More than 60 public electric vehicle charging stations are being built this year around regional New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland in a bid to make electric cars a more practical option in regional Australia.The charging stations make regional travel more practical in an electric car, but there are still some challengesBut will this be enough to make electric vehicles work in the bush?In the end, I made it home — just.
"The reality that we face is that we will get to a point where Australians won't have a choice," he said. Charging the car was simple. The bowser has a thick cable and a plug that's similar to a petrol bowser. Once I plugged the car into the bowser, I hit the start button and the car began to charge.What I didn't know was how long it would take to charge the car, which was almost dead flat.
The NRMA says the charging stations will remain free to the public for a year or two and will continue to be free for NRMA members. I could have plugged the car into a conventional power point using a special adaptor, but I had learned even an overnight charge from a regular power point would not put enough electricity in the car to fully charge it.
After finding dinner, I walked back in drizzle to the car and found it fully charged again and ready for another day.Early the next morning, Rosie and I met local electric car owner and software developer Dev Mukherjee. Wagga mechanic and Holden enthusiast Paul Seaman doesn't see himself buying an electric car in his lifetime."No, not in my future," he said."What would it take to convince you?" Rosie asked.But Paul was impressed by the car's acceleration, and by the end of the drive had backed off a little in his opposition.
"The entire world's moving on this journey towards electric vehicles and that means, much like the internet and smartphones did, there are going to be opportunities for entrepreneurial and innovative Australians to tap into that," he said.Electric back roads
Good. For 5 years. Then ya rip the batteries out, find a big hole to bury the toxic nightmares, and get more batteries. My 2005 X-Trail would be nearly on its FOURTH LOT by now, at HUGE FINANCIAL COST.
You know how the eastern states run out of electricity during summer, and have rolling blackouts? I wonder how the grid would cope if a lot of people are trying to charge EVs at the same time. I’m interested to know if this will be an issue.
Tesla owner here who lives in the bush They work beautifully I leave V8 commodores in my non-existent exhaust at red lights I charge for free from solar, and don’t pay unfair regional petrol prices My towing capacity is better than most My car is silent, comfy Want more?
Fair dinkum is all I can say - if they can't be made to work in the bush then we're useless.
No .Im waiting for hydrogen cars.They are working on Blue and Green hydrogen ,won't be long.
this might give you an idea
DanielBleakley read this NRMA ad.
Lazy, dumb, and targeted 'journalism'. Poorly written and falls well short. Little discussion about the importance of EV's in tackling the ClimateEmergency nor economies of scale. Of course they are dearer now, and just like every other new tech they will gets cheaper.
Granville4879 What a rubbish article. A person who would not fill their fossil fuel car with fuel fails to understand how to charge an EV. Not too bright! I expect this kinda of anti EV propaganda from the Murdoch media.
BridieEV here's a loser from ABC 😂
Wow, an extra 60chargers across three states is a depressing figure. That won’t change much at all. More incentives needed for both buyers and charger installation
Where is all the power coming from?
Would love one, but one drive I do regularly is 1000km with no guarateed fuel at the 2 stops along the road as they are often out.
Just another hit job on the electric car industry , Who travels 1200km every day FFS . Most people travel 30-40km per day , thats 10 days with out a charge . Next the ABC will do a story about the new 737 not being able to fly to the moon .
Would be much easier in a Tesla
Well the shit over ice cars so yes why write a bullshit story
BenBendeac RosieKingABC Free electricity for EVs? PeterNRMA That's fine for an exclusive club of a few EV owners or hire car users. But how many MW of power supply are needed for a substantial part of the car fleet at which cost? And look how much comes from coal!
Pretty frustrating article to read, the writer clearly has little experience with EVs, painting Tesla's as 'flash' and out of reach.
Does electricity work in the bush?
Underlying fact that renders our position on EVs irrelevant.....the rest of the world will determine what sort of vehicles we import and drive. It's like arguing about if the tide should be allowed in.
gsyoung You've described an inter-city drive, not the usual daily pattern for country people, many of whom have PV cells at home, and drive 40-50 km one way to work.
Oh, stop the hand-wringing! The key is the installation of ultra-rapid chargers in each sizeable town. Then, with a 400km range (average, nowadays), you have as many problems getting from place to place as an ICE car does. With many fewer breakdowns and off-the-road periods.
not as well as if you'd kept it on the road.
Did you ask how long ago the NRMA first said they would give free fuel to non members 'for a year or two'? abcnews nswpol auspol
We need more country business people like Liz Prater, of Jugiong Pub, who sees the charger as a way of attracting customers.
In short, Australia is a decade behind the rest of the developed world, because of the regressive LiberalAus The_Nationals COALition government.
May as well get used to it! ⚡
Great article! Make no mistake, better range and cheaper EV is only a few years away. As usual the bush will be reluctant to change. Glad Paul softened his stance!
At the moment who cares, really MSM