is a DC Fast Charger is now operational at 44 Guy St. in Kings Meadows, Launceston. This is in the car park for the Coles shopping centre. You can find it around the left hand side of the supermarket as you approach it from the front.
Because the charger is located close to the highway, it is convenient for traffic going from Hobart to Branxholm.
There are two chargers, branded Chargefox and RACT. They can supply up to 350 kW, making them the fastest chargers installed in Tasmania (or in Australia for that matter). However, few cars can actually charge at that rate, but the capacity is there for future vehicles.
These chargers have CHAdeMO and CCS2 plugs. This means that they will charge all new vehicles, and most of the old ones without any further adaptors. The two exceptions that come to mind are:
- Pre-2019 BMW i3s would need an adaptor to connect their CCS1 socket to the CCS2 plug
- Pre-2019 Teslas need an adaptor to connect to the CHAdeMO plug
These chargers use the Chargefox network, which means they can be activated from a mobile phone with the Chargefox app. They will also be able to be activated using a credit card, but are currently free to use. We don’t know how long they will be free for, or what the price will be, or whether there will be discounts for RACT members.
Scottsdale
The Scottsdale Art Gallery Cafe at 42 King St has a fast DC charger. This one has some interesting load management going on behind the scenes, where the feed to the car may be temporarily reduced if the cafe is using lots of electricity.
This is a 50 kW Tritium charger, on the Chargefox network. However, please note that at the moment you can only use it with the Chargefox app on a mobile phone. There is a credit card billing system installed, but may not be operational until later in the year.
Parking is free, electricity costs are as follows:
$0.50 per kWh (7am – 10am Mon – Fri)
$0.50 per kWh (4pm – 9pm Mon – Fri)
$0.40 per kWh (at all other times)
The more expensive times look like they match up with Tas Networks Time of Use peak tariff times. So I’d assume that they are AEST, and you’ll need to adjust for daylight savings.
The plug types are CHAdeMO and CCS2. Looks like there is no AC charging on site.
Electric Vehicles are Great for Tourism!
Late last year Rob Dean and his son, Robin, travelled around Australia’s coastal roads in an electric vehicle. They spent 7 weeks driving the route many like to call “the big lap” -just over 19,000kms in total, all 6 states, 2 territories and 8 capital cities.
Rob believes the lower refueling costs will encourage Australians to take EV road trips rather than overseas holidays. Rob estimated that not purchasing imported fuel enabled him to spend an additional $3000+ in local economies around the country including tours to wildlife parks, museums and theme parks, boat trips we may have otherwise passed up on and lunches in country cafes that rarely see tourists.
