Social media can be very challenging day after day, handy for staying in touch with distant friends and relatives but an often a battlefield of mistruths, aggravation and division.
Like many other discussion topics, a mention of Electric Vehicles brings out a vast amount of opinions for and against, you have three main choices to deal with it:
1. Delete all forms of social media and live happily ever after.
2. Scroll fast without reading the article or any comments.
3. I highly suggest you take up one of the first 2 options but if you want to engage please read the following:
There are two main types providing negative comments against EVs, those that just don’t know any better and are just repeating information they’ve seen/heard elsewhere without fact checking and those that know full well the information they’re providing is misleading/false. The second type are generally repeat offenders as they have skin in the game so to speak.
Only engage if you feel it’s absolutely necessary, if someone comments “I’ll stick to my V8 thanks” leave it be.
Have quality Australian based articles on EVs ready to go and provide the link when necessary.
Keep your comments polite no matter how abusive others become.
Keep in mind your comment/answer is aimed at the fence sitters more than the EV naysayer.
Provide evidence based facts not opinion.
For some responses a photo is worth a thousand words.
Mention your “EV” rather than your Tesla, being generic keeps prevents the discussion being side-tracked.
Be ready for the goalposts to be moved, when they are your comment has hit its target.
Avoid climate change discussion, many on social media only care about themselves.
Discuss energy independence, fuel and servicing savings, safety, performance, convenience.
The 21st Century is a world of self interest, tell them what they want to hear.
A portable power pack (also referred to as a solar generator) is sold in a variety of storage capacities from 150Wh up to and beyond 2000Wh. At this stage they are generally very expensive in terms of dollars per Wh of storage, if you purchase a unit that fits your needs and plan to use it on a regular basis it’s a useful product, otherwise they’re a waste of money and battery resources.
A big gripe I have is many of the power packs on the market are advertised as being useful for recharging an EV, no doubt the larger units can charge an EV but making this part of a purchase decision is poor thinking. Why? A fully charged larger unit could potential add 8 to 10kms of range to a Model 3, handy in absolute desperation but with a Model 3 Standard having at least 330kms of range at 110kmh no one who adheres to the ABCs of EV ownership should be getting stranded. If you think you may be 8kms short of range, slow down by 5-10kmh, you may arrive 15 minutes later than planned but that’s better than sitting on the side of a road while trickle charging from a 27kg device that costs $2000 or more.
So how is a power pack useful- As I said if you’re going to use it on a regular basis away from home they can be very convenient, despite most cars having multiple 12v power outlets they’re never always close to hand, having the flexibility of multiple phone, iPad, Laptop and Camera/Drone battery charging outlets away from the car when a 240v outlet is too far away is fast and convenient, they’re also very handy keeping a portable freezer operating away from established power.
There are two main types of power packs, the larger ones have a built in inverter and one or two 240v outlets capable of running appliances such as TVs, power drills or kettles for short periods of time, the extra internals needed add to the purchase price and the overall weight. The smaller power packs rarely have a 240v capability so are generally less cost per Wh or storage. If you can get through a few days without a 240v outlet that makes your choice easier.
Testing a portable power pack
To run the test I purchased a Coleman 40Ah power pack as this was readily available at a wide variety of camping stores throughout Australia, it currently is the best value per Wh of storage and most importantly contains LifePo4 batteries. These are heavier but are more likely to survive the expected 2000+ cycles before storage capacity is down to 80% of original. The 40Ah power pack has 512Wh of capacity and could potentially power 8 devices at once.
Test one – See how long a 100% charged battery would last while cooling a 45-litre fridge/freezer down from 18C to -15C, this was done during the day in an outside but shaded area in temperatures between 23C and 30C. The pack supplied enough power to allow the freezer and the originally room temperature water containers to reach 0C within 95 minutes, this consumed 16% of the available battery. I stopped the test after 10 hours with the battery down to 5% and the internal freezer temperature -15C. The test was run entirely during daylight hours.
Test Two – See how long a 100% charged pack would maintain the fridge freezer at -4C. This test commenced at 8.05am and continued through two full days and one night, the maximum temperature during that time was 30.6C, the overnight minimum was 21.6C. I concluded the test after 35 hours with the battery level down to 4%.
Test Three – See how much charge my old fold out 100Watt solar panel can add to the power pack without shifting the panel to follow the direction of the Sun. Considering there was early morning tree shade and a small amount of cloud cover in the late afternoon the 80% added to the battery was very handy. The Coleman 40Ah power packs inbuilt MPPT was a significant advantage. A 120W solar panel or shifting the panel once during the day would have provided a 100% charge.
Test Four – Can the solar charging keep up with a Fridge/Freezer set at -4C? Yes, the F/F requires around 65% of the battery over 24 hours, the 100W solar panels replaced 80% during daylight hours.
To summarise: portable power packs can be a handy accessory if you purchase the correct size for the planned tasks and use it on a regular basis.
There has been a lot of discussion going around about how the glass roofs on cars cause the car to get too hot making the air conditioning useless. Also people wonder about getting sunburnt through the glass roof.
As a (retired) medical practitioner as a skin cancer specialist and a scientist I can answer all these questions and more.
1 Ultraviolet light.
Lets first discuss UV radiation. There are basically 3 types of UV – UVA, UVB and UVC. The latter is the most damaging of all. UV light is one the electromagnetic spectrum with shorter wavelengths than visible light. UVA is the closest to visible light.
Fortunately UVC, whilst being the most damaging, is completely absorbed by the atmosphere so none ever reaches our skin. UVB is the middle group and is the one that causes sunburn. UVA has the longer wavelength and is assocaited with skin aging.
So what about glass? Remember that not all glass is equal so this is a generalisation. Glass is designed to let light through so UVA, being closest to the visible spectrum, can penetrate glass but only about 60% actually gets through. Fortunately UVB is totally absorbed by glass.
Glass fitted to the front windscreen of cars lets through UVA as above. A lot of side windows are slightly tinted in modern cars so a much larger proportion of the UVA is absorbed. Roof glass, certainly on the Teslas, is coated with a variety of filters that blocks most of the UV light. According to Tesla the roof absorbs at least 99% of all UV radiation. So it will not cause sunburn and little to no skin aging. You would have to sit in your car in bright sunshine constantly for at least 100 days to get the same UV dose as standing out in the sun for 1 day. Quite insignificant.
2 Infrared light.
At the other end of the visible spectrum is red and beyond that infrared and just as UV is divided into 3 bands so is infrared. Unfortunately is is not named as easily as UV but near, middle and far infrared. Near IR is the closest to visible red.
So does IR get through glass? Well once agin the answer is that depends. IR is a form of light, not heat. The heat is transferred by molecules vibrating.
So as before the near IR wavelengths are let through by glass as they are closest to the visible bands. The energy from near IR is too large to excite atoms in molecules from vibrating.
The middle band of IR is often referred to as thermal IR. This band will cause molecules to vibrate and ‘heat’ up (actually generate heat). This radiation is strongly absorbed by matter (glass in this case) so does not get through. But it will heat up the glass. Far IR is the same although has a lower energy state.
The glass on Tesla motor vehicle roofs has several coatings to absorb a lot of this energy before it enters the cabin. As already stated virtually no UV gets into the cabin and the IR is absorbed by the coatings and the glass in the roof. This does cause it to heat up which can then radiate that heat into the cabin (and out into the atmosphere as well).
As an interesting experiment try using an infrared camera to look at items through a glass window. You wont get a very clear picture at all even with the IR LEDs that a lot of security cameras have.
So there we have it. Certainly do not panic about the UV radiation through the glass roof. With regard to the infrared yes it will slowly heat up the glass and then the interior of the car. So does a metal roof. It heats up in the sun and radiates the heat into the car and the car heats up.
So what can we do to prevent this? Most people rush out and buy shades for the roof, put on tinting and so on. Lets cover these ‘solutions’.
Window tinting – from an aesthetic point of view a lot of people really like tinted windows and I can understand that. But it does not make much difference to the IR heating up the windows which then gets radiated into the cabin. It also make ZERO difference to the amount of UV getting in in modern cars. If you want window tinting that’s fine. Do it.
Roof tinting – there was some problems in the early days of putting the tinting on the inside of the roof causing the roof glass to crack. That may have been solved now but personally I am still hesitant about putting tinting on the inside. The glass roof still gets hot.
There is a ceramic coating that can reflect some of the IR light and this is put on the outside and probably helps a bit but it needs to be replaced after some years.
The Tesla glass roof already has at least 3 layers of coating on it to prevent a lot of the problems (hence the problem that some people think the roof is rusting due to an orange hue it got).
Inside roof shades – these are similar to the windscreen shades that a lot of people use. They still dont stop the roof glass from getting hot and several makes actually impede the view from the rear windscreen as they hang down at the back.
What is the answer then? Here are my tips for an enjoyable experience in your Tesla.
Firstly leave the air conditioning on when you leave the car in the sun. You have almost certainly used it whilst driving to where ever you needed to go so it has already done its job of cooling down the interior. For it to keep the interior at that temperature it will use less energy to maintain it than it does to get it down to that temperature.
This is a really great idea if you are parked up at a charger and plugged in as the power from the charger is used to keep the car cool rather than the battery pack providing you are not plugged in to a 10amp socket as the air conditioning may need more power than that can provide so some battery use may happen.
If you are leaving your vehicle parked always try and put it in the shade with or without leaving the air conditioning running,
If you are leaving your vehicle parked for quite a while (and its in the shade) you can leave the air conditioning set to keep the cabin below about 40 degrees C using the cabin overheat protection mode.
Still dont want to do any of this? Why not just turn on the air conditioning from your Tesla app on your phone giving it enough time to cool the cabin for your arrival?
None of these will work once the battery state of charge falls to below 20% (neither will sentry mode).
Whilst on this subject of air conditioning I would also like to cover some of the misunderstandings regarding what is in a Tesla. I must admit for the first few months of ownership I was convinced the air con was not very good until I found out a few things (such as leave it running).
During the hot weather I have mine set at about 22.5 deg C and on AUTO (experiment to find your own preferred settings). It works fine. You wont feel a blast of cold air on your face as in other vehicles as they have small outlets that can be directed at your face. Teslas don’t do that. You can direct the vents towards you but you wont feel it and this is why a lot of people say the air con is useless. Its not. The cabin gets down to its temperature very efficiently and the fan (when on auto) slows down.
I leave mine set to auto and let the car take care of the interior itself. You have just been used to something different and therefore feel its not as good. It is.
In summary then. You wont get sunburnt from the UV. The roof glass will get hot so don’t keep touching it. Try touching the metal roof of any car that is out in the sun. You will burn your hand just the same. Tint the windows if you want to for aesthetic reasons (and it may decrease slightly the UVA getting in through the side windows). Before you go out and spend a lot of money of roof tinting, shades etc before you have taken delivery (I know several people that do this) just try it out first.
I sit with my completely bald head only 2 inches from the roof and even in the 40 degree heat we get here I do not feel the need for anything except my cars air con.
As you may have seen in recent news retired engineer Jon Edwards has designed, built and installed a Biofil DC charger at Caiguna on the Western side of the 1200km drive between Ceduna and Norseman, this provides a handy boost for the adventurous EV owners crossing the Nullarbor when border openings allow. Before I continue let’s make one thing very clear, you’re under no obligation to drive across the Nullarbor, commercial air travel is faster, safer and probably cheaper, but as Ferris said “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it”.
Below I’ll discuss the charging available at the locations that are spaced evenly apart.
Before attempting to drive an EV across this part of Australia remember that Plugshare is the only app with the accuracy to plan charging stops, also don’t rely on apps to predict your energy consumption and arrival times, the road surface and wind direction plays a major part in how far you’ll get on a charge, play it safe and always plan to arrive with at least 30kms of range remaining. If you wisely plan your daytime and overnight charging stops the less time you’ll spend topping up the batteries.
Balladonia 22kw CCS2 DC charger
Departing Norseman and driving East the first well spaced charging stop is at the Balladonia Roadhouse, 190kms from Norseman, which has a 22kw CCS2 DC charger plugged into the 32amp 3 phase outlet. Compared to the latest 250-350kw DC chargers popping up close to Australia’s populated areas 22kw appears prehistoric, but in reality they’re a pretty handy short term solution that doubles the charging speed a model 3 can get from the existing 3 phase outlet and better still triple the charging speed available to a Hyundai Kona.
Caiguna, 181kms drive from Balladonia, has a 50kw DC charger powered by a Biofil generator, politely ask the counter staff to start the charger then go and enjoy the air conditioned Cafe.
Madura 22kw CCS2 DC charger
Madura, 157kms drive from Caiguna, has a 22kw DC charger plugged into the 32amp 3 phase outlet, payment is a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service tin located in the dining area. Note: as at April 2024 not available due to plug issue.
Mundrabilla, 116kms from Madura and 81kms from Border Villa, now has a 22kw CCS2 DC charger plugged into the 32amp 3 phase outlet. Note: as at April 2024 3 phase only available.
Eucla, this location is 182kms east of Madura, charging is via a 32amp 3 phase outlet in the Laundry of the Eucla Motor Hotel. Be aware that this outlet is not available between 9.00am and 3.00pm, if you expect to arrive at this time maybe use the Border Village charge point, 12kms to the East. Note: this location is no longer available for EV charging.
Nullarbor Roadhouse 32amp 3 phase
Nullarbor Roadhouse, 197kms drive from Eucla, has a 22kw CCS2 DC charger plugged into the 32amp 3 phase outlet at the rear of the building close to the motel units. Note: April 2024 NRMA DC charger now in place.
Penong Caravan Park, 223kms east of the Nullarbor Roadhouse, has a 32amp 3 phase (it has been prone to tripping at 28amps so plan accordingly). Penong is part of the South Australian grid so is likely to get a reasonable speed DC charger before too long.
Cocklebiddy and Border Village also have handy 32amp 3 phase outlets if you want to shorten the driving distances between charge sessions or wish to try different accommodation on the return journey.
This is the latest video from Tesla owner and TOCWA committee member Steve Rogers.
Driving across the Nullarbor can be fun the first time, but requires a huge amount of patience on subsequent trips. An alternative is putting your car on a train to Adelaide and continuing your journey from there.
Currently the journey in EV requires longer stops on AC charging only, this is soon set to change, check out this video to see why.
If you would like to donate to The Big Lap has Gaps fundraiser you can find the link here. If you are not able to donate please share.
The Tesla Owners Club of Western Australia 2021 Annual General Meeting was held today at the Newport Hotel in Fremantle. The Committee was increased by 2 taking it to 9 through to the next AGM in late November 2022. Those Committee members are:
Nigel Farrier and Steve Rogers (Newly elected until November 2023)
Rob Dean, Martin Kane and Rodney Louden (re-elected until November 2023)
Andrew Harvey, Harald Murphy, Peter Petrovsky and Ken Taylor move into year two of their elected term that ends in November 2022.
In the 12 months up until today’s AGM TOCWA held 19 in person events organised directly by TOCWA plus attended at least 11 other events as guests. TOCWA Secretary Harald Murphy conducted 47 Ask Us Anything Zoom sessions on Wednesday evenings totalling over 150 hours of content.
The Tesla Owners Club of Western Australia increased its official membership to 377, up from 142 at the same time last year. This represents approximately 25% of Tesla owners in WA, the average across the 172 official Tesla Owners Club worldwide is 11%.
Thanks to those who attended.
If you would like to become a TOCWA member click here.
Thanks to committee member Pete Petrovsky, Tesla Owners Club of Western Australia (TOCWA) have secured priority parking at Perth’s last remaining drive-In theatre for No Time To Die, the latest James Bond movie which will be released soon.
To secure the best spots and to be among other Teslas, you will need to make a free booking at the link below:
Leaving behind the plentiful charging options in the city for the countryside can be daunting for an electric car owner.
Spring in the mid-west of Western Australia is a great time to visit and see the bountiful wildflowers so be brave.
A drive north from Perth along the coast offered several reliable charging options for our Tesla 3.
Venturing inland to Pindar, via Mullewa and returning to Perth on the inland route, less so!
The “Electric Car Highway” is in its infancy.
Seeking out chargers will see you searching behind buildings and driving around back streets.
I would love to drive into a town that welcomes RV owners with a prominent “RV friendly town” and see another that says, “EV friendly town”.
I see a day when there will be not just one, but many chargers located prominently in the main street just as there are petrol pumps in a garage.
Standardisation of charging may come too. I carry four cables to cope with whatever I must deal with.
Leaving the city behind it is essential to plan for your next charge and hope that another EV car isn’t occupying the only charger at your destination.
Worst still, an ICE blocking the bay!
When we drove inland from Geraldton via Mullewa to Pindar to see the Wreath Flowers we needed to recharge to return to Geraldton. The Mullewa Caravan Park allowed a charge for $10. This was at a glacial speed. Turning off the air conditioning doubled the charge rate.
After three hours we drove back drafting behind a truck whilst rain bucketed down.
We watched the range decrease arriving back with an insane 19km left!
Won’t do that again.
Mobile phone coverage in the country isn’t great for those, like me, who aren’t with Telstra.
Don’t expect your APPS like Plugshare to work.
I also discovered that a lot of hotels and garages have three phase outlets and will allow you to charge.
Great if you have the correct size three phase plug…apparently there are two sizes!
The TOCWA 50kW fast DC charger at the Fisherman’s Wharf in Geraldton delivers at a reasonable cost.
One catch.
Accessing is via the Nextcharge APP not by using the menu on the charger itself.
Find the code for the padlock on Plugshare.
Driving an electric car on country trips takes a different mind set to that of driving an ICE.
Whereas you might fill up an ICE once a day from one of many garages, in an electric car stopping for coffee whilst you “top up” will become a way of life.
Due to a redevelopment of the Jurien Bay foreshore the “plan B” 3 phase outlet has been removed making the 50kw DC charger at Caltex even more important for those looking for a short stop on the trip between Perth and Geraldton. There is a Tesla destination charger at the tourist park but this is limited to 3.6kw so is only useful for an overnight stop.
If Perth to Geraldton is only 410kms via the coastal road do I need to stop? In most cases, absolutely yes, due to the nature of the road surface and almost constant winds it’s near impossible to achieve reasonable energy efficiency, driving at slower speeds on this busy road and being a road hazard is not an option so it’s best to accept the inevitable and plan a 25 to 40 minute stop at Jurien Caltex while adding 20-40% back to the battery.
The most critical aspects to using the Jurien Bay DC charger is to carefully read the operating instructions on Plugshare before arrival, patience is front and centre at this location, if you try and rush the process or miss a step you’ll just waste time. The Tritium DC charger is very reliable, the only time it’s failed to work is due to an issue with a handful of pre 2020 model X or S cars with a CCS2 upgrade or the operator rushing the start up process. If your Tesla is less than 24 months old, you should not have any issues with this charger.
A few tips:
Phone ahead your arrival time, Wade or Jarryd will make an effort to be on site as they know the process better than other staff members.
Make sure when the charger is unlocked both charging handles are firmly pushed into the holsters before and while the charger completes its 5 minute start up process.
Don’t arrive at this charger with less than 50kms of range, even though it’s so far been extremely reliable there is no longer a plan B in town, keep enough spare range to drive the 24kms to the Cervantes destination charger.
Don’t complain about the price, the $50 flat fee may appear high (it used to be 70 cents per kWh and a $25 minimum) but the Electric vehicle owner that spent tens of thousands of dollars installing the Jurien Bay unit will never see a return on investment.
