A network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations is underway in public carparks across East Gippsland.

The following are now open to the public and are a mix of Council owned and privately operated EV chargers:

• 5 Wolseley St carpark, Orbost - 50kW DC dual plug Chargefox (Council)
• Tongio Road, Omeo (100m south of Day Ave corner) - 50kW DC dual plug Chargefox (Council)
• Mick Baum Park on Ward Street, Cann River - 50kW DC dual plug Chargefox (Council)
• Mick Baum Park on Ward Street, Cann River - 3 x superfast CCS compatibility (up to 250kW) Tesla
• 121 Nicholson St carpark, Bairnsdale - 50kW DC dual plug Chargefox (Council)
• Francis Street, Bairnsdale - 50kW DC dual plug Evie Networks
• Raymond St, Paynesville - 50kW DC dual plug Evie Networks
• Visitor Information Centre, Lakes Entrance - 50kW DC dual plug Evie Networks

A comprehensive list is on the Plugshare website https://www.plugshare.com/

Electric vehicle expo and charging network launch

The community were invited to attend the launch of the East Gippsland charging network as part of the EV Expo on Saturday 20 May 2023 at the St Mary’s Parish Centre and Nicholson Street carpark in Bairnsdale. Deputy Mayor Cr Arthur Allen opened the event and launched Council's charging infrastructure network.

The event was great success, and was proudly organised by the Sunrise Rotary Club of Bairnsdale with support from East Gippsland Shire Council, the Gippsland Climate Change Network and St Mary’s Parish centre. The event provided our East Gippsland community with the opportunity to 'see, explore and understand' all about electric vehicles. There were industry experts, local EV owners and car models from local dealers available to test drive.

Council chargers background

Download the latest fact sheet in the Documents tab.

In a first for our region East Gippsland Shire Council has installed four new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Omeo, Bairnsdale, Orbost, and Cann River. Council is using federal and state government funding to install seven fast chargers between now and the end of 2023.

Transport contributes Australia’s second largest source of greenhouse gases, and these new charging stations offer a 50kW DC fast charging option and are powered by 100% renewable energy, making them an environmentally friendly and sustainable transport option. All electric vehicle charging stations installed by Council will source 100% renewable electricity as part of VECO.

At 50kW, a vehicle plugged in to a charger will add about 50km of range per 10 minutes plugged in. The cost for using the charging stations will be 40 cents per kilowatt hour, which is competitive with other charging options in Australia.

Council chargers have been funded by the Australian Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure (LRCI) Program and has seen a dual plug (CCS2 and CHAdeMO) 50kW fast charger installed in:

• BAIRNSDALE: 121 Nicholson St carpark - OPEN
• OMEO: Tongio Rd - OPEN
• ORBOST: 5 Wolseley St carpark - OPEN
• CANN RIVER: Ward St - OPEN

Stage two is funded by a joint Destination Charging Across Victoria (DCAV) grant and Council funding and will see the following chargers installed in:

• MALLACOOTA: Greer Street - 50kW DC Tritium charger
• BUCHAN: town centre - 24kW DC ABB charger (Note: this will add 150km of additional range per hour)
• LAKES ENTRANCE: Gray Street carpark - 50kW Sinexcel charger

More information see DCAV.

External electric vehicle charging providers, including Tesla, will also be augmenting the network in the coming months.

Evie Networks 50kW DC chargers are being installed for the public in the following carparks:

• Bruthen, Visitor Information Centre - installation is now underway March-April 2024
• Paynesville, Raymond St (near the medical centre, playground and library) - OPEN (see above)
• Bairnsdale, Francis St near Riverine st - OPEN (see above)
• Lakes Entrance, Visitor Information Centre - OPEN (see above)

What is a fast charger?

A fast charger will allow an electric vehicle to charge the battery in approximately an hour. When two cars are both plugged in at the same time it will take up to twice as long.

There are also private companies working with Council to install EV charging stations on public land for private electric vehicle users in Paynesville, Lakes Entrance, Cann River, Bairnsdale and Bruthen.

Location of chargers?

Where to place EV charger placement is tightly constrained by:

• car park type (two 90 degree carparks next to each other are needed ideally)
• access to 3 phase electricity
• capacity in the grid
• close proximity to amenities such as public toilets, cafes, shops, parks

The Visit Gippsland website now has an EV charging stations map that shows the addresses of charging stations across Gippsland.

If you know someone looking to charge their car, please alert them to the map.

CLICK HERE to view the map.

If you have a charging station near or at your business, please email contact@destinationgippsland.com.au and they will add it to the map.