Beaches, beers and batteries

This story first appeared in the March issue of Evtalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE

It is argument No 7 on the pub discussion list around electric vehicles.

“Nah, I like to get out of town on weekends, and you can’t do that with an electric car.”

But can you? A natural response to that is range is improving all the time, and with modern electrics like the Tesla Model S, it is entirely possible to get away without the need for petrol or diesel.

With Australia’s charging infrastructure still under development we wanted to put it to the test.

So we borrowed an S 100D from Tesla to put the theory for the test.

We picked our location as being one of the classic weekenders – a lap of the Great Ocean Road.
Surely such a world-renowned and busy touring route would be set up to handle a trip like this.

Well, um, sort of.A quick perusal of PlugShare.com before departure was not so reassuring.

Between our home base in Coburg and Port Campbell – the most distant point of our trip – not a single DC charging option exists.

Having said that, since our trip Tesla had opened a spanking new Supercharger at Warrnambool – 60km further down the coast.

Still with destination chargers scattered, though sparse, along with the coast we knew we would have a good chance of an easy trip.

We started the journey with a visit to Victoria’s first DC charger, a Chademo unit under the Moreland City Council offices in Coburg.

While we did not have the correct adaptor for that, bolted to the wall next to it was a Chargefox-run AC unit.

A top up here had us on our way.

We decided to make the most of AutoPilot and head down the freeway, M1 then A1, to get to the far end of the trip first and work back along the GOR.

As you will have read in our last review of the Model X, this level of incremental change to this system Tesla is achieving is fantastic, and while far from an autonomous drive experience yet, its ability on well-marked highways at taking the heavy lifting out of cruising is an energy and life saver.

The S’s ride, seats, spaciousness and quietness also play well into this role.
It eats highway miles like few other vehicles can – though bearing in mind highway miles also eat into battery capacity.

We planned our first stop well before we needed too for a charge, 177km into the trip and with more than half a battery to spare.

Why? Port Campbell has no charging to speak of on offer, and our next chance would be in Apollo Bay – a hilly 175km further along our trip.

That first stop was Otway Estate, a winery-turned-brewery with two 16 amp Tesla chargers on offer.
You will find the charger to the left of the main carpark as you enter.

A poorly parked bus makes this one a little difficult to spot, and you need to park at right-angles to the parking lines to use it.

Cobwebs, and PlugShare indicate it is not well used.

While you collect around 46km per hour of charging here, you can enjoy a tasting flight of beer or wine – for the passengers of course – and a bite to eat.

The coffee is not bad either.From here it is mostly downhill to the coast, stopping for speciality cheese and chocolate along the way – though neither of these popular tourist shops had a plug on offer.

While a check in to a motel may have allowed us to overnight trickle the Tesla, our Airbnb had a “no vehicles on the driveway” rule, so we departed with half a battery and 107km over the hills of Cape Otway to cover.

We were reasonably confident this would be a trouble-free run, and even doubled back a few times for drone shots along the stunning coast around the Twelve Apostles coastline, with its uniquely sculpted coastline.

The road then dips inland to Lavers Hill, before zagging back to the coast and over the hills of Cape Otway.

The elevation sure did eat some range, though our exuberant driving did not help either.

The Model S does not feel as crisp and responsive as traditional large premium sports sedans, but its wads of electric-torque give its own alluring driving feel.

Our next charging stop was in stunning Apollo Bay.

There are two charging options here, one at the Best Western Motel, and our choice – the Great Ocean Brewhouse.

This is the same company as the Otway Estate, and again pairs charging with beer! You will find the charging points in the rear carpark amongst the barrels and pallets.

While they were free on our trip, we now hear the Brewhouse locks the chargers and asks $10 per use – very disappointing.

Still, sometimes you don’t have a choice.

We enjoyed breakfast and a walk around the cute little harbour, collecting two hours of charge before the next step of our trip to Lorne.

Why the long charge? We planned to head back to Melbourne that day, but with a relaxed pace, great weather, and excellent vehicle we decided to extend and stay the night in Lorne.

On arrival into town, we dropped the car into the Cumberland Lorne Resort to charge.

Ask nicely here and they are fine with non-guest usage.

The charge is underground so your car stays nice and cool, and there is a walkthrough down the hill to the main shopping strip.

There are two other charging options in town – the Anchorage Motel and a type-1 port at the information centre.

There was some guilt as we pulled our Model S out of the Cumberland with a near-full battery and headed off to another resort in Lorne.

We will stay next time, honest! Lorne is just a lovely place to stay, and the best thing is once you’ve parked up to charge it is very walkable – the best low-carbon transport.

The next morning we turned tail and returned to Melbourne, though not without one more – somewhat unnecessary – charging stop.

The Farmer’s Place is a combination café, farm and educational facility at Freshwater Creek inland from Anglesea.

A top up with a coffee and slice of cake recharged the humans while the car sipped a few amps.

We were comfortable in our Tesla thanks to the brand’s efforts to get the destination charging out there.
Plus our 100D will do 400km+ unless you are stupid with your planning.

A Model S 75 may have struggled, though with a little planning it would have made it.
Any other EV would have struggled or spent a long time tethered to a household power point.

So, can you get away in an electric car for the weekend? Yes, though with caveats.
But things can only get better.