{"id":925031,"date":"2026-10-12T05:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T05:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/925031\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T05:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T05:02:19","slug":"tesla-applies-to-nearly-double-the-number-of-chargers-in-kaniva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/925031\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla applies to nearly double the number of chargers in Kaniva"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a long stretch of highway roughly halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide is a farming town hoping to cement its reputation as an electric vehicle (EV) charging must-see.<\/p>\n

The western Victorian farming town of Kaniva, with a population of roughly 800 people, already has 10 Tesla Superchargers behind its quaint country pub.<\/p>\n

The global tech giant has submitted plans to the local council to install another eight, and publican Bob Cane couldn’t be happier.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kaniva is home to 10 EV charging sites, with plans to install another eight. (ABC News: Nethma Dandeniya)<\/p>\n

“It’s about bringing people to Kaniva, connecting them with a classic, quintessential Australian classic town,” Mr Cane said.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Painted sheep have adorned the streets of Kaniva since 2012. (ABC News: Martin Boulton)<\/p>\n

Kaniva currently markets itself as the first and last highway town in Victoria, the gateway to the Wimmera Mallee Silo Art Trail and the “home of Sheep Art”.<\/p>\n

Mr Cane said the chargers were invigorating the town and adding another string to its economy.<\/p>\n

“When they plug in their car, what are they going to do? [They will] go for a walk into town, get a coffee, grab a hamburger,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Bob Cane is hoping the new Supercharger stations will be up and running before Christmas. (ABC News: Nethma Dandeniya)<\/p>\n

“The town benefits \u2026 that’s a big plus for tourism because it puts Kaniva on the map.”<\/p>\n

The Windmill Cafe owner Jemma Hill said the chargers had been a boon for the town.<\/p>\n

“They [travellers] stop, they come over, they grab their lunch and their coffee, they come into town,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s creating extra foot traffic within the town, which is fantastic, makes it feel very alive.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jemma Hill says the current EV chargers have helped her business. (ABC News: Nethma Dandeniya)<\/p>\n

A hub for travellers<\/p>\n

The existing chargers are a lifesaver for some travellers already tackling the trek between Melbourne and Adelaide.<\/p>\n

“We do this trip a few times a year \u2026 If we didn’t have this, we couldn’t get [to Melbourne],” Tom Beresford said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kaniva is home to about 800 people. (ABC News: Nethma Dandeniya)<\/p>\n

West Wimmera Shire Council deputy mayor Helen Hobbs said the site, which has been open for about nine months, had already made a difference in the town.<\/p>\n

“That has actually given people like the bakery confidence to invest,” Cr Hobbs said.<\/p>\n

“To have a brand new bakery with seating for 100 people, it’s beyond anything I could have imagined.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Helen Hobbs says the EV chargers have brought outside investment into the town. (ABC News: Nethma Dandeniya)<\/p>\n

Need for more infrastructure<\/p>\n

EV sales doubled in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to the Electric Vehicle Council of Australia.<\/p>\n

The council’s Aman Gaur attributed the jump to cheaper EVs, rising fuel costs and improved charging networks.<\/p>\n

“We’re now up to 4,200 charging locations across Australia and over 11,000 connectors,” Mr Gaur said.<\/p>\n

“Charging stations have definitely been increasing in Victoria and the number of connectors has also been following suit.”<\/p>\n

Ampol this month paid $225 million to buy Evie, one of the country’s largest charging networks.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Milad Haghani says if EV demand continues to grow at the same pace, charging infrastructure will have to catch up. (ABC News: Patrick Stone)<\/p>\n

University of Melbourne associate professor of urban resilience and mobility Milad Haghani said charging infrastructure would have a serious job keeping up if the EV sales boom continued.<\/p>\n

“It’s hard to predict whether or not the spike in demand that we have observed this year is going to be sustainable,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But if even a fraction of this demand continues into the future, that means that the infrastructure has some catching up to do.”<\/p>\n

Public chargers have rarely had queues, he said, but that could change as more people buy EVs.<\/p>\n

“If we wait for the demand \u2026 [to grow more] before we invest in the infrastructure, we may lag far behind,” he said.The waiting game<\/p>\n

The West Wimmera Shire Council has published Tesla’s planning application online while it assesses the proposal.<\/p>\n

The application says the upgrade would cost $250,000 and that the existing 10-stall site, open for about nine months, has exceeded the company’s expectations.<\/p>\n

A traffic report filed with the application says 10 to 20 EVs charge at the site each day, with holidays a natural peak period.<\/p>\n

Residents have until next Monday to lodge an objection to Tesla’s plans.<\/p>\n

Mr Cane said it’s about making the town ready for whatever happens next.<\/p>\n

“While they’re here, they’ve got the availability of these Superchargers and we’re ready for the future,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a long stretch of highway roughly halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide is a farming town hoping to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,12683,492705,11214,18846,123346,225028,7569,492702,492703,3122,660,492704],"class_list":["post-925031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-electric-vehicle","tag-electric-vehicle-council-of-australia","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-ev","tag-ev-chargers","tag-ev-charging","tag-evs","tag-kaniva","tag-superchargers","tag-tesla","tag-victoria","tag-west-wimmera-shire-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}