Griffith City Council in negotiations with Tesla and NRMA over locations

Movement to get fast charging stations to Griffith has been ongoing, with Tesla approaching council over potential locations last year.

Since then, NRMA have also taken an interest in installing stations in the city.

The Griffith Information Centre car park was viewed as a potential location when Tesla came to the table, but negotiations are now occurring about the Yambil Street location.

Both the NRMA and Tesla are proposing six fast car chargers, which Mayor Doug Curran points out would virtually take up 24 car spaces, unideal for the visitors centre car park.

"It's just going to take up too much room in what is a fairly central location," Cr Curran said.

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"The problem is they would use two spaces for each car and to put six in, you virtually lose 12 car spaces. With both the NRMA and Tesla wanting to install six, you lose 24 spaces," Cr Curran said.

"They also don't want to be paying any rental fees on those spaces."

In the past, other locations, including carparks along Railway Street and a location near council and the Griffith Regional Theatre, have also been proposed but have raised their own concerns.

"There were some feelings that having it near the council chambers would be too far away from the CBD," Cr Curran said.

"The two new carparks on Railway Street also aren't ideally located for this type of infrastructure and are starting to be heavily utalised."

The Yambil Street option is currently before Tesla and the NRMA, with council awaiting a response from both parties.

"We thought it was a good place because if you pull up needing to charge, that could take half an hour. People want to be able to do things in that time, whether it be grabbing a bite to eat or doing some shopping. I think it's a prime location and not far from the main street," Cr Curran said.

Overall, he envisions fast chargers being installed in Griffith won't be far off the horizon.

"We're keen for this and are actively trying to engage with Tesla and the NRMA. At this stage we are just waiting to hear back," Cr Curran said.

"The fast chargers would likely bring more people through the city on their way to their destinations. That has capacity to bring some new economy to our Griffith so we're eager to see this proceed."

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