Tesla photo shows weekend chaos as electric vehicle sales surge in Australia

Electric vehicle owners had to contend with longer than usual waiting times over the Easter weekend when charging stations were in high demand as Aussies hit the road to take advantage of the long break.

In scenes similar to those from last year a queue of over 10 Tesla cars was spotted in the rural town of Keith in South Australia, with drivers waiting to use the public charging stations despite being urged to plan ahead to avoid extra wait times and minimise congestion during their holiday.

Bernhard Conoplia, Head of Public Charging at Evie, told Yahoo News last week the charging stations would have "two to four times the utilisation" over the Easter long weekend versus a normal weekend and simple steps, such as leaving home with a full battery and planning their journey, would go a long way.

It's something some new Tesla owners perhaps learned the hard way over the weekend.

For a Tesla Model 3 sedan – seen pictured above – it takes at least 20 minutes to fully charge at a Supercharger station.

Government tries to keep up with boom in EVs

There has been a big uptick in electric vehicles with approximately 198,000 driving on Australian roads — two-thirds of which have been purchased since 2022.

With currently only 3,000 public charging stations nationwide, equating to 7,000 individual plugs, the government is "working quickly to ramp up EV charging" as it incentivises carmakers to import cleaner cars.

"We’re working quickly to ramp up EV charging across Australia to ensure easier, cheaper holiday weekend driving," Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said after new data from the federal energy department showed the increase in the total of fast-charging sites.

Electric vehicles are crucial in the government's target to cut emissions from new vehicles by 61 per cent by 2030. However, those taking up EVs and those considering the move are both critical of the limited number of charging stations available.

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Online some Aussies who oppose the push towards electric vehicles called the footage at Keith "embarrassing" as another joked they wanted to simply "bring back the horse and cart".

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