A scenic drive in a short-range EV shows why charging anxiety is real

One recent Saturday I took a drive from Brisbane to Casino via the Scenic Rim (Lions Road), and then back home via the Tweed Valley (Uki). It was a great excuse to try The NRMA‘s new fast charger in Casino, but with both routes otherwise lacking public fast charging, this 440km trip posed a few challenges too.

Our Ioniq 38kWh provides 300km range in real use, and it was only 200km to Casino. But my plan relied solely on the Casino charter to get home, and if the site was down, I’d have to drive another 70km to The Farm (The NRMA) near Byron Bay.

Add in the risk of weather, detours, etc requires a good margin, and the Lions Road could even have been impassable, and the main highway would add 30km at least. Lastly, despite a 100% charge overnight, 10km had already been used that morning.

So, I topped-up heading out, and after checking Plugshare status, I chose Evie Networks Jindalee over Yurika Springfield since it had more bays to limit risk of queuing, and better amenities, and my +20km timed perfectly with a coffee.

Casino was also verified in Plugshare on the way, but I arrived to find a busy 2xCCS site with 4xCCS cars trying to use it (me #3). The drivers weren’t there and hadn’t all logged on Plugshare.

After a long drive, I needed a comfort break, but didn’t want to risk a long delay by losing my spot in the queue.

Or I could drive on to The Farm, but I had little margin in my range remaining, and from past experience I knew it would be congested too.

A gamble of waiting 20 mins paid off when both drivers showed up and left, so I plugged in and headed to the nearby pub, only to find the kitchen had just closed.

Lunch wasn’t ideal, but I eventually unplugged at 95% and easily drove the 240km back to home. Had I needed a top-up along the Gold Coast stretch, there were plenty of options including multi-bay sites with Evie Networks and City of Gold Coast.

A few reflections from the trip:

• Charging anxiety is real. Drivers ideally need real-time, in-car navigation platforms to provide a safer way of monitoring site uptime and congestion, and planning around contingencies.
• End-user platforms like Plugshare remain invaluable to help monitor sites, though we need more drivers to use them. The value to be had is far more than just common courtesy.
• Risks are heightened in the sparse coverage of regional areas. For this trip, the “blackspot” around the Border Ranges would have been solved by an additional option in Casino, or alternates in Beaudesert, Rathdowney, Kyogle or Lismore. Regional capitalisation must be balanced against the need for redundancy, confidence and resilience.
• I recognise this trip could have been completed on one charge in a premium, long-range EV, but these are the lived experiences of someone who has spent $50,000 or less, rather than $70,000 or more.

Postscript:  It was a leisurely 9hrs total for the whole day out. Google says it’s ideally 6.5hrs of driving and I drove for just under 7hrs.

• 6hr 54min active driving and idling
• 0hr 20min queued to charge (Casino)
• 1hr 18min charging, eating, toilets
• 0hr 33min other recreational stops

In practice, the only lost time was the queue in Casino, as the recharging time was fully utilised for meals / toilets without dawdling.

Also worth nothing that, if I’d been in a hurry to get back home from Casino, I could have shortened my lunch, terminated that tapering charge at a lower SOC (e.g. 75%), skipped my leisure stop in Uki, and instead done a quick +20% top-up at lower SOC / higher rate on the Gold Coast.

This article first appeared on LinkedIn. Republished with permission, with minor edits and post comments added as postscript for clarity.