Review: Mount Gambier 14 EV fast chargers make Melbourne to Adelaide electric road trips easy

It's not often that a Tesla supercharger site isn't the biggest fast charging hub in an Australian city but that is the case now that the RAA have opened their own big fast charging hub in the South Australian regional centre of Mount Gambier, halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide.

Image by - Richard F

This week RAA officially launched it's 10 plug fast charging hub at Mount Gambier, featuring 7x CCS 2, 1x CHAdeMO and 2x Type 2 7kW.

Richard F used the new RAA Mount Gambier fast charger hub on the Chargefox app successfully during several weeks of soft launch operations prior to the official opening, he told me that the "RAA network is really good".

Another commenter Bruce said on Plugshare "why can't all public chargers be this good".

RAA CEO Nick Reade commented at the official opening of the Mount Gambier charging hub:

"We know from data released by the South Australian Tourism Commission, that 95% of domestic overnight visitors traveling to the South East are ‘self-drive’ visitors"

"In building the RAA Charge network, we want to eliminate range anxiety for South Aussies and anyone visiting our great state; but also help drive investment and tourism within our regional towns"

"The launch of the Port Pirie and Mount Gambier Charging Hubs this month brings the total number of operational charging sites to 133 out of the planned 140-site network, due to be completed in mid 2024."

Image by - RAA

When I drove through Mount Gambier earlier this year while heading towards Adelaide in a media review loan Hyundai Ioniq 5, the RAA charging hub hadn't opened yet, so I charged at the Tesla OTR East supercharger location (6 x CCS 2).

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

On the way back to Melbourne I stayed a few nights in Mount Gambier to see some of it's famous geological features such as Blue Lake and various sinkhole gardens etc.

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

Not being in a rush I charged my EV overnight at the RAA 7kW chargers located at my accommodation Pine Country Caravan Park Mount Gambier, which cost roughly half the money per kWh compared to RAA fast chargers.

I always recommend using destination chargers at your accommodation if available. Nothing beats leaving the next day with a full battery charged while you sleep and quite often it will cost you a lot less than fast charging.

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

In my opinion the South Australian RAA Charge locations on the Chargefox app are better equipped, designed and planned from the start than many of the Eastern states chargers which were planned and installed earlier:

• RAA DC fast chargers are on average much faster than those in Eastern states, with minimum 150kW (no 50kW)
• Many RAA DC charging locations have 7kW AC chargers next to them as a backup to the DC units, for people who aren’t in a rush or for people who are next in line for a DC charge and want to top up slowly in the meanwhile.
• There are 7kW AC chargers installed at strategic points such as rural/regional accommodation sites so travellers can recharge overnight or while enjoying a pub/local cafe meal
• No Tritium chargers in the RAA network
• RAA pricing is fair with time of use charging more expensive during peak times and cheaper off peak. Currently about 2/3rds of usage is off peak and 1/3rd is peak.