HIGH-TECH automaker Tesla has aimed to build a ‘supercharger’ site in Horsham by the end of the year, allowing the all-electric cars to recharge quickly.
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Tesla has already established a standard destination charger at the Horsham International Hotel, which can fully charge a Tesla Model S sports car in 9.5 hours.
A supercharger achieves the same result in less than an hour.
The American firm updated its global interactive map of charging stations on Tuesday.
Horsham’s supercharger is listed as ‘coming soon’.
“Target opening by end of 2017. Exact timing and specific location may vary,” Tesla’s website stated.
Tesla’s current nominated location for the supercharger site is either 120 or 124 Wilson Street, Horsham, which is mostly vacant land next to a dry cleaners, Kmart and Woolworths on the Wimmera Highway.
Tesla plans to build another supercharger site at Keith in South Australia, allowing its electric car customers to drive between Melbourne and Adelaide without having to wait more than an hour to recharge.
Tesla superchargers locations are also pre-programmed into each Tesla vehicle’s large-screen GPS.
Given that Tesla’s sports car models cost between $111,000 and $210,000, the new supercharger could entice reasonably wealthy travellers into spending at least an hour in Horsham.
Grampians Tourism chief executive Will Flamsteed said it was a god opportunity to attract a larger and more diverse tourism market to the Grampians.
“Anything that will bring a broader group of visitors to the Grampians and western Victoria is a good thing,” he said.
“Tesla have obviously decided that Horsham is an appropriate distance along the traditional drive between Melbourne and Adelaide to place a charger.
“It’s a great opportunity.”
Mr Flamsteed said Tesla owners tended to have a higher disposable income than the average car driver and were ore likely to be trend setters.
Tesla also plans to offer a more affordable USD $35,000 model in Australia this year.
A supercharger site in Horsham might also make it more convenient to own a Tesla vehicle for Wimmera residents.
Horsham Rural City Council chief executive Peter Brown said the council had been approached before about building electric car chargers.
“We decided that the open market should decide if Horsham should have car chargers,” he said.
“But we would consider support for Tesla’s proposal.”
Tesla enthusiasts have speculated since November last year that the company would soon build a supercharger in Horsham.
Tesla’s high-profile chief executive, Elon Musk, is currently visiting Australia.