Adelaide to Alice

[RichardMcN]

Totally possible then. Driving to Uluru would be awesome. Flying there is mind-blowing. I think driving there would be too.

The more the merrier at Alice in Aug. I'm planning to go.

It's very do-able. From Sydney it's 3 days to Port Augusta via Euroa, then another 4 to Alice on a mix of 15A and 3 phase (add one day if there is a problem with the two untested 3 phase points, and subtract a day if you are prepared to drive at 80km/h and do 456km on the final day).

Any takers?

 

[WhiteStar]

An opportunity to electro-evangelise on a long drive into the desert would no doubt be a memorable experience. An electric bike in the back could make it even better. Wow 7,000 km round trip is a long drive but maybe if I can rearrange some commitments.

 

[WhiteStar]

Funny: -195% out of range if you only take into account established charge points in the 1,200 km or so between Port Augusta & Alice Springs!

However, thankfully there's 3 phase 32A in Woomera, Coober Pedy and Marla.

15A at Glendambo, Cadney Park, Kulgera, Erldunda and Yulara

Could be possible to arrange 3 phase or even HPWC installations at those last few places. Why not?

 

[Blue heaven]

Funny: -195% out of range if you only take into account established charge points in the 1,200 km or so between Port Augusta & Alice Springs!

However, thankfully there's 3 phase 32A in Woomera, Coober Pedy and Marla.

15A at Glendambo, Cadney Park, Kulgera, Erldunda and Yulara

Could be possible to arrange 3 phase or even HPWC installations at those last few places. Why not?

View attachment 232418

Hi WhiteStar, it Should be workable, @Techno-phile has an email template to use on remote locations that is getting great results here in WA, Techno-phile or myself will get back to you.

 

[RichardMcN]

Funny: -195% out of range if you only take into account established charge points in the 1,200 km or so between Port Augusta & Alice Springs!

However, thankfully there's 3 phase 32A in Woomera, Coober Pedy and Marla.

15A at Glendambo, Cadney Park, Kulgera, Erldunda and Yulara

Could be possible to arrange 3 phase or even HPWC installations at those last few places. Why not?

View attachment 232418

If you are potential goer here for Aug @WhiteStar , Richard Bentley @Rich Bentley has already been contacting all the sites and working thru with them. Definitely contact Richard if you are considering. As we drive thru we can test out and put on Plugshare !

 

[WhiteStar]

If you are potential goer here for Aug @WhiteStar , Richard Bentley @Rich Bentley has already been contacting all the sites and working thru with them. Definitely contact Richard if you are considering. As we drive thru we can test out and put on Plugshare !

I'd really like to drive to Alice. Hopefully that will be possible & will definitely let Rich know if I'm in.

 

[possum22]

I would say every location has 3 phase power, getting access to it takes a bit of planning.

Is there a letter made up so it can be submitted to council's for 3 phase access, I to get the route form Townsville to Cloncurry on Plug Share?

 

[BenT]

3.5 years down the track from my initial thoughts about this trip and now I will be finally making the trek to the Red Centre in a few weeks time. The plan is Adelaide to Alice the then Alice to Kings Canyon/ Yulara and back to Adelaide over around 2 weeks. I am taking a 75D Model X with 20 inch tires so max range will be limited to around 300km which will no doubt mean a little range anxiety. I am planning on taking 3 phase 32 amp charger and upgrading onboard charger from 11kw to 16kw to speed up my charging stops. I have ordered a space saver tire from US but I am not sure it will arrive on time. I was planning to take the unsealed rd from Alice to Kings Canyon but it looks like Glen Helen Lodge is closed which means I will only have a day trip out of Alice to West McDonnell Ranges so a small amount of dirt road driving and then i will stick to the longer but sealed rd to Kings Canyon and Yulara. I see that a few S, X and 3 have done this trip and I am hoping that the AEVA charging infrastructure is all in working order.

 

[Techno-phile]

That sounds brilliant - good luck Ben.
We were going to do the reverse journey from Tennant Creek to Adelaide, once we could not do the Round Oz route.
But then WA told us not to expect to come back any time soon if we left WA (even just to NT and SA).

Will try and follow in your footsteps next year.

 

[ICUDoc]

unsealed rd from Alice to Kings Canyon

This is a seriously isolated road and covered in bull dust. Experienced outback drivers only!
I'd stick to tarmac if I were you, but to each his / her own!!
Have a great trip- do the Kings Canyon big walk early in the day

 

[meloccom]

Adelaide to Alice Springs is all tarmac and relatively easy, particularly if you’re not in a hurry. I did this in August 2018 along with others. I notice that the last checkin on PlugShare for Glendambo, Marla, Kulgera and Erldunda are in March so they should be functioning still. All of the named charge stops have a 32A 3 phase power point readily available. The only proviso is Kulgera as the power point is normally in use for the car lift and if the owner is using it or not there you have to fall back on 15A single phase campsite charging.
I would not travel this route without a spare, jack and tools to change a tyre and if you’re a member of TOCA you may be able to borrow a spare wheel and some charging or extension cables.
My itinerary was Adelaide, Clare Valley Supercharger, Port Augusta Majestic Oasis Hotel on day 1.
Port Augusta to Glendambo Road House then Coober Pedy Desert Cave Hotel day 2
Coober Pedy Marla Road House and overnight in Kulgera On 15A campsite day 3
If I did it again I would charge longer at Marla to get to Earldunda.
Day 4 Kulgera to Alice.
If you only have one mobile phone, make it an Optus phone as some towns are Telstra Only that the car works on and some are Optus only and then you can connect the car to the Optus phone to plan the next leg.
I didn’t do Kings Canyon and or Uluru so I’ll leave that part for others.
Whilst the route is regularly trafficked by Grey Nomads who will often stop to help if you’re in trouble this is a seriously remote location and should be respected as such. There are online guides like this
Stuart Highway Facts - Explorer's Way from Adelaide to Alice Springs
Good luck.
P.S. When charging during the day for the next leg, put in the Next charge destination into navigation and it will tell you that you will have minus X percent when you arrive, as you charge this will go down to zero then I would leave when it told me I would have 10% to 15% at the next charge stop.

 

[BenT]

A bit scary but we put our trust in PlugShare.

 

[BenT]

Thanks for all the advice which allowed me to make it from Adelaide to Alice in a Model X 75D. I only seem to get just over 60kw/hr out of the battery from 100% to close to 0% so there were some long charging breaks but we made it safely. I went with the options of overnight charging at Port Augusta (Standpipe), Coober Pedy (Desert Cave) and Erldunda (Desert Sands) which was trouble free. I tried to use all the 32amp 3 phase options along the way (Pimba, Glendambo, Marla). I couldnt charge at Kulgera as they have 20amp plug but thankfully I had topped up enough at Marla to get all the way to Erldunda. I havent yet charged at Stuarts Well but I did pop in and say hello and I will charge there on the way back, hopefully while I do a camel trek.
Advice from other posts that we found particularly helpful included upgrading to 17 kw/hr onboard charger, taking a spare tire (spacesaver ordered from US), Optus mobile phone, using the onboard trip energy graph and allowing 10-15% margin, driving at conservative speeds to conserve battery and taking some movies/books etc for the long charging stops in remote roadhouses.

Adelaide to Alice Springs is all tarmac and relatively easy, particularly if you’re not in a hurry. I did this in August 2018 along with others. I notice that the last checkin on PlugShare for Glendambo, Marla, Kulgera and Erldunda are in March so they should be functioning still. All of the named charge stops have a 32A 3 phase power point readily available. The only proviso is Kulgera as the power point is normally in use for the car lift and if the owner is using it or not there you have to fall back on 15A single phase campsite charging.
I would not travel this route without a spare, jack and tools to change a tyre and if you’re a member of TOCA you may be able to borrow a spare wheel and some charging or extension cables.
My itinerary was Adelaide, Clare Valley Supercharger, Port Augusta Majestic Oasis Hotel on day 1.
Port Augusta to Glendambo Road House then Coober Pedy Desert Cave Hotel day 2
Coober Pedy Marla Road House and overnight in Kulgera On 15A campsite day 3
If I did it again I would charge longer at Marla to get to Earldunda.
Day 4 Kulgera to Alice.
If you only have one mobile phone, make it an Optus phone as some towns are Telstra Only that the car works on and some are Optus only and then you can connect the car to the Optus phone to plan the next leg.
I didn’t do Kings Canyon and or Uluru so I’ll leave that part for others.
Whilst the route is regularly trafficked by Grey Nomads who will often stop to help if you’re in trouble this is a seriously remote location and should be respected as such. There are online guides like this
Stuart Highway Facts - Explorer's Way from Adelaide to Alice Springs
Good luck.
P.S. When charging during the day for the next leg, put in the Next charge destination into navigation and it will tell you that you will have minus X percent when you arrive, as you charge this will go down to zero then I would leave when it told me I would have 10% to 15% at the next charge stop.

 

[meloccom]

Thanks for all the advice which allowed me to make it from Adelaide to Alice in a Model X 75D. I only seem to get just over 60kw/hr out of the battery from 100% to close to 0% so there were some long charging breaks but we made it safely. I went with the options of overnight charging at Port Augusta (Standpipe), Coober Pedy (Desert Cave) and Erldunda (Desert Sands) which was trouble free. I tried to use all the 32amp 3 phase options along the way (Pimba, Glendambo, Marla). I couldnt charge at Kulgera as they have 20amp plug but thankfully I had topped up enough at Marla to get all the way to Erldunda. I havent yet charged at Stuarts Well but I did pop in and say hello and I will charge there on the way back, hopefully while I do a camel trek.
Advice from other posts that we found particularly helpful included upgrading to 17 kw/hr onboard charger, taking a spare tire (spacesaver ordered from US), Optus mobile phone, using the onboard trip energy graph and allowing 10-15% margin, driving at conservative speeds to conserve battery and taking some movies/books etc for the long charging stops in remote roadhouses.

Hope you enjoyed your trip. If you plan well and take your time it’s a memorable drive.

 

[BenT]