Queensland’s coastal highways and major cities are reasonably well served by high-speed EV charging, but venture inland and the picture changes quickly. A recent event in Kingaroy — a regional town of around 10,000 people situated about 218 kilometres northwest of Brisbane — put that gap in sharp relief, and the lessons it offers apply to tourist-dependent communities across the state.
The Kingaroy Case: A Small Town, a Big Gap
Kingaroy sits at the intersection of the D’Aguilar and Bunya Highways, both of which draw visitors through mountain ranges, national parks, and rural townships. For travellers making the roughly two-hour drive from Brisbane, it is a natural stopping point — the kind of place where you refuel the car, stretch your legs, and find a coffee. It also carries a certain regional character: boutique wineries, rolling green country, and a well-earned reputation as Australia’s peanut capital.
For EV drivers, however, Kingaroy has presented a practical problem. Until recently, the town had only a couple of Level 2 chargers available to the public, while its high-speed charger had been out of service for an extended period — several months, according to the local South Burnett Sustainable Future Network, which had grown increasingly frustrated by the delay. The charger was eventually repaired before an event organised by the Australian Electric Vehicle Association Queensland (AEVA), but the episode illustrated something that advocates have been saying for years: infrastructure reliability matters as much as infrastructure existence.
Why Inland Tourist Towns Need Fast Charging Specifically
A Level 2 charger is adequate for overnight stays, but it is largely useless for a traveller making a day trip or a multi-stop touring holiday. Someone pulling into Kingaroy for a 30-minute break needs a DC fast charger capable of adding meaningful range in that window. Without one, the town effectively drops off the EV travel map, regardless of how many slower chargers are available.
This is not a trivial economic consideration. Queensland’s winter tourist season draws significant numbers of travellers from Victoria and other southern states seeking warmer weather. For those driving EVs — a segment that has grown substantially as uptake has accelerated nationally — route planning is shaped almost entirely by where reliable fast charging exists. A town without it is simply bypassed.
Kingaroy’s Mayor Kathy Duff acknowledged this directly at the AEVA event, noting that EV chargers benefit the region by encouraging more travellers and tourism to the South Burnett. That framing — charging infrastructure as economic infrastructure — reflects a shift in how regional councils are beginning to think about the issue.
The Reliability Problem Is Distinct from the Coverage Problem
Much of the public debate around EV charging focuses on coverage: how many chargers exist, and where. Reliability tends to receive less attention, but the Kingaroy situation suggests it deserves equal weight. A charger that is out of service for months provides no practical benefit to the travellers who depend on it, and — perhaps more damaging — it creates a perception among EV drivers that a given route is unreliable. Once that reputation forms, it is difficult to reverse.
For regional operators and councils, this points to a need not just for installation funding but for maintenance agreements, monitoring systems, and clear accountability when equipment fails. The frustration expressed by the South Burnett Sustainable Future Network was not about a lack of chargers in principle — it was about a specific charger sitting broken for an unacceptable length of time with no clear timeline for repair.
Broader Context: Queensland’s EV Charging Landscape
Queensland has invested in expanding its charging network along major highways, and the coastal corridor between Brisbane and Cairns has seen meaningful improvement in recent years. The inland picture is patchier. Tourist drives like the D’Aguilar and Bunya Highways serve real travel demand but have historically received less infrastructure attention than the main arterial routes.
The AEVA’s decision to hold an event in Kingaroy — and to engage directly with local government and community groups — reflects a recognition that advocacy and community pressure remain important levers for driving infrastructure improvement in areas that might otherwise be deprioritised. The repair of the Kingaroy charger before the event, after months of inaction, suggests that organised attention can accelerate outcomes.
What This Means for EV Travellers Planning Inland Queensland Routes
For EV drivers planning trips through regional Queensland right now, a few practical considerations are worth keeping in mind:
- Check real-time charger status before departing. Apps and networks that show live charger availability can help identify outages before you are already on the road and relying on a unit that turns out to be offline.
- Plan conservatively on inland routes. Charging gaps inland are wider than on coastal highways, and backup options may be limited to slower destination chargers at accommodation or caravan parks.
- Level 2 charging at overnight stops is genuinely useful. If your itinerary includes overnight stays in regional towns, a slow charger at your accommodation can top up the battery overnight without any need for a fast charger stop.
- Community networks and local councils are increasingly engaged. Groups like the South Burnett Sustainable Future Network and local councils are active on these issues, and feedback about broken or missing infrastructure can make a difference.
The broader picture for inland Queensland EV tourism is one of gradual improvement, with real gaps still to close. The Kingaroy situation is both a cautionary example and, given how it resolved, a modestly encouraging one.
Sources
- CleanTechnica, “EV Chargers in the Tourist Regions of Queensland,” published 2026-09-18. https://cleantechnica.com/2026/09/18/ev-chargers-in-the-tourist-regions-of-queensland/
Meta: EV charging in Queensland’s inland tourist regions — what the Kingaroy charger outage reveals about reliability gaps and regional tourism infrastructure.
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