As a teenager, I’d often jump in the car with dad for a trip down the Great Ocean Road. Dad was a local sparky, so he would often have jobs down the coast. We’d set off in his trusty van with all our tools and materials to wire up or fit out a house or business in Lorne, Apollo Bay or even as far as Lavers Hill. It was always a great trip, winding roads, hills and spectacular scenery. I’d almost be disappointed if he said we were only going as far as Aireys Inlet, but even that was a fun trip. As I got old enough, I would take the wheel and dad would teach me how to drive on windy roads.
Dad’s been gone a few years now. When mum needed some minor repairs on the house, I found I had an opportunity to visit over the long weekend. I took a couple of extra days and convinced my wife that I should take the EV6 instead of flying down from Sydney. The rest of the family has commitments over the weekend, so I’m travelling solo. Charger infrastructure isn’t great along the Great Ocean Road just yet, but with a bit of patience and a plan B, it is definitely possible. Ironically most of my charger issues were getting to and from, rather than on The Great Ocean Road. I’ve had a trip down memory lane, and had a chance to think about those good times as a youngster with dad.
Did you know?
As soldiers were demobbed after the war, there were limited employment opportunities. Being used to living in tents and barracks, in large groups, these well disciplined men were probably quite happy to be employed in a steady job where nobody is shooting at them.
From Sydney – when things don’t go quite to plan.
I’ve done the trip down the Hume scores of times over the years, and recently did it in the EV6 on our family holiday to Tasmania. I was expecting a fairly uneventful trip, but it wasn’t to be. After plain sailing all the way through NSW, Victoria was to a bit of a challenge. I was able to get straight on to a fast charger (50kW)at Barnawartha, and transferred ocross to an ultra-fast charger (350kW) once they both freed up. A small delay, for now.
It was the Friday before the long weekend and both the Evie ultra-rapid chargers at Avenel were down. There aren’t many fast chargers between Albury and Melbourne, and having these two out for the day wasn’t a great outcome. Pro-Tip: Double check plugshare and the vendor’s app before you commit to relying on chargers.
Had I checked beforehand, I probably would have called in at Euroa for a bit of a top up at one of the 50kW chargers to get me safely to Melbourne. Unfortunately the Euroa Tesla superchargers are not open to non-Teslas. My last charge had been Barnawartha and I was down to 31%. I always plan on going no lower than 30%, so I still had my contingency in the battery. I wouldn’t need a full charge, as there are plenty of faster chargers in Melbourne, but didn’t want to be coming on on single figures either.
I didn’t want to back track to a 50kW charger. The Chargefox charger at Seymour (25kW) was indicated as busy, so it was on to Broadford. I was quite pleasantly surprised by Broadford. There’s a 25kW Chargefox at the library and it’s a short walk around the corner to the shopping centre. I stopped in at the IGA for some supplies and the local bakery for a sausage roll. Having arrived at 17%, I was back on the road just over half an hour later with 34% in the battery, now feeling confident of getting to Melbourne.
Things certainly started to look up a bit when I got to the BP Northpoint on the outskirts of Melbourne. It was only about 10 degrees celsius, so I made sure to pre-condition the battery by using the car’s onboard navigation. I managed to get 236kW out of the 350kW Evie charger, which is the maximum charge rate on my EV6. In 19 minutes, I managed to go from 17% to 81%, grab a coffee and double check my plan to mum’s house. This charge was more than enough to get me to Torquay. Looking back, leaving Broadford on 17% would have had me skating in to Melbourne on pretty much 0%.
Plugshare and Evie both indicate the Avenel site is now back online.
The Great Ocean Road
I’ve spent some time with mum, done a few repairs around the house and caught up with both my brothers and their families, so it’s time to tackle the Great Ocean Road.
There’s nobody waiting, so I let the car run up to 85%. I’m unfamiliar with the charging infrastructure ahead, so an extra couple of % points might be handy. It turns out I needn’t be concerned on this occasion.
One of my kids favourite attractions is just out of Torquay, If they were here, I wouldn’t be able to go past without a stop. As it is, I decide to grab them a couple of gifts. The Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery is not even halfway to Anglesea, and I’ve already consumed more calories than I need. Holiday calories don’t count though? Right? I’ve had my ice-cream and packed a few chocolates for the kids and I’m back on the road through Anglesea and on to the Great Ocean Road proper.
I tend to make my EV stops around chargers, but there’s no need for such stops along the Great Ocean Road. You can get all the way to Apollo Bay with plenty of battery to spare. Nevertheless, I stop off to see the sights, including the lighthouse at Aireys Inlet and a walk along the beach at Lorne. There’s a “Lorne Fast Charger” coming soon at the Lorne Visitor Centre. Staff weren’t aware of how long this will be, and it’s not yet started. When it does get done, it will be a very welcome addition to the local infrastructure. There are a number of destination chargers along the coast, but some are marked as offline, and you generally need to be staying at the destination to use them anyway.
Apollo Bay is the home of the one decent charger along the trip, so I plug in to the Evie 50kW charger. I’ve only depleted the battery to 70%, as the windng roads turn out to be very eficient for an EV. There’s a Tesla site earmarked for Apollo Bay in 2024, but it’s unclear as to whether it will be a Tesla only site. More recent sites have tended to be open, as Tesla has been accepting government funds to help build them. We’ll have to wait and see if it goes ahead at all, and if it’s going to be open to everyone. I take a walk and grab a burger, returning about 20 minutes later to find the car at just over 80%. This is where I find out about an issue I’ve not had before. I press the stop button on the charger and it asks me to authenticate. I try my phone, I try my RFID card, I try the sop button again. I can not get this thing to stop. The charge cable is locked in, so I can’t remove it. I could possibly use the emergency release, but that would involve moving luggage and tools out of the way, so I decide to wait it out. I have the car set to the 90% limit for DC chargers. I usually only go to 80%, but figure if I’m late back I’d rather suffer a few extra % in the battery than idle fees. The car reaches 90% and stops charging, the cable releases and I can leave. It’s not a huge problem, but I do want to get to the bottom of what happened. Thankfully there wasnt a queue, or I’d have felt bad. I probably would have resorted to the emergency release.
Cape Otway
I’m back on the road and heading across the middle of Cape Otway. This section of the drive is inland and in some places almost tunnel like, covered over by trees. There’s a couple of short delays through here, as two of the bridges are being widened and strengthened. There’s a nice drive down to the Cape Otway Lighthouse.
Furthering the military connections with the road, there’s a World War 2 radar station near the lighthouse. A string of these stations stretched around the Australian coastline during the war. Troops and technicians kept watch for ships and aircraft. 41 ships were lost in Australian waters to German minelayers, surface raiders and Japanese submarines. Two of the earliest were lost to mines in Bass Strait. Suddenly the war was on Victoria’s doorstep, not in far off Europe, hence the need for a lookout from Cape Otway. The Lighthouse and radar station have both played their part in keeping shipping safe over the years.
You can visit for a couple of hours, or if you book ahead, you can stay in one of the lighthouse keeper cottages. There are no chargers onsite though, so get charged up beforehand at Apollo Bay, The drive to Colac isn’t that long either if you’re going that way.
Twelve Apostles
Heading west from Cape Otway, I pass through Lavers Hill and on towards Port Campbell. Just before Port Campbell are the spectacular coastal features of the Twelve Apostles. There never were 12, and a couple have fallen into the sea over the past few decades. This was balanced up a bit when London Bridge spectacularly caved in while a bunch of tourist were standing on what became the newest of the Apostles, sparking a rescue effort to get them safely back to the mainland. Thankfully nobody was significantly injured in the cave in or rescue opration.
Loch Ard Gorge is another natural wonder of the area. When the Loch Ard dashed on to rocks on Mutton Bird Island in 1878 two lucky teenaged survivors were washed into the gorge and on to the sandy beach. They became the talk of the English speaking world for a time, and many hoped the pair might marry, but they never did. The only two survivors of the wreck were very lucky indeed to have washed in to this relatively safe beach, with no other safety for many miles. It’s not called the Shipwreck Coast for nothing and many lives have been lost here. The Cape Otway lighthouse went some way to saving lives, but this coastline was, and still is, very dangerous.
Port Campbell is my last stop along the coast. You can continue down through Peterborough towards Warrnambool, but time is against me and I turn here for Colac to head back towards Sydney. Port Campbell is the last safe harbour on the Western side of Cape Otway, with the next safe Harbour to the East of the cape at Apollo Bay. Similarly there are Tesla Superchargers slated for both Port Campbell and Apollo Bay. If these come to fruition, it should make these towns safe havens for EV owners into the future.
Back to Sydney – How’s that plan looking?
My charger struggles are not over yet. I decide to avoid the Hume Highway for a bit, as it’s, frankly, a bit dull. So I wend my way through central Victoria instead. It’s smooth sailing with uneventful stops at Colac (Tesla), Warrenheip (Evie), Bendigo Kangan Institute (Chargefox) and Shepparton (Tesla). I stay the night in Shepparton and charge up at Barnawartha North (Chargefox) next morning.
I cross in to NSW and things start to go downhill a bit. Arriving in Tarcutta I find both chargers in use, so I pull in next door. A second EV pulls in to the spot next to me and we’re forming an orderly queue. About 15 minutes later one charger becomes available and I move in. The other waiting car moves across about 5 minutes later. I’m getting close to done, and a Polestar pulls in where I’d been waiting. We’re giving this station a bit of a workout this morning. There’s supposed to be a 10 plug supercharger going in at the local RSL Club, which will be a welcome addition if it goes ahead.
It seems I haven’t learned my lesson very well from the trip down to Melbourne. I arrive at the Yass Tesla supercharger to find all 12 chargers fenced off, surrounded by utes. workmen and tools. I should have checked Plugshare and Tesla app, but as I’d used it only a few days before, I never did. Lesson learned? I hope so! Again I’ve arrived with 31% and have some contingency, but Goulburn is the next decent charger and I’m not sure it isn’t a bridge too far. I decide to visit the little town of Gunning, where a local garage has an AC charger bolted to the front verandah and an EV reserved spot painted on the road. It’s $5 for an hour, $10 for two, etc. and you just swipe your credit card. I plug in my BYO cable, swipe my card and head down to the pub for a chicken parmigiana lunch. While waiting for lunch, I report the Yass supercharger as offline on Plugshare. 45 minutes later I’ve got enough in the battery to make it safely to Goulburn, so I forgo the last couple of kWh and keep moving.
Sadly Yass isn’t my last charger drama. I notice that of the three fast and ultra rapid chargers at North Goulburn two are in use and one is broken so I opt for South Goulburn KFC where there are two 75/80kW Chargefox units (speed depending on whether you read the app of the unit’s screen). After several attempts, two calls to tech support and 45 minutes of wasted time, I haven’t managed a single kWh and give up. The charger is reported faulty on the app a few minutes after my second call (the app says someone is charging there as I write this, so it’s back online again now).
I head up to North Goulburn and get in line with 2 people charging up well over 90%. One leaves at 93%, the other goes all the way to 100%. Thankfully the 100% one is the ultra-rapid and finishes first. I’m on to the ultra-rapid and charged from 19% to 81% in just over 20 minutes (about the same time it took the last guy to go from 90% to 100%). There was another driver arrived a few minutes after me from Melbourne on his way to Sydney in an electric Volvo He gets on the 50kW charger as soon as it’s available. We’ve been chatting and comparing notes. He was headed for South Goulburn as well, but checked his app to find it was reported faulty. I tell him I might have been the one who broke it and we have a laugh. He says I might have saved him some time. He moves over to the ultra-rapid as soon as I’m done. I’ve got more than enough to get on to my home charger now.
Update on Yass: I’ve checked the Tesla app and the site is fully available again. I read an article about NSW Tesla sites being upgraded to V4 superchargers, which have longer leads. Very helpful for those of us with EVs other than Tesla. I assume this is what was happening at Yass, hopefully someone can confirm for me.
Takeways
- Great Ocean Road is definitely doable in an EV. It’s actually a lot of fun.
- There’s not many chargers on the Great Ocean Road, so plan ahead and get charged before you head off.
- Besides Apollo Bay, there are reliable and reasonably fast chargers at:
- Torquay
- Colac
- Warrnambool
- Geelong
- Check Plugshare AND the vendor app to make sure your planned chargers are working if you’re relying on them. Plan alternatives if necessary.
- Even if the app says the charger is online, it still might fail when you get there.
- Be sure to leave a contingency in the battery for when something goes wrong. I like 30% as a general. If this trip tells me anything, things will go wrong at some point.
- You might end up on a slow charger, so plan well if you’re on a tight deadline.
- A short charge on a slow charger can be enough to get you to the next fast charger.
- A pub with a chicken parmi, or a bakery with a sausage roll in a country town you’ve never visited before can be quite enjoyable if you find yourself needing a slow charge.
- Visiting mum is a very good excuse for a road trip.
