Life in the fast lane for electric vehicle owners in Sydney just got faster, with charging network provider Chargefox opening its first ultra-rapid electric vehicle charging site in Sydney’s inner eastern suburb of Zetland.

It’s a significant date for Sydney EV owners who up until now have had no access to ultra-rapid chargers which can add 200-400 kilometres of driving range to an electric car in just 15 minutes.

Chargefox has been rolling out electric car chargers since late 2018 as part of a 22 strong network that will run from Brisbane to Adelaide as well as locations around Perth and in Tasmania.

In July Chargefox opened the largest ultra-rapid charging site in the southern hemisphere in Melbourne at Airport West shopping centre, but due to planning constraints the opening of the Sydney site has taken longer.

Last Monday we reported that installation of the facility was well under way, and Chargefox confirmed that the Zetland charging site would go on line by the end of 2019.

However this has now been fast-tracked and the new site, which comprises of one 50kW unit and two 350kW units and is located in Zetland’s East Village shopping centre, is now online and operational.

The new site, which is positioned halfway between Sydney International Airport and the CBD, will allow inner city-dwellers and passers through to quickly add hundred of kilometres of driving range to electric vehicles in the time it takes to stop for coffee and visit the restroom.

It has already been visited by at least Model 3 owner Will Deasy who shared photos of his brand new white Tesla Model 3 charging at the site on the weekend.

While the maximum charging rate of the ultra-rapid units is 350kW, the actual charge rate for any vehicle is dependent on internal components, such as the 400 volt electrical architecture typical in an electric vehicle.

Of the limited number of electric vehicles currently on the Australian market, the Tesla Model 3 has the fastest charging capacity, with some owners reporting up to 200kW charge rates.

When the Porsche Taycan, which is based on the Porsche Mission E concept on display at Sydney’s Barangaroo in October 2018, becomes available in Australia it will be able to take advantage of the full 350kW charging rate thanks to its 800 volt architecture.