I've used the Yass superchargers 3 times now. Good coffee across the road that's normally not ready before my MG4 was charged. I am thinking about a M3 LR to give myself more flexibility on road trips as I live in Wagga.
I seem to mostly only be in Yass charging when nearly nothing is open! For example, I just did a video review of the MG4 (just the entry level Excite 51) which included stopping at Yass... in the middle of the night. And that one was to Wagga! It's here: ua-cam.com/video/4LaPYc3Wq7k/v-deo.html
Alex your rant about EV charging infrastructure is misguided. Tesla decided to invest their money in building out a network, much of which is now open to other brands. Every other brand can decide to do the same thing - none of them have. Which tells you plenty about their interest in supporting EVs and EV owners that buy their vehicles.
Not sure what you're getting at there (but I'm happy to have the discussion) -- while it's true Telsa has invested in charging infrastructure at its own cost, and that's admirable, I don't feel it's wise to suggest that any one brand/make/ev charging supplier should have a monopoly *anywhere*, because at that point there's little to nothing stopping them from upping prices to suit their own profit forecasts -- at which point we as consumers suffer from higher prices. That's what monopolies do.
@@AlexKidman If a car brand builds charging infrastructure at their cost it's up to them on how they wish to monetise it. Tesla is opening up low use sites and has to make open sites that have state or federal funding.
@@emmett3067 Yes, that's true -- I'm not sure what point you're making here or what point you think I'm making. In the video I did note that there's a general argument about whether Tesla drivers should stick just to Tesla charging points -- I don't agree with that, I'd rather have variety (and, tbh, price competition) and I feel that by using a wider variety I'm helping to fund that. I could wish that all chargers were open to all and they're not, and that's Tesla's business call for sure, though it does fly a little in the face of some of the company's earlier position statements about wanting to drive the general adoption of EVs across the market. But then, Elon Musk backtracking on statements and promises is something of a trend in itself...
I guess this trip was around 1500km give or take. So it costs $143 for the trip. A similar-sized (interior) diesel will do it for $196. Yes, the Tesla costs less to do the trip BUT the difference is literally nothing given the additional upfront premium to buy the Tesla and the potential loss in value over a typically 4-year lease as is currently being experienced in Europe, America, and here.
Thanks for the video. It was awesome to see your journey. I usually drive to Adelaide via Hay in NSW. Have you ever researched going this way for EV charging ?
Yep, totally -- wrote about that one a while back for an early 2023 journey, first part is here: alexreviewstech.com/driving-sydney-to-adelaide-and-back-in-an-ev-part-one/ It's doable (and a slightly shorter route), but the challenge is that right now, Hay has one 50kw NRMA charger and some much slower AC chargers... and that's it. If it's busy or broken, you're there for a lengthy spell. I did actively consider and chart out (using Plugshare/ABRP) whether it was worth doing that return run (typically Adelaide>Renmark>Mildura>Balranald>Hay>Wagga>Sydney) now, but decided that while it might be a tad less distance, the risks around busy or non-working chargers made it less optimal, so I returned via the same route I took out. It wouldn't take much in charger availability to make the Hay run more attractive though.
Hi mate, Loved seeing your video as I'm living in Adelaide now, but return home to Sydney a couple of times through the year, and am on the verge of needing a new car so was looking at going completely electric, however obviously knowing nothing about electric vehicles and charging, the thought of that drive from Adelaide to Sydney has really made me wonder whether an electric vehicle was feasible. I noticed there were big variances in your cost to recharge each stop - is that purely due to some stops being incredibly short charge times vs much longer charge times for the $20+ dollar recharges? Or are there other things which go into the price fluctuating? Must you be by your vehicle's side the entire time it charges? I noticed one time you were stopped outside a fast food and petrol station - can you simply plug it in and start the charge and then head in for a bite to eat for 15 minutes?
Heya, Thanks for the feedback. Variance in pricing is actually due to both factors -- in some cases it's a smaller charge (just like you might only top up a fuel tank or fill it fully) and there's also some pricing variability between chargers (and between states even for the same "brand" of charger) -- if you grab the Plugshare app for your smartphone it becomes a little easier to work out pricing before you start. Typically chargers that can manage a faster rate of charge may have a small premium as well, but it's worth making sure that matches to the maximum charge rate of your car -- no point in paying for charge speed you can't use! You 100% do not have to stay with your vehicle, and making charge stops into food stops is a very smart play when it's feasible. Most chargers lock into the vehicle so you won't be unplugged by anyone else. Good idea to stay near(ish) though in case the charge stops for some reason (not common, but not unheard of) and also so you don't overstay; some chargers have idle fees if you stay plugged in beyond 100%, and, frankly, it's just good etiquette for other drivers who may need to use the charger after you.
How about full info on cost per km total drive time etc. By my reckoning you covered approx 1450 km at a cost of $143 that's about 10cents a km. Would that be right?
Re: SPC -- no, not this time. Re: charging, dammit, yes, I should have included that! Have updated my written piece with those details (alexreviewstech.com/sydney-to-adelaide-road-trip-are-ev-chargers-in-australia-getting-easier-to-find/) but annoyingly UA-cam won't let me append titles after publication. Quick rundown: Marulan:23.0790kWh, Yass: 10kWh, Holbrook 35kWh, Shepparton 36kWh, Bendigo 26.979 kWh, Horsham 36kWh, Keith 16.23kWh and finally Tailem Bend 35kWh (though as noted in the video, we could have gotten to Adelaide without the charging stop there; it just made it easier when we did arrive as we didn't need to worry about charging for the next few days of getting about).
Apologies -- that one was a total mea culpa; UA-cam sometimes does stuff up audio downloads and I thought that was what had happened in this case -- but it was my fault, not its, and annoyingly there's no way to upload a fresh properly balanced audio track. Best I can offer are apologies and the suggestion to use the automatic subtitles (or up the volume for those bits). I'm going to go hang my head in (silent) shame...
@@AlexKidman Cheers Alex. I used to do video production and it can be hard work getting it all right. I drove Adelaide Melbourne recently in a Model 3 so enjoyed watching your vid. Keep going 👍
All up, super roughly about 20 hours maybe? Didn’t 100% track it but we did do extra stops we wanted to do, so faster would be feasible. I’m sure others have done so quicker. That’s fine too as long as it’s done safely.
Maybe 1200km as the crow flies - but not on roadways. More like 1500km the way we went. Totally feasible to do it with fewer stops as noted in the video - we did food stops, Bendigo could have been passed, Nhill was a choice, so was Tailem Bend. It was done for comfort but sure, you could go quicker if you must. I mean, IIRC, the current best record for doing the big loop all around Australia in an EV is something like 10 days…
Did you listen to the video not all required. I drive 900 km last week in a diesel VW stopped 6 times to site see and eat and go to the bathroom. Why is this odd?
Yep that is what we do. We have plenty of excess rooftop solar capacity for charging the EV. Even if there is not enough solar generation, we get a very generously discounted EV charging rate over night on out electricity supply plan. A full tank of petrol for our previous car, when petrol was around $1.89/litre would cost around $147.00 for a full tank of petrol. Our new EV when charging from the grid overnight costs around $16.00. Rooftop solar lets us charge for free most days though. Absolutely brilliant.
I've used the Yass superchargers 3 times now. Good coffee across the road that's normally not ready before my MG4 was charged. I am thinking about a M3 LR to give myself more flexibility on road trips as I live in Wagga.
I seem to mostly only be in Yass charging when nearly nothing is open! For example, I just did a video review of the MG4 (just the entry level Excite 51) which included stopping at Yass... in the middle of the night. And that one was to Wagga! It's here: ua-cam.com/video/4LaPYc3Wq7k/v-deo.html
@@AlexKidman Ahh yes I read your review on that the other day. Watching it now.
Alex your rant about EV charging infrastructure is misguided. Tesla decided to invest their money in building out a network, much of which is now open to other brands.
Every other brand can decide to do the same thing - none of them have. Which tells you plenty about their interest in supporting EVs and EV owners that buy their vehicles.
Not sure what you're getting at there (but I'm happy to have the discussion) -- while it's true Telsa has invested in charging infrastructure at its own cost, and that's admirable, I don't feel it's wise to suggest that any one brand/make/ev charging supplier should have a monopoly *anywhere*, because at that point there's little to nothing stopping them from upping prices to suit their own profit forecasts -- at which point we as consumers suffer from higher prices. That's what monopolies do.
@@AlexKidman If a car brand builds charging infrastructure at their cost it's up to them on how they wish to monetise it.
Tesla is opening up low use sites and has to make open sites that have state or federal funding.
@@emmett3067 Yes, that's true -- I'm not sure what point you're making here or what point you think I'm making. In the video I did note that there's a general argument about whether Tesla drivers should stick just to Tesla charging points -- I don't agree with that, I'd rather have variety (and, tbh, price competition) and I feel that by using a wider variety I'm helping to fund that. I could wish that all chargers were open to all and they're not, and that's Tesla's business call for sure, though it does fly a little in the face of some of the company's earlier position statements about wanting to drive the general adoption of EVs across the market. But then, Elon Musk backtracking on statements and promises is something of a trend in itself...
I guess this trip was around 1500km give or take. So it costs $143 for the trip. A similar-sized (interior) diesel will do it for $196. Yes, the Tesla costs less to do the trip BUT the difference is literally nothing given the additional upfront premium to buy the Tesla and the potential loss in value over a typically 4-year lease as is currently being experienced in Europe, America, and here.
Thanks for the info mateee good job
Great to here about Aussies testing the ev. Cheers mate
Thanks for the video. It was awesome to see your journey.
I usually drive to Adelaide via Hay in NSW. Have you ever researched going this way for EV charging ?
Yep, totally -- wrote about that one a while back for an early 2023 journey, first part is here: alexreviewstech.com/driving-sydney-to-adelaide-and-back-in-an-ev-part-one/
It's doable (and a slightly shorter route), but the challenge is that right now, Hay has one 50kw NRMA charger and some much slower AC chargers... and that's it. If it's busy or broken, you're there for a lengthy spell. I did actively consider and chart out (using Plugshare/ABRP) whether it was worth doing that return run (typically Adelaide>Renmark>Mildura>Balranald>Hay>Wagga>Sydney) now, but decided that while it might be a tad less distance, the risks around busy or non-working chargers made it less optimal, so I returned via the same route I took out. It wouldn't take much in charger availability to make the Hay run more attractive though.
Hi mate,
Loved seeing your video as I'm living in Adelaide now, but return home to Sydney a couple of times through the year, and am on the verge of needing a new car so was looking at going completely electric, however obviously knowing nothing about electric vehicles and charging, the thought of that drive from Adelaide to Sydney has really made me wonder whether an electric vehicle was feasible.
I noticed there were big variances in your cost to recharge each stop - is that purely due to some stops being incredibly short charge times vs much longer charge times for the $20+ dollar recharges? Or are there other things which go into the price fluctuating?
Must you be by your vehicle's side the entire time it charges? I noticed one time you were stopped outside a fast food and petrol station - can you simply plug it in and start the charge and then head in for a bite to eat for 15 minutes?
Heya,
Thanks for the feedback.
Variance in pricing is actually due to both factors -- in some cases it's a smaller charge (just like you might only top up a fuel tank or fill it fully) and there's also some pricing variability between chargers (and between states even for the same "brand" of charger) -- if you grab the Plugshare app for your smartphone it becomes a little easier to work out pricing before you start. Typically chargers that can manage a faster rate of charge may have a small premium as well, but it's worth making sure that matches to the maximum charge rate of your car -- no point in paying for charge speed you can't use!
You 100% do not have to stay with your vehicle, and making charge stops into food stops is a very smart play when it's feasible. Most chargers lock into the vehicle so you won't be unplugged by anyone else. Good idea to stay near(ish) though in case the charge stops for some reason (not common, but not unheard of) and also so you don't overstay; some chargers have idle fees if you stay plugged in beyond 100%, and, frankly, it's just good etiquette for other drivers who may need to use the charger after you.
How about full info on cost per km total drive time etc. By my reckoning you covered approx 1450 km at a cost of $143 that's about 10cents a km. Would that be right?
More or less, yeah.
You went the long way. I know, visit a mate in Shepperton. Did you go the SPC outlet? How about how many kW you got, as well as the cost.
Re: SPC -- no, not this time. Re: charging, dammit, yes, I should have included that! Have updated my written piece with those details (alexreviewstech.com/sydney-to-adelaide-road-trip-are-ev-chargers-in-australia-getting-easier-to-find/) but annoyingly UA-cam won't let me append titles after publication. Quick rundown: Marulan:23.0790kWh, Yass: 10kWh, Holbrook 35kWh, Shepparton 36kWh, Bendigo 26.979 kWh, Horsham 36kWh, Keith 16.23kWh and finally Tailem Bend 35kWh (though as noted in the video, we could have gotten to Adelaide without the charging stop there; it just made it easier when we did arrive as we didn't need to worry about charging for the next few days of getting about).
Thanks for the video but please watch your audio levels, I could hardly hear anything except your piece to camera at the start and end.
Apologies -- that one was a total mea culpa; UA-cam sometimes does stuff up audio downloads and I thought that was what had happened in this case -- but it was my fault, not its, and annoyingly there's no way to upload a fresh properly balanced audio track. Best I can offer are apologies and the suggestion to use the automatic subtitles (or up the volume for those bits). I'm going to go hang my head in (silent) shame...
@@AlexKidman Cheers Alex. I used to do video production and it can be hard work getting it all right.
I drove Adelaide Melbourne recently in a Model 3 so enjoyed watching your vid.
Keep going 👍
How many hours driving charging and eating did you spend ?
All up, super roughly about 20 hours maybe? Didn’t 100% track it but we did do extra stops we wanted to do, so faster would be feasible. I’m sure others have done so quicker. That’s fine too as long as it’s done safely.
You made 8 stops to travel 1,200kms. That's insane.
Maybe 1200km as the crow flies - but not on roadways. More like 1500km the way we went. Totally feasible to do it with fewer stops as noted in the video - we did food stops, Bendigo could have been passed, Nhill was a choice, so was Tailem Bend. It was done for comfort but sure, you could go quicker if you must. I mean, IIRC, the current best record for doing the big loop all around Australia in an EV is something like 10 days…
Did you listen to the video not all required. I drive 900 km last week in a diesel VW stopped 6 times to site see and eat and go to the bathroom. Why is this odd?
Can’t wait to get a ev so don’t have to pay for fuel get free power from my solar panels and regenerative breaking can’t do that in a ice vehicle😊
😂
Yep that is what we do.
We have plenty of excess rooftop solar capacity for charging the EV. Even if there is not enough solar generation, we get a very generously discounted EV charging rate over night on out electricity supply plan. A full tank of petrol for our previous car, when petrol was around $1.89/litre would cost around $147.00 for a full tank of petrol. Our new EV when charging from the grid overnight costs around $16.00. Rooftop solar lets us charge for free most days though. Absolutely brilliant.
EVs are a joke! On you
Nope.