Easy charging: A family road-trip from Melbourne to Adelaide and back in an EV

We are a family of four with two boys, aged 11 and 8.

We had done long-distance EV drives before, but only in Europe, and without kids. We just recently got a Tesla Model Y long range – and rooftop solar – and wanted to see how we go.

Our plan was to go Melbourne – Adelaide and back over four days, with stops in Mount Gambier on the way to Adelaide and in Coonawarra on the way back. This is approximately a 1,800 km trip.

Getting a Tesla now means it comes without a charging cable, and having had the road trip experience before we figured we could rely solely on the supercharger network. The other consideration was keeping the kids comfortable and entertained on the long journey.

For the first day, we charged the Tesla to 100% on the rooftop solar at home, effectively making the first part of the journey “free”. EVs afford more storage room and the family luggage for four fits easily in the back trunk, with the top cover closed.

Our route to Mount Gambier suggested topping up at Ballarat (arriving with an expected charge of 58%) and then make it to Mount Gambier in one go. We actually arrived in Ballarat with 65%. The charge time was 30 min, which, with a family, is about the time you need to go to the bathroom and get a cup of coffee.

This continued between superchargers, we usually needed more time for a short walk or coffee and got reminded by the Tesla app that the car would be ready to go, rather than us waiting for the car to charge.

For the kids, the short stops were a clear bonus as it gave time to move a bit, enjoy some fresh air, use the bathroom, and for the parents to get a coffee fix with all amenities always available near the super chargers.

We arrived at Mount Gambier with 27%, enough to visit a few sights, get to dinners, etc. The Blue Lake was magnificent, as was was the Umperston Sinkhole.

Hungry, we arrived at a restaurant that still took time to open (because our clocks had crossed a time zone, but our stomachs had not), and we kept spirits high with a bit of family karaoke in the car.

On the second day, we made our way to Adelaide visiting Hahndorf along the way. The kids iPad batteries had run out and they relied on the USB-C plugs in the back of the car. As long as you bring USB-C charging cables, this is a great saver.

Taking the Southeastern Freeway into Adelaide the car estimated that it would take the last part of the trip to our hotel while actually gaining 1% of battery.

At first I thought that’s a mistake, but then realised that the road was, literally, only downhill from there, and the recuperation ended up charging the car as we pulled up to the hotel. If you rely on the phone keys, don’t forget to take your Tesla keycard for a trip, as the hotel needed the keycard to park the car for us.

The long straight roads in South Australia make the basic autopilot feature useful, taking strain off the long drives. The relative silence of the car was also relaxing for the family. However, more than once we wished for smoother roads or better suspension.

Adelaide was magnificent on a warm spring day, with the botanic gardens, local restaurants and cafes an absolute pleasure.

Coming back out of Adelaide on the third day, I worried that the return drive up the hill would drain the battery faster than the car was predicting.

With Sentry mode active over night, and a colder morning, the battery was 5% down. Did we plan that right? However, the navigation knows the elevation and it was all factored in, again, keeping a margin of safety and easily making the way to the supercharger in Tailem Bend.

Our stopover, this time in Coonawarra, was a bit more tricky: It was located between two chargers (Horsham and Mount Gambier) and the navigation planned to arrive there with 20%.

That might be enough but it seemed unnecessarily tight. I used the multi-stop planning to tell the car that after the stop in Coonawarra we plan to drive back to Melbourne, which immediately changed the charging to keep a more healthy 50% for the overnight.

We stayed at a lovely camping site and if I had bought that mobile charger, we could have easily plugged in overnight – that is one cable I would definitely take with me on the next road trip.

On the fourth day, I watched out for supercharging speeds and we hit 236kW when arriving with less than 20%, explaining why some of our charges had felt so fast.

On the way back to Melbourne my wife and I were talking about how uneventful the charging had been, but what if we had wanted detours along the way?

That thought led to us pulling up to the Grampians instead of going straight back home, and it was very worth it with a magnificent view from the Piccaninny and some animal encounters. Minor detours are well within the margin of error for such long trips, and if you add the stop in the route planner, it will fully take care for you.

We rolled back home with 10% left, making sure not to carry expensive supercharger energy home.

The final numbers: 1,894 km driven, 318 kWh consumed, 168 Wh/km.

Total cost of supercharging: $204.40, or $50 per person for a return ticket Melbourne-Adelaide. Our previous car was a Tiguan, and consumed 8 litre per 100km, which would easily cost at least $100 more.

Note: Story has been updated to correct terminology on the rate of charge at the Supercharger. It should have been kW, not kWh.