On October 8, 2024, I became the 41st driver to complete the pure EV lap of mainland Australia, covering 14,857.8km in 33 days, clockwise, solo with a collie dog.
First Polestar and Geely Global Automotive group vehicle to complete the lap, Twiggy the first dog listed as co-driver and No. 41 on the official pure EV lap of Australia register kept by the Tesla Owners Club of Western Australia.
Route Taken
We left Cape Jervis on September 5, heading over to WA via Kimba and the Nullarbor to Perth, where we spent a couple nights.
It was then up the WA coast via Carnarvon, Exmouth and Sandfire Roadhouse to get up to Broome, where we spent another couple of nights, camped in the tent at the town beach campground.
It was then time to tackle the Kimberly, staying overnight in Derby and then Warmun, formerly Turkey Creek.
We then crossed the NT border near Kununurra, spending a night at Timber Creek before making it to Darwin for a couple nights, this time in the air-conditioned luxury of the Rydges Hotel.
Heading down into the NT we camped at Daly Waters and then Barkly Homestead before crossing into Queensland and spending a night at a Mount Isa motel.
Crossing through the outback we spent a night camped at Longreach before camping at Emerald and the Bundaberg.
We then spent a night with my sister in Lismore, sheltering from a big storm, before making it into Sydney staying at the Quest apartments at Macquarie Park and visiting a couple of friends.
It was then a short trip down to Mystery Bay and Tathra on Far South Coast NSW, spending three days with family and friends.
The final stint was through Gippsland to Moe and then into Melbourne to test drive the new Polestar 3 before camping at Geelong and doing Great Ocean Road to heading back to KI, via Mt Gambier.
Plan A and Plan B…
Basically the daily routine of the EV road trip is to fast charge two or three times a day and then charging overnight at the campground or motel where you stay.
EV road tripping at this still early stage requires you always to have a plan B, usually a 15-amp overnight charge at a powered campsite at a caravan park.
Federal and state governments have committed to having a fast EV charger at least every couple hundred kilometres on the main transcontinental routes, and this has almost just about happened.
There are still a few gaps, for example the Barkly Highway in the eastern NT, but for the most part there is at least one fast charger every 200km.
Whether that charger is actually functioning is another matter, although to be fair most were.
Unsurprisingly, the more remote, the less reliable the chargers were.
WA seemed to be a state of two networks – the very reliable southern network run by Synergy and the more haphazard Horizon-operated network up north.
A third vital technique is three-phase charging, which I did at a Port Hedland hotel, a mechanic’s workshop on the NT border and a showground in rural Queensland.
The Nullarbor was relatively easy, since my trip there is a new rapid RAA charger at Yalata in SA and then a couple once you cross over into WA.
One at a garage at Madura Pass and then the used-cooking-oil Biofil charger at Caiguna.
That coupled with multiple overnight charging options make it a breeze, other than the head winds.
The solar powered, diesel generator stations in NW Western Australia were interesting, some out in the middle of nowhere worked perfectly, while others were faulty or did not work at all.
We crashed the whole roadhouse and van park at Pardoo Roadhouse when I plugged in.
Also the two chargers in the remote communities of Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek were smashed by vandals, another in Port Hedland was blocked by marina construction, while in Queensland one key charger for me was dead due to a power outage in the town.
The rest worked great!
Only once when a station was down due to a fault did I have to backtrack. I only had to go back about 10km and sit at a slow charger for 3 hours. Was stinking hot though.
There were some challenges encountered – a charger ICED in Geelong where a non-EV blocked access, an old Landcruiser rolling coal in Tailem Bend SA and just a couple of randoms going on about generators in the boot – but mostly everybody was supportive, including most importantly the campgrounds you rely on for powered sites.
The chargers vandalised up north were not anti EV I don’t believe, but the Moe, Victoria damage may well have been.
I want to thank the captain and crew of SeaLink ferry, Spirit of Kangaroo Island, for allowing me on when I was on stand-by.
Thanks to all who assisted behind the scenes and thanks to all who showed up to say hi, including the three Tesla owners in Broome and members of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association in Perth, Katherine and Melbourne.
Another highlight was meeting the Electrekking family at Mystery Bay, with their Kia EV9 and camper trailer.
They were one of amazingly at least nine others doing the pure EV lap of Australia at the same time I was completing my lap.
This included all kinds of EVs from Jon Edwards’ Hyundai Mighty commercial truck to Ben Beverly in his base 51kWh MG4, Moulin Rouge.
And as of October 22, that list kept by the Tesla owners of WA has jumped up to 44 completions.
Here’s to sustainable electric vehicles and EV road tripping!
The five worst chargers!
Minilya: Located just north of Carnarvon, at the turn off to Exmouth, this charger was my real issue. .
There was much debate as to whether it had been commissioned yet, but PlugShare indicated it had been working before my arrival and later I heard Horizon was supposed to send out an electrician to either make a report or commission it.
When I arrived it was dead and I needed to backtrack 7 km to the Minilya Bridge Roadhouse where I paid for an overnight powered site for about three hours of 15 amp charging.
While charging, I contacted the office of Western Australian Minister for Energy, Environment, Climate Action, Reece Whitby, to explain how these chargers were vital for not only state tourism and being broken could be life and death in these hot, remote locations.
His office later called back and provided me with a contact at Horizon Power, but my view is that the minister and government need to put in place minimum operation standards to hold the power companies accountable.
I left in the baking heat and arrived at Exmouth with 9 per cent after hypermiling there.
This convinced me to get rid of the roof basket and keep the spare on the back seat inside.
Pardoo Roadhouse: Another vital link in the chain of chargers up the WA coast, this one was notable as I crashed the whole caravan park when I plugged in, getting some odd looks as people’s caravan air-conditioning stopped.
The friendly manager explained the solar was enough to run the roadhouse and van park, but not enough to charge an EV at the same time.
He needs to turn on the diesel generator and then it should be “fine”. We agreed that he should put a note on the charger to remind EV owners to check in first.
But this should not be the case as there was allegedly ample solar and battery back up to charge at least on EV, so the whole system was faulty and needed to be upgraded.
Another case for Minister Whitby and the government.
Fitzroy Crossing/Halls Creek: Smashed chargers in both these communities make crossing the Kimberly a challenge. Fortunately the remote solar powered charger half way between the two towns and also overnight options at both make it totally doable.
The Fitzroy Crossing charger was just hanging on, able to be used with a RFID card.
But these chargers need to be moved to safer locations, probably inside the fenced van parks or even at the police station.
Geelong shopping centre ice-ing: The awkwardly placed Evie chargers at the Geelong shopping centre at Highton have ongoing issues with non EVs taking up the spaces, called ICE’ing, because of its proximity to a gym.
The charger is hard enough to find and sure enough when I arrived there was an LPG powered Ford Falcon taking up one of the four spots.
One of the chargers did not work for me, but fortunately I was able to stretch the cable to the final free spot.
This is a parking lot that the gym users obviously see as their own, so perhaps it would have been better suited outside where there is plenty of space.
Moe NRMA ultra-rapids: The two ultra rapid charger screens are completely smashed and have been so for at least several weeks. Luckily, the slower 50kw chargers are still working.
Unlike the random vandalism of the Kimberly, I could see this being done by EV haters.
It’s disappointing that these broken chargers had not been replaced and the action taken based on security cameras.
Dishonourable Charger Mentions
Taree, whole Sydney-Brisbane corridor: My only time caught out waiting for a charger was on the busy east coast freeway. The Evie charger at Taree was down to one working, ruining my otherwise perfect “Evie run” down the coast.
Luckily I had more than enough charge left to keep going to Karuah NRMA charger, which can also be busy but in my case there was no wait.
This busy route needs more and more reliable chargers.
Barcaldine power outage: My otherwise excellent experience with the Queensland Electric Super Highway was tarnished when a power outage extending across half of Barcaldine to allow for some construction meant the charger was dead on arrival.
This was not really the fault of ChargeFox, but still it shows that everything should be done to keep these remoted chargers going. I managed to get out of the situation, by finding a three phase charger at the showground in the town of Alpha.
Embarrassingly, I needed the assistance of some stockmen and women doing a blacksmithing course to help me screw in the tricky three-phase plug.
Had they not been there, I would have reverted to spending the night at the Alpha caravan park on a 15-amp charger.
Best Chargers – The Shining Lights!
Ngumban Cliff rest area – this absolutely remote solar and diesel back-up charger in the remote central Kimberly is vital given the smashed chargers either side at Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek.
Southern WA chargers – The Synergy operated chargers I came across on the drive from Norseman to Perth were all magnificently kept and working in great locations and with drive-through options for cars with trailers.
The SA RAA network – My favourite network across Australia, always works great in and in great locations. Recently added was a 50kw charger at Yalata on the edge of the Nullarbor – vital for getting to WA.
Perhaps my next EV mission should be to use and tick off every RAA charger in South Australia, I reckon I am already more than halfway there!
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