Posts

Posted on

Around Australia trips in a pure EV

DriverStart/End pointCompletionVehicleNew Usable Capacity
1. Glen GeorgePerthNov 20111956 MG converted Blue32 kWh
2 Richard McNeallSydneySept 2016Tesla S Blue82 kWh
3. Jeff JohnsonSydneyNov 2016Nissan Leaf Blue * 21 kWh
4. Sylvia WilsonGladstoneJuly 2018Tesla S Blue69 kWh
5. Steve & Keita BurrellPerthAug 2018Tesla S Titanium76 kWh
6. Harald MurphyPerthNov 2018
19 days		Tesla X Titanium82 kWh
7. Wiebe WakkerDarwin/SydneyMarch 2019VW converted Blue22 kWh
8. Richard SmithDarwinApril 2019Tesla X White96 kWh
9. Linda RohrsGold CoastJuly 2019 (inc Tasmania)Tesla S Blue96 kWh
10. Rob & Robin DeanPerthNov 2019 (inc Tasmania)Tesla S Blue76 kWh
11. Peter HayesMelbourneDec 2019Tesla 3 Silver72 kWh
12. John PaulMelbourneMarch 2020Tesla 3 Red72 kWh
13. Jules BoagSydneyMay 2021Tesla S White72 kWh
14. Michelle & Terry ArzanikowBallaratJune 2021Tesla 3 White?
15. David McLeodWarnamboolAug 2021Tesla S Blue96 kWh
16. Phil SmithCairns Aug 2021Tesla 3 Blue 72 kWh
17. David CoatesMelbourneSept 2021Tesla 3 Blue72 kWh
18. Bill Gresham & John PhillipsCanberraJuly 2022Hyundai Ioniq Red38 kWh
19. Jeff & Julie WicksGoldcoastJuly 2022Tesla 3 White?
20. Tiff OvertonCentral Coast NSWAug 2022Mercedes EQC400 Silver Grey80 kWh
21. Harald MurphyPerthSept 2022
14 days		Tesla Y White
#AUSYtour		57 kWh
22. Pete PetrovskyPerthSept 2022
17 days		Tesla Y White
#AUSYtour		57 kWh
23. Neil BoltonCanberraOct 2022
17 days		Tesla Y White57 kWh
24. Stuart McBainSydneyNov 2022Tesla 3 White
Charge Around Australia		72 kWh
25. James TaylorPerthDec 2022Tesla 3 White
26,604km		72 kWh
26. David & Lindsay LloydPerthSept 2023Tesla S White96 kWh
27. Harald & Rochelle MurphyPerthSept 2023 (inc Tasmania)Tesla Y White74 kWh
28. Jeff GiddinsJan Juc (Vic)Sept 2023
(towing)		Tesla Y Grey57 kWh
29. Roger & Jenny TruloffGoldcoastNov 2023Tesla 3 White72 kWh
30. Richard Laxton & Myuu KumagaiMelbourneNov 2023Tesla 3 Blue72kWh
31. Harald MurphyPerthNov 2023
10 days		Tesla Y White74kWh
32. Shane Parker & Sarah WhitePerthFeb 2024
(1st caravan/accomm being towed)		Tesla 3 White52kWh
33. Harald MurphyPerthFeb 2024 – Figure 8Tesla Y White74kWh
34. Warwick ParkinsonBrisbaneApril 2024Tesla 354kWh
35. Trent Nikolic & Dominic WisemanSydneyMay 2024KIA EV9 Grey99kWh
36. Louis ChristosPerthJune 2024BYD Seal Grey82kWh
37. RT VandaCoorooman (Qld)August 2024Tesla 3 Blue72kWh
38. Sue & Peter
Gosney 		MelbourneSept 2024 with dogs
Ruskin & Oliver		Tesla 3 Grey75kWh
39. Harald MurphyPerthSept 2024 – Figure 8 Towing 19 daysTesla Y White 74kWh
40. Rainer Zietlow & Marius BielaSydneySept 2024VW ID.4 White77kWh
41. Stan GortonKangaroo Island (SA)October 2024 with TwiggyPolestar 2 White75kWh
42. Tim Devereaux

42. Jon Edwards		Harvey (WA)


Perth		October 2024

October 2024 1st Truck		Hyundai Kona White
Hyundai Mighty Truck		64kWh

115kWh
44. David & KrishnaPerthOctober 2024Hyundai Kona White64kWh
45. Ben BeverleyHervey Bay (Qld)November 2024MG4
Red		50kWh
46. AUSY8ACTNovember 2024 (figure 8) 43,000kmTesla Y Red57kWh
47. Nathan & MaicholSydneyNovember 2024BYD Atto3 Blue
48. Harald MurphyPerthNovember 2024 Towing (inc Tasmania)Tesla Y White74kWh
49. David King & Ruth HarrisonPerthDecember 2024Tesla 3 Blue54kWh
50. Tim, Renee, Ellie & Xavier McLennanPerthDecember 2024 TowingKia EV9 Titanium99kWh

* Supported by being supplementarily charged with liquid fueled generators which were either carried onboard or by a support vehicle.

Posted on

Jurien Bay DC charger critical instructions

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.

Posted on

Perth North Supercharger Location

10 JUNE 2021 BY PETE PETROVSKY

As some may have noticed, a couple of months ago, Tesla’s supercharger map had two exciting and long awaited W.A. updates.

  • The Perth Supercharger location was assigned the Q1 2022 timeframe, and,
  • A new location referred to as “Perth North” popped up with a Q3 2021 timeframe.

As we know, the location of the supercharger icons on the map are not designed to be precise or provide an accurate indication of the location, therefore, the question is where will the latest WA supercharger be located.  

In my view, it would be ideal to locate it in Joondalup as it would be an ideal location for:

1. those heading north to Jurien Bay etc. Joondalup would also put Dongara and potentially Geraldton within reach, and then on to Kalbarri, Monkey Mia, Carnarvon and so on.

2. those coming back from north of Perth, for example Jurien Bay, Geraldton etc could charge at Joondalup and then have enough to travel around Perth or comfortably reach the Eaton Supercharger,

3. those living in apartments in Joondalup who have little if any options to charge. (Joondalup has the second highest apartment dwelling population of any suburb of Perth after the CBD),

4. those living north of Perth who feel uneasy buying an electric car with the most northern DC charger being all the way in Gwelup (an approx. 25 min drive from many northern suburbs near Joondalup and potentially longer in traffic) Understandably, most charging occurs at home, however, if one forgets to charge, or the power goes out and there is another issue it makes the EV purchase decision easier if you know there’s a fast charger within a 5 to 15 minute drive. 

5. Joondalup has aspirations to become Perth’s biggest satellite city with approval to build high rise buildings such as the 18-storey Arthouse completed in mid 2020.

6. Wanneroo which is adjacent to Joondalup is Australia’s 5th fastest growing council with the Wanneroo and Joondalup population projected to reach 800,000 by 2070. (The current population of Perth, is less than 2 million.)

If the thinking is that the primary purpose of the supercharger is to address the long-distance trip market rather than serving the surrounding suburbs, then another good location is the Drover’s Marketplace and Leap Frog’s Botanic Gardens, Mini Golf and Restaurant at 1397 Wanneroo Rd in Wanneroo as it is the most northern point with any infrastructure along Wanneroo Rd (which heads out to Indian Ocean Dr to Jurien, Dongara and so on.) 

Drover’s Marketplace is located on a major intersection which services about 62,000 cars on an average day. To put this figure into perspective, it is about three times more than the traffic along the Australind Bypass along Forest Hwy in Eaton where the only other existing Supercharger in Western Australia is located and about fifteen times as much as the traffic along Albany Hwy in Williams where the next supercharger is to be commissioned.

The Marketplace is home to a major northern suburbs tourist attraction which is the 5-acre Leap Frog’s Botanic Gardens with integrated mini-golf, wedding venue and restaurant. Drover’s Marketplace is also home to a cafe, steakhouse, pizza restaurant, Italian restaurant, bakery, hairdresser/barber, liquor store, large fruit and vegetable and mini mart store, butcher, 24/7 gym, laundromat, 7-day chemist, medical centre (including physiotherapy, dentist, nutritionist, pathology, sleep clinic and podiatry). There is also a creche, kids indoor swimming pool, storage, vet, pet store and so on. Importantly, the above list only includes the existing tenants as the other half of the site is currently being developed which provides a good opportunity for the installation of appropriate electrical infrastructure. This southern part of the development already includes a petrol station and across the road is also a McDonald’s. Carramar Village Shopping Centre is within walking distance and includes a major supermarket, community centre, several fast food outlets, newsagency, cafe, 24/7 gym, hairdresser/barber, chemist, medical centre, school and so on. 

It is entirely possible that Tesla has already picked the location and thus the above could serve as a suggestion for the next supercharger location or maybe there is still time for Tesla to take the above into consideration. Either way, with the State Government due to begin installation of the fast DC charger network across WA next year, it is going to be an exciting time for WA Tesla and EV owners.

Posted on

Why 450 km of EV Range is Enough in Australia

Many of you will have seen the social media commentators claiming how much range an electric vehicle needs, it normally goes like this: “I’m all for electric vehicles and keen to buy one but unless it has X amount of range I’ll stick with my trusty diesel”. As each year passes and the range of showroom EVs increase the commentators X number also increases. This is Uncertainty 101 from those with the most to lose when the country transitions to electric drivetrains, it’s a very effective manipulation of all the fence sitters that are close to making a new car purchase.

To make this very clear when I say 450km of range I’m referring to passenger vehicles, not commercial vehicles such as heavy duty four wheel drives that were purchased with the sole purpose of towing a caravan or large trailer over long distances.  I’ll also make it very clear that 450kms is real range on coarse surface country roads sitting on 100km/h, this is where the range is needed most. Anyone buying a vehicle that never leaves the Melbourne to Cairns coastal corridor could easily survive on 350km of real range.

There’s no doubt that battery costs per kWh and energy density will improve sufficiently to make the fitting of large battery capacities fairly easy for vehicle makers That’s great for commercial vehicles but a waste of resources for the average Joe who for the vast majority of the year drives less than 200km per day and makes 2 to 3 long trips of maybe 2,000km,  having a battery pack 20kWh or even 30kWh bigger than necessary is careless, multiply that by millions of average Joes across Australia and it’s a significant drain on materials, labour and energy that could be better used elsewhere.

So how does 450km of range deal with the vast distances of Australia? That’s a fair question and the answer is straight forward, carefully placed DC fast chargers are a far better use of materials, labour and finances than millions of EVs full of oversized battery packs. The careful placement part is critical, between the capital cities and larger towns 220km average spacings are suitable, for regional areas in north, west and central Australia there’s far less choice of suitable sites so a 300km spacing may have to suffice. A reasonably organized driver should have no issue stopping every 300km to add around 65% charge on a long country trip.

The author currently drives an electric vehicle with 400km of real range on Australian outback roads, and has been to every State and Territory over the past 6 years. His last vehicle was a diesel 4WD with 1,100 km range, it is not missed.

Posted on

Planning a long distance trip away from DC chargers

If you’re keen to drive you’re Tesla north of Geraldton or east past Merredin it can be done safely as long as you have patience and prepare correctly. If you treat the journey as an adventure you’ll enjoy the trip, treat it as a task that needs to be completed ASAP and you’ll wish you stayed at home.

What will you need to carry?

You don’t need a large variety of charging cables but you do need charging plans A, B and C.

  • Plan A is the Tesla destination chargers located around the state, so far most of these have been reliable and most also have a 5 pin three phase outlet nearby as a backup.
  • Plan B is a 3 phase mobile connector such as a juice booster or KHONS charging cable that plugs into the dozens of 3 phase 5 pin outlets located all over Western Australia, this will generally provide the same charging speed as a Tesla 3 phase destination charger. Unless you’re planning many long distance trips I suggest you borrow a KHONS cable from TOCWA, paying over $800 for a cable you may only use a handful of times is not good value.
  • Plan C is the UMC that is delivered with the car, it’s the one in the square black bag. You may never use this cable but you must carry it, if everything else fails this will get you home, slowly but eventually.

North of Geraldton and east of Kalgoorlie you’ll need a spare tyre, jack and associated equipment. Puncture repair kits are a handy plan B but won’t get you out of trouble if the tyre damage is severe, besides you don’t want to be hanging around some outback town for 3 days while a spare tyre gets transported in. Keep in mind the best way to reduce tyre issues on a long trip is depart home with plenty of tread depth. A spare tyre and wheel combo is available to loan from TOCWA.

The Plugshare app is critical, make sure all fields are open so you don’t miss any charging options. Before departing to the next charging location it’s important you read not just the  location details but also previous comments, this may well save you a lot of time and frustration on arrival. Don’t forget to log in and if necessary leave a tip for the following drivers, it’s a great way to support the EV community.

Charging tips.

At some stage in the future virtually all locations in Western Australia will have fast DC charging until then the following tips will make any trip far easier.

  • Charging from AC will provide the same power transfer and charging speed no matter the battery state of charge right up to approximately 97% so there’s no time saving in adding the bare minimum charge to get to the next location, this is where the saying “Always Be Charging” comes in, take the charge where its available, the next charge location may only be 200kms along the highway but if it doesn’t work you could be spending the next 15 hours charging from a caravan park socket rather than the lunchtime stop you expected. Arriving with 40% state of charge is far wiser than arriving with less than 10%.
  • Don’t try and charge too fast if you don’t need to, especially overnight on three phase. If the Plugshare comments say the breaker trips off with extended high amp charging go to the touchscreen settings and drop the amps down a small amount so the car completes charging just before you plan to depart, slower charging is better than no charging.
  • Cool the car interior just before departure while still charging, this reduces the energy consumption from the battery needed to cool the car down once back on the highway.
  • Ask permission to charge before you plug in. Many of the charge locations in regional WA are provided through the good will of the local business, it’s important to return the favour with a friendly chat if possible. Take note that due to staff turnover the person behind the counter may not even know a chargepoint exists, check the exact location by browsing the plugshare photos beforehand.

General tips.

Get an early start each day and get off the road before dark – there’s far less traffic on the road in the early morning and it’s generally cooler. There’s still some wildlife hanging around the side of the road but it’s easier to see without a continual flow of headlights heading towards you. Early starts and early finish also provide some flexibility if your planned journey for the day takes longer than expected.

Don’t get too confident in quality accommodation being easily accessible, if you want the best possible overnight stay, ring well in advance, and make sure you arrange key collection. Many of the regional locations close up the front office by 6.00pm.

A number of TOCWA’s committee and members have completed long distance journeys throughout the state as well as around Australia, they are willing to share their experience with others so don’t be afraid to ask if you want more information.

Posted on

TOCWA Electric GoKart Championships

The Tesla Owners Club of Western Australia recently held its inaugural Electric GoKart Championships at the Powerplay indoor track in Joondalup. The concept was proposed by TOCWA committee member Peter Petrovsky who arranged a private event that would give Tesla owners full use of the track over a 4 hour time slot.

The 48 pre-registered drivers separated into random groups of 8 driving a 12 lap qualifying session. After the initial 6 qualifying sessions drivers were placed into 6 finals according to their fastest lap time, each final of 8 closely matched drivers was a 12 lap test of skill with the fastest lap time being declared the winner.

Trophies were Tesla themed with – Rainbow Road, Sport, Insane, Ludicrous, Plaid and Plaid Plus awards. We also had a Chill Award presented to Julie-Anne Watson for showing great Spirit at the event.

The evening ran fairly smoothly considering it was our first event of this kind, the committee are planning a few tweaks for next year that should make it even more enjoyable.

A big thanks to the great staff at Powerplay Joondalup, to the committee for organizing the online booking system and email communications, and of course to Peter Petrovsky for overseeing the whole event.