Brisbane City Council has given Tesla the green light to open an electric car dealership showroom in conjunction with other luxury car dealers in Brisbane’s inner-city.

Tesla’s showroom development application for a showroom to be located at 1058 and 1062 Ann St, Fortitude Valley was discussed at a Brisbane City Council City Planning committee. The committee approved its development making it the first ever Tesla showroom in Brisbane.

Expected to replace the Video Pro situated at the Homemaker Centre, the spacious showroom will have two main rooms; a sales room and an electric vehicle service centre.

According to a council officer, the proposal will involve minor renovations and demolitions generally limited to the outside facade.

The design tabled before the committee showed design plan details of the first Brisbane showroom. The plan featured the following:

Level One:

  • Offices
  • Staff amenities
  • Storage

**Basement: **

  • 24 car spaces
  • Four supercharger charging stations
  • Car wash bay

Ground:

  • Tesla vehicle showroom
  • Sales office
  • Storage
  • Staff amenities

The super charge stations are designed carefully to enable Tesla vehicle owners to get the service within 30 to 75 minutes. A 30-minute charge would power a distance of about 270 km while the 75-minute charge would give a range of around 600km.

In comparison to other Tesla electric vehicle chargers which entail overnight charging, the new charging stations are definitely superior and more convenient.

According to Julian Simmonds the City planning chairman, the council found Tesla’s proposal remarkable since it was the first proposal for putting up an electric centre in the city.

Vicki Howard, a local councillor noted that Tesla’s coming to Brisbane was really exciting news and definitely a timely and most suitable fit for Fortitude Valley.

“We’re seeing more companies such as Tesla really looking at that area as their home, not far from there we have a lot of the high-end motor vehicles that made that their home … so I think it’s the perfect fit.”

On the other hand, Councillor Jonathan Sri (The Gabba) raised concerns about the exclusivity of the charging stations to Tesla customers and felt such an approach could inadvertently form monopolies for a single vehicle dealer.

“Our goal should be to promote more universal charging stations,” he said.

“Maybe we can find a way when we draft this code to prioritise charging stations that are accessible for different branded vehicles.”

“I think that’s a fair point,” Cr Simmonds added.

The committee unanimously supported the proposed development application.

Tesla currently boasts stores in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide.