In a previous article, I detailed part of drive to Sydney in our then relatively new EV, the main part of that article was about battery developments in China1. However, we recently embarked on another road trip, driving from Canberra to Adelaide and back, a distance of about 3,000 kilometres all up (including side trips).
The genesis of this trip was a phone call. Our son rang us up and said “How would you like to do some babysitting?” It goes without saying that we immediately agreed. He replied “The only problem is that it is in Hahndorf, so you might want to make a holiday out of it”. We were surprised, but still enthusiastic. So, we started to plan. Such a trip requires planning, because the maximum highway range (travelling at 110km/h) in our vehicle is about 250 km for each 90% charge.
You need to know where you can charge the vehicle so, you need to know where the charging stations are. Of course, there is an app for that; it is called Plugshare and it tells you where all the charging stations are throughout Australia, what type of plug they are, and which company owns them. It also tells you whether they are working, and whether they are occupied by someone charging their car. This allows you to plan your trip fairly easily. After this, we contacted friends and relatives along the route to see who would be around when we passed through.
Not only do you need to work out where you will charge your vehicle, but you need to know how long it will likely take, and there is an app for that too! This allows you to work out what you will do while the car is plugged in. We were ensconced for babysitting duties in Hahndorf for a few days, but the rest were spent travelling. When we were travelling, a day’s driving consisted of between 250 and 420 km, with an average of about 330 km, which meant two charging sessions during the day, one at about lunchtime and the other near our day’s destination (so we could get away early the next day). Sometimes, if we needed to stop for a breather, we would do a quick top-up, and would plug the car in while we had a coffee, usually in the late morning or early afternoon.
I have driven long distances before, having driven from Mount Isa to Canberra (~2,400km) in a little over two days, and I noticed with our babysitting trip that it was more relaxed than previous long trips, because of the need to take time charging the car. This allowed us to have a sit-down lunch, rather than grab a quick sandwich or a roll. On occasion, it also allowed us to have a wander around the town, which as well as being interesting, was relaxing and gave us a chance to stretch our legs after being cooped up in the car for up to two hours.
As for the relatives and friends; we had lunch with a colleague of mine, and his partner in Adelaide, as well as dinner (the same day!) in Adelaide with a former neighbour, dinner with a relative and his partner in Bendigo, and stayed with a friend in Albury on both legs of the trip. It was a most enjoyable holiday. The babysitting was good too!
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