First Road Trip

[noddy@teamterm]

Sitting in Barkly now. Left Camooweal this morning with a full charge before the winds picked up. Arrived with 35%. Now on a slow charge overnight for a run up the Stuart Highway tomorrow. Hope to reach Daley Waters Pub for the next overnight, with stops at the 3 ways ($1:80 electrickery), and Elliott. Did I mention the Starlink Internet here at Barkly is brilliant.

 

[Jules22]

Love it, looks fantastic!

 

[noddy@teamterm]

Well now back in Darwin sitting on the Verandah with a beer. The return trip went well with the only hiccups being first attempt, Camooweal to Barkly Homestead, and keeping the EVSE cool on hot sunny days.

With the Barkly run we did not consider the headwind. Leaving the following morning before the breeze picked up we actually used less than planned the day before. I am a regular sailor and kick myself for not adding Windy to my planning.

On the way home we had 2 EVSE's, the Tesla UMC and another with a fixed 3 phase plug that does three phase so allows 11Kw, all the car can take on AC. Both of these overheated when out in the sun on 40+ degree days. Shaded they seem to handle these temps OK but out in the sun they both drop back to between 1Kw - 3kw the moment you stop checking the charge rate.

A good first road trip. Learnt nothing that all those who have gone before me already knew. I think the next trip will be to Perth & back down the west coast. But if they get the fast charge network together it will probably be a doddle. Might take the trailer next time.

 

[doggy1]

Both of these overheated when out in the sun on 40+ degree days.

Not at all surprising. My OpenEVSE when delivering 22kW to my Zoe would do exactly the same when using Showground 3 phase but problem fixed when I propped an umbrella up to give shade, so I do that nowadays. However now we have Nik the Tesla, Zoe tends to stay around Sydney and environs so 22kW is rarely if ever needed.

 

[gazpachopolice]

You know you're in Australia when... somebody describes an 8,000+ km drive as "a doddle". Maybe I should stop fretting about my own oh-so-ambitious road trip plans to drive from Sydney to Melbourne and back

 

[donmac]

You know you're in Australia when... somebody describes an 8,000+ km drive as "a doddle". Maybe I should stop fretting about my own oh-so-ambitious road trip plans to drive from Sydney to Melbourne and back

Yeah, a lot of range anxiety dissipates *after* your first "big" <insert personal definition here > road trip...