Darwin to Sydney road trip

[gm12]

Hey, its all about to start again with the drive back to Sydney from Darwin.

See earlier thread about getting to Darwin from Sydney here: Sydney to Darwin road trip

Here is a teaser...

 

[WoodWombat]

Sounds like a fun trip. Hunter Murray and the AEVA have done a lot of work making the NT section viable. I recently did a 6500km round trip to Uluru, Alice Springs and Kings Canyon in a 2019 M3P from Melbourne and it was pretty uneventful.

How many kms per day do you expect to do on the AC charged sections? My record was 633kms, but we were mainly just doing tourist stuff, not trying for maximum distance. Once you hit Port Augusta and the various DC networks then you could get the rest of the way in 2 very easy days.

I am jealous! I love getting off the beaten track in my EV.

 

[Vostok]

Sounds like a fun trip. Hunter Murray and the AEVA have done a lot of work making the NT section viable. I recently did a 6500km round trip to Uluru, Alice Springs and Kings Canyon in a 2019 M3P from Melbourne and it was pretty uneventful.

Wow, you should have posted your own trip report . Did you go from Uluru direct to Kings Canyon (310 km), or Alice direct to Kings Canyon (330 km gravel or 470 km sealed)? It’s a fair distance either way, with no charging options along the way, which could lead to anxiety . I love hearing about trips in remote areas which non-EV drivers say are impossible .

 

[skyworxx]

Have you thought about bringing a small generator and largish jerry can just in case?

 

[gm12]

Have you thought about bringing a small generator and largish jerry can just in case?

I'd be too worried about running out of petrol. There are a lot more power outlets in the outback than petrol bowsers.

 

[skyworxx]

But this would be on top of being able to charge from those power outlets. The mentioned 470km stretch from the post above mine could be cutting it very close

 

[Vostok]

Hey, its all about to start again with the drive back to Sydney from Darwin.

We await your trip reports with interest!

I opened up Plugshare and had a look at the check-ins at various roadhouses and towns along the length of the Stuart Highway - and was surprised at just how frequently some of them are used. Just about all of it is 3-phase or 10/15A plugs though. A few Tesla destination chargers at Alice Springs and Coober Pedy.

It would seem travel to the centre of Australia in an EV is more common than many people think.

 

[WoodWombat]

Wow, you should have posted your own trip report . Did you go from Uluru direct to Kings Canyon (310 km), or Alice direct to Kings Canyon (330 km gravel or 470 km sealed)? It’s a fair distance either way, with no charging options along the way, which could lead to anxiety . I love hearing about trips in remote areas which non-EV drivers say are impossible .

I was staying at Erldunda Roadhouse since I could not get accomodation when I wanted it at Yulara or Kings canyon. Erldunda is at Ghan, on the intersection of the Lassiter Highway and Stuart Highways. This is roughly 200km south of Alice Springs, about 250km from Yulara, 300km from Kings Canyon etc. In truth, it is an excellent place to stay with an AEVA supplied 3 phase plug near the motel part where I stayed, and 15A powered sites as well.

The location also let me experiment with speed vs range a lot. For example, when I visited Alice Springs I got to drive most of the way at 133km/h, which really did affect range, but there is plenty of AC charging in Alice, so it was not a big deal. As most know by now, the fastest way to travel, even with AC charging is to drive as fast as you can and still reach the destination, then charge. In practice, we relaxed on that since the road is more interesting to look at than the area around a roadhouse, driving slower to maximise range and reduce charging time.

Word of warning to you all. You have to be very very careful to not just blindly follow Tesla navigation. For example, from Ghan, there are two routes of similar lengths to Kings Canyon. The slightly longer is to drive towards Yulara on the Lassiter and then turn right onto Luritja Rd. The other is to drive towards Alice Springs up the Stuart Highway and then turn left into Ernest Giles Rd and then pick up Luritja Rd. Tesla picks the second route, which neglects the fact that Ernest Giles Rd is 106km of unsealed road, mostly good when I was there fortunately, but with washouts in places and giant sandbars in some of the gullies. Tesla's navigation does not understand dirt roads at all, especially that driving on that sort of road takes more power than you would expect. I find that the same thing happens in my home state where the car is happy to shove me down a dirt road, even if a better sealed route exists.

 

[Vostok]

Word of warning to you all. You have to be very very careful to not just blindly follow Tesla navigation. For example, from Ghan, there are two routes of similar lengths to Kings Canyon. The slightly longer is to drive towards Yulara on the Lassiter and then turn right onto Luritja Rd. The other is to drive towards Alice Springs up the Stuart Highway and then turn left into Ernest Giles Rd and then pick up Luritja Rd. Tesla picks the second route, which neglects the fact that Ernest Giles Rd is 106km of unsealed road, mostly good when I was there fortunately, but with washouts in places and giant sandbars in some of the gullies. Tesla's navigation does not understand dirt roads at all, especially that driving on that sort of road takes more power than you would expect.

Yep, I discovered that on my recent road trip to Gregory & Greaves Corner and Lightning Ridge. Tesla Nav doesn’t know which unsealed roads are closed or damaged, or even which sealed roads are closed or damaged for that matter. And away from the main roads it sometimes gets the directions completely wrong. I had to map my own route separately and then piecemeal it together once in the car.

I briefly wondered whether you had done the Mereenie Loop from Alice to Kings Canyon. Larapinta Dr is now sealed past Hermannsberg to the intersection with Namatjira Dr, but the next 145 km to a point about 14 km west of Kings Canyon Resort is gravel and quite rough in parts by all accounts. People say they have done it in sedans but you need to drive very carefully to not smash your suspension by hitting a big divot at speed or shake your car to bits over the corrugations. I doubt anyone has done this road in an EV but you never know.

 

[Maximillan]

Yep, I discovered that on my recent road trip to Gregory & Greaves Corner and Lightning Ridge. Tesla Nav doesn’t know which unsealed roads are closed or damaged, or even which sealed roads are closed or damaged for that matter. And away from the main roads it sometimes gets the directions completely wrong. I had to map my own route separately and then piecemeal it together once in the car.

I briefly wondered whether you had done the Mereenie Loop from Alice to Kings Canyon. Larapinta Dr is now sealed past Hermannsberg to the intersection with Namatjira Dr, but the next 145 km to a point about 14 km west of Kings Canyon Resort is gravel and quite rough in parts by all accounts. People say they have done it in sedans but you need to drive very carefully to not smash your suspension by hitting a big divot at speed or shake your car to bits over the corrugations. I doubt anyone has done this road in an EV but you never know.

The shortcomings are most likely due to the Tesla nav relying on Google Maps which has plenty of well documented examples of taking people down dangerous remote roads.

The concern that I'd have with a M3 on unsealed roads is the low ground clearance combined with the long wheelbase leaves it vulnerable to bottoming out on its belly. It's already a challenge not scraping the bottom at some car parking garages.

 

[cafz]

The shortcomings are most likely due to the Tesla nav relying on Google Maps which has plenty of well documented examples of taking people down dangerous remote roads.

Last I checked, the Tesla nav used TomTom's routing engine (the satellite view overlay is from Google, though).

 

[Cruiser]

Interesting advice so thank you. Given the question over the Tesla M3 routing algorithms, which of the common free/paid mapping programs do people swear by (as opposed to swear at). I expect they all work well enough in the city areas but in rural areas, services are harder to find if needed. I know there will be others but the ones that come to mind are Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze (Google derivative), Plugshare, ABRP, Sygic, HEMA Explorer & ExploreOZ Traveller.

 

[Vostok]

The concern that I'd have with a M3 on unsealed roads is the low ground clearance combined with the long wheelbase leaves it vulnerable to bottoming out on its belly. It's already a challenge not scraping the bottom at some car parking garages.

The gravel roads I drove on were pretty well graded so I wasn't concerned about bottoming out and only hit a few bigger than expected dips or bumps at speed. Cattle grids were a non-issue. But anything marked "4WD only" I would avoid due to ground clearance concerns not traction.

What I did notice is that ceramic coating is quite effective at not having dust stick to it. I was quite disappointed with the bug and dust coverage pulling into Lighting Ridge (and I did get covered in a dust cloud stuck behind a road train). I was hoping to arrive with a filthy car to give me some cred but it was not to be - it looked absurdly clean

 

[Maximillan]

Interesting advice so thank you. Given the question over the Tesla M3 routing algorithms, which of the common free/paid mapping programs do people swear by (as opposed to swear at). I expect they all work well enough in the city areas but in rural areas, services are harder to find if needed. I know there will be others but the ones that come to mind are Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze (Google derivative), Plugshare, ABRP, Sygic, HEMA Explorer & ExploreOZ Traveller.

Just a minor clarification that Waze is owned by Google, but a different infrastructure and code base. When there has been a major AWS outage it has taken out Waze, whilst Google Maps is not affected.

 

[gm12]

I've started my road trip back to Sydney
from Darwin.
Day 1:

and
Day 2:

 

[Lachlan Smith]

Last I checked, the Tesla nav used TomTom's routing engine (the satellite view overlay is from Google, though).

Does that mean we can fix this by editing openstreetmap? It's a pain to get edits into Google maps now.

 

[Cruiser]

Just a minor clarification that Waze is owned by Google, but a different infrastructure and code base. When there has been a major AWS outage it has taken out Waze, whilst Google Maps is not affected.

I wasn't aware of that - but I'm wondering if they still use the same mapping data so that roads are similarly referenced in both products. I can see I'll have to test this out

 

[Maximillan]

I wasn't aware of that - but I'm wondering if they still use the same mapping data so that roads are similarly referenced in both products. I can see I'll have to test this out

From the horse's mouth: How navigation app Waze works behind the scenes - Waze Belgium.

Fun fact that some but not all may know, Google Maps is originally an Australia product, and continues to be developed and supported by teams in Australia.

 

[cafz]

Does that mean we can fix this by editing openstreetmap? It's a pain to get edits into Google maps now.

No. They have their own map data, and a method for reporting errors.

 

[gm12]

Catching up on videos:

Day 4 & 5 - Daly Waters to Alice Springs -

Day 6, 7 & 8 - Alice Springs to Uluru -

Day 9 & 10 - Uluru to Kulgera -