I drove an electric car from Geelong to Canberra. This is what I learned

Amid soaring fuel costs, visiting friends and the ability to just get in the car to drive for a weekend away. I have seen many commentators snapshot the state of EV’s in Australia, from the interior of a press car.

After 6 months of EV ownership, I embarked on my most significant road trip since taking the plunge. My 2023 Volvo XC40 recharge rolled over 10,000 kms on this journey and I can say with certainty, longer journeys require a degree of planning relative to petrol vehicles.

Driving an EV on a journey like this comes with all the upsides of driving vehicles built for touring. Typically bristling with tech, performance, quiet and comfortable cabins EV’s make the drive easier, less fatiguing and arguably safer. But possibly the greatest safety factor is the mandatory charge stop.

This 750km door to door journey has an estimated drive time of 8 hours, marginally less than the Melbourne-Sydney journey that bares a lot of similarities. Having made this journey in my petrol vehicle 18 months ago, I know that my fuel light is on by Gundagai.

However, my first mandatory charge stop comes well before that at Euroa approximately 2.5 hours into the journey. Unsurprisingly this was the first stop 18 months ago and by the time my wife and I had stretched our legs and a had a coffee after about 15-20 minutes we returned to the car reporting sufficient charge for the next (shorter) leg however, with 5 minutes left to reach a 90% state of charge.

My planned stop in Barnawartha was a brief 1.5 hours away where time spent charging was much the same. However, after some earlier delays it was getting late we popped into Albury for some food. Had I planned my stops more efficiently, I could have charged at a cheaper albeit slower charger for a meal stops before continuing to the next ultra rapid charger in Tarcutta.

While Ultra Rapid Charging (350kW), in principle sounds most convenient we all chase the maximum charge performance of our vehicles. The XC40 on paper charges at 150kW, however the maximum I have ever observed is ~140kW and charge performance drops as the car manages battery temperatures and other factors. Between 80-90% the charge rate slows to ~50kW, so what does this mean for the future of EVs in Australia?

While DC charging rates are rising with some vehicle families offering up faster peak charging rates of 350kW. Many commentors report the 20–25-minute EV charge stops as adding 25% to the “normal” journey time and often sighting waiting for chargers to become available. Despite making this trip on a Friday evening and Sunday, I experienced zero wait time at chargers, while observing other wait a short time (typical for me) I find the 25% extended journey time claim a little sensational.

Range anxiety remains one of the most significant inhibitors of EV uptake. Planning my journeys, I have avoided the anxiety and built confidence in utilising the full range of my vehicle. Until this confidence was shaken by the steep grades of the Great Divide as the Hume Highway winds between the hills from Gundagai to Yass.

In line with my EV manufacturers recommendation to preserve optimal battery performance I usually do not exceed 90% of full charge and typically reserve 10% as contingency.

Having planned my last charge for the journey at Tarcutta and with a WLTP range of 550km I anticipated I would complete the ~215km journey into Canberra with range to spare. After all I had crossed the great divide in Victoria with range to spare several times, but I had underestimated the grade and elevation change of this section of the highway. My in-car navigation reported a 4% deficit on arrival while my stated battery range exceeded my distance to destination by over 50kms.

As we began to climb, I watched my estimated range fall away, started to feel uneasy and it was not long before I turned to my navigation display to find a charger en route. Thankfully there were a few options without need to divert, however they were rapid 50kW units which my navigation reported a 15-minute charge would be required. With approximately 28% remaining charge I arrived into Murrumbateman and charged for the 15 minutes to arrive with an estimated 12% reserve charge.

On the road again the slower and much flatter cruise into Canberra used significantly less energy than the car had estimate and I arrived with more than double the reserve power than I the navigation had predicted. the first time driving an EV I, was frustrated by the battery driving experience and felt a let down by the navigation system that I had found usually quite accurate at estimating range.

Somewhat bizarrely the navigation had estimated Goulburn within range despite being ~10km further away than the destination in Canberra. The whole experience left me thinking it would be great if Canberra was 20-50km closer to my last ultra rapid charge stop.

As EV’s proliferate charging additional infrastructure will be necessary to service Australia’s most trafficked corridors. Capacity to serve not only more vehicles but also to better serve the smaller cities around them. The Geelong to Canberra journey is a great example of where distributions of charger locations that better serve their catchments.

While the ultra-rapid (350kW) backbone of Sydney to Melbourne is largely implemented and rapid (50kW) chargers back fill capacity. Would a class of chargers that meet practical charge rate limits could better support some of Australia’s middle distances.

My return journey from Canberra to Geelong allowed me to immediately benefit from my learnings once again the range estimator of the Volvo XC40 anticipated an energy shortfall in the undulating route crossing the great divide. As I dropped onto the low plains and restarted my navigation to be greeted with more than sufficient range to reach my first charging stop.

My subsequent charging stops all went as planned and I found out I was running at a similar pace to two other EV’s sharing the route. I was pleasantly surprised to experience no wait times at any of my planned charging stops. I again stop to think about commentary surrounding the state of EV charging beyond the cities and perhaps its not quite as bad as it is sometimes made out to be.

All in all, my total time spent charging was on the return journey 68 Minutes and for the roughly 8 hour of time behind the wheel I likely would have stopped for 50-60 minutes had charging not been required.

I keep in mind that I used ultra rapid charging for this journey and had there not been these options available I would have spent ~2-3x the amount of time charging on the slower albeit cheaper 50kW charging network. So relative to the price of petrol, many commentators suggest a higher cost per journey should be expected.

However, I did not find this to be the case for my personal circumstances. Having completed this journey previously in a VW polo I find that my best freeway fuel usage is ~6.5 litres per 100km and requires a minimum of 95 RON unleaded at $1.92 per litre for a total of $180-190.

I was able to complete the same journey using ultra rapid charging for $165-170 in a considerably larger vehicle by utilising discount offers at two thirds of my charging stops.

Ultimately, it is difficult for many commentators to make an apples to apples comparison as many EVs do not share a platform with a petrol equivalent. But savvy EV drivers can achieve a lower overall cost per journey with ultra rapid charger pricing.

Some analysis of emissions and where and how I charge

While it is fair to say there are no tailpipe emission for EVs and charging network operator’s often source 100% renewable energy through supply agreements. In practice Australia’s energy mix results in CO2 emissions from any grid supplied power and common misinformation about EV’s is charging from grid energy results in equal or greater emissions than that of a petrol vehicle.

Grid energy in Australia ranges from 350g of CO2 per kWh in periods of high renewables to 550g of CO2 per kWh in peak times. At freeway speeds, I average 21-22kWh/100km which puts driving my EV at ~7.7 –12.1kg of CO2/100km where my existing petrol vehicle would emit ~15.0kg of CO2 (this would be higher in the petrol version of my EV).

If you are considering an EV, by far the greatest emissions and cost reductions are found by charging at home from excess solar. At home emissions approximately 0.9kg/100k CO2 (0.44 g CO2 per kWh) and an opportunity cost of $1.15 of solar feed(5.2c.kWh) in (soon dropping to $0.73 at the 24/25 FIT 3.3c.kWh).