Road trip with EV - my experience

I recently conducted my first family EV road trip. I have never had range anxiety about the daily commute and run around but I did initially consider taking my wife’s small petrol car. In hindsight I am glad that I decided on the EV. It has better storage, safety and comfort than our petrol car and it was a valuable learning experience. EVs are perfect for road trips but a little more planning is required than petrol cars. I learnt the following tips for travelling with an EV:

1. Download charging apps and enter payment details before you depart. I assumed that I would only use Tesla superchargers to recharge my Tesla but I ended up using other brands multiple times. Common charging companies in Australia include Tesla, Evie, NRMA, Chargefox and Exploren. You will need to download the relevant app and enter payment details prior to using a charger. It is far more convenient to sort this out from home or a hotel room with wifi rather than at the charger downloading using your mobile data. Every app will show you their charging locations, how many chargers exist there and how many are in use. Google Maps is a great resource for checking which chargers are available.

2. EV chargers in Australia are in CCS, Type 2 and CHAdeMO. Know which charger type your car requires. An adaptor is probably an unnecessary expense but be mindful when checking availability of chargers to ensure that your type of charger is available. Also be aware that some locations do not even provide cables. I discovered this at an Exploren charging station in Thredbo.

3. A charging station at or near your accommodation is an important asset. It is tempting to consider only the longer drives between accommodation and underestimate the shorter drives that you will take enjoying each place that you stay at. I discovered this at my first stop of Bowral. The drives to and from scenic locations used far more charge than I expected. If the charger is close to accomodation you can choose the most convenient times to charge. This includes the night or morning before your check out and long drive to the next accomodation. The worst range anxiety that I experienced was at Huskisson. I couldn’t find any chargers in town and was worried that I would struggle to keep enough charge until I returned to the Princes Highway. Some hotels and lodges provide destination charging to their guests. On the other hand, some home rentals will explicitly prohibit you from using their electricity to charge your car.

4.  Most charging stations are conveniently located near shops, supermarkets and restaurants. It is easy to utilise your charging time shopping, dining or enjoying a coffee. Try to plan your breaks, meal or activity accordingly.

5. Sometimes people park their petrol car in EV charging spots. I don’t know if this is done spitefully to sabotage EV charging or just out of selfishness. I only noticed it a couple of times. Both times the EV charging spots were conveniently located near the entrance to shops and a hotel so I’m inclined to believe that it usually happens due to selfishness. Some people don’t mind causing great inconvenience to someone else for a slightly closer parking spot. I reported one instance to the charging company and the hotel. The charging company was going to send a tow truck but the hotel located the offending guest and had him move his car. Often charging spots are located a bit further from the entrance to shopping centres or supermarkets to prevent this.

6. There are busy times at some charging sites. I visited the Tesla superchargers next to Canberra Airport in the middle of a Saturday Only to find all six in use with two cars waiting. I found a nearby Evie charging site rather than waiting. On the other hand I visited a Tesla supercharging site a few days later in southern Canberra and all six chargers were available. As mentioned above, a charging station near or at your accommodation will help you to avoid peak times.

Range anxiety should not prevent you from enjoying a road trip in an EV. Hopefully in the near future the charging network will improve so road trips will not require any forethought. More charging stations are appearing but the amount of EVs on the road has increase dramatically. In the meantime the tips above should make your EV road trip as carefree as possible.