The electric car owner who recently completed an incredible 4,700km round trip through the Australian outback says he debunked several major “myths” about electric cars along the way. Last month, New South Wales-based Steve Brine travelled through several states with his partner Tracey McClintock in his Tesla Model Y.
The couple set off from their home in Wollongong, travelling north to Gunnedah and then on to Bourke. From Bourke they drove to Tambo in central west Queensland, then on to Longreach and on to Winton – about six hours south-west of Townsville – and about 1,300km north of Brisbane.
On the way back, the pair visited several cities and made several “surprising” discoveries about their Tesla along the way. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Brine said that not only was driving an electric car much cheaper, but the Tesla also “never came close to running out of battery power.”
“Surprising” discoveries on an outback tour
He said that while there were hardly any electric vehicles on the roads, “after we passed Bourke” there were plenty of charging stations, and he was shocked at how much the EV infrastructure had expanded in just a few years. “I bought my first Tesla in 2021 and there was a slow charger in the mall,” he told Yahoo. “Three years later, there are fast chargers all over my town and NSW plans to install 30,000 charging stations across the state – these things are going to be everywhere.”
“However, when we got north of Bourke, we didn’t see any other electric vehicles.
“Although the charging infrastructure is there, they are very rare. However, thanks to the planning, we were able to get from one charging station to the next without any problems.
“Smaller electric vehicles with a range of less than 400 km might struggle with this. Also, many cities will only have a single charger in 2024. This will not be a problem in the future, but if the charger is damaged now, offline or being used by someone else, you will experience delays or have to have a plan B.”
The Wollongong man said the cost of the trip was “significantly lower” than if he had driven a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, such as a four-wheel drive.
“The same 4,700 km would cost about $900 in a sedan, and in a large 4×4 it would probably be about $1,400,” he guesses. Brine said he paid $370 in public charging fees and charged for free in hotels. “Plus, many electric vehicles are now similar in price to a car with an internal combustion engine, and aside from tires and wiper blades, there are no maintenance and service costs for several years.”
Brine said it was “an absolute myth” that batteries needed to be replaced frequently. “Most electric cars today have a 10-year battery warranty, after which they still have 90 percent of their original range,” he said. “Most cars with combustion engines end up in the scrap heap by then.”
Brine cited kangaroos as the only major obstacle during the trip and said he encouraged those still unsure about taking electric cars to change their mindset. “In the outback, the kangaroos are out until about 9.30am and from about 4pm – so be careful at dawn and dusk,” he said.
“We’ve had a few near misses… so that leaves you with about six hours of safe driving time. That means you don’t want to drive 600-700km in a day. Owners of combustion engine vehicles will argue that they have to do that every day, but that’s punitive for the driver and unsafe.”
Brine said that on vacation, you don’t want to be “always on the move.”
“I remind people that when the Model T Ford came to Australia, we hardly had any roads,” he said.
“We certainly didn’t have petrol stations. It took 100 years to build up the petrol station network. The first car owners had to buy a can of ‘motor petrol’ from the pharmacy and repair their car themselves. I assume there were early car buyers who sold their cars and then went back to horse-drawn vehicles.”
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