EUROA may be one of six rural towns and cities in Victoria which have had upgrades made to their RACV electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, but locals and passers-by have reported unreliability with the new chargers.
RACV completed a comprehensive upgrade of its charger network to enhance the speed and reliability of recharging EVs.
Each public site now features new chargers that will provide up to 50 kilowatt and 350 kilowatt direct-current (DC) connections.
Four 50 DC kilowatt direct-current chargers have also been installed in the state's east.
The Euroa Gazette visited the RACV charging station at the southbound Shell service station on the Hume Freeway on Friday, 24 January and found one of the two upgraded chargers was out of order.
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The two original chargers were also out of order.
RACV general manager of energy services Greg Edye told The Euroa Gazette that the local chargers would be repaired as a matter of priority and that a maintenance team would attend immediately.
"RACV is aware of technical faults that have impacted electric vehicle chargers at its Euroa site and is working to correct them as soon as possible," Mr Edye said.
"RACV recognises the frustration caused to drivers by the chargers being offline.
"There is a team of dedicated employees which monitors the charging network to ensure faults are resolved in a timely manner."
Euroa local Andreas Kofler has owned a Tesla for five years and says demand for the technology will grow in the near future.
"EVs are already quite common in Euroa," Mr Kofler said.
"They are getting better and cheaper too - that's happening big time at the moment."
Tesla has a charging station at 46 Kirkland Avenue dedicated to its own vehicles.
Mr Kofler said he thought having a station even closer to the Euroa's centre would serve the community better in terms of passing motorists entering the town.
"But it is good enough," he said.
"The visitors do provide some business for the cafes and shops."
Mr Kofler uses the Tesla station which he finds is reliable and said he was disappointed for other drivers who used the other station.
"I have never had a problem here, and keep in mind that the Tesla (station) is an early one; it is just version two.
"There are upgrades of version 3 and version 4 out there."
Mr Edye said the upgrades aimed to meet the growing demand for EV infrastructure in Victoria at key regional sites.
"RACV’s EV network upgrade reflects our continued commitment to helping Victorians reach their destination safely and efficiently,” Mr Edye said.
"Our focus has been to deliver reliable, fast-charging solutions across Victoria."
The RACV charging app allows driver access to real-time updates and station availability.
Each RACV charging site also features CCTV security cameras, providing a safer environment for members and customers while charging their EV and helping to prevent vandalism.
Mr Kofler said having two stations at Euroa was 'quite generous'.
"Many towns would be quite jealous of having two," he said.
He also said the array of solar panels within view of the chargers served as a reminder of the effectiveness of renewable energy, and that he could think of one other improvement.
"You can see the energy coming straight out of that nuclear reactor in the sky to charge the cars, so now the stations should have canopies built with solar panels.
"Hardly any of them have got coverage to protect from the sun and the rain.
"Anyway, if you ever get an EV, you are never going to go back."
