Hey thanks!I suspected from your recommendation, paulp, that you may have had some prior experience. Rick and I discussed the matter extensively.Congratulations. The Frames are amongst the most brilliant (and brilliantly executed) concept I have ever experienced; and accept my word on it, I have travelled extensively and stayed in everything from top class palaces to the down and dingey, so am appropriately qualified to comment.
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Road Trip - Take 2 - Yaaaaaaah! Melbourne to Adelaide
- Thread starter alpal
- Start date
Ready to Explore Bendigo / Never know who you'll run into
Day 10 - Murray Downes - Swan Hill - Bendigo - Melbourne - Home! Initially clear and cold (7°), then drizzled most of the day then cleared again - top 11°.
Battery: Start - 255km typical - End 68 typical. Distance travelled - 364kms @ 191Wh/Km (includes 208kms of charge at Bendigo - drove conservatively - sat on 85-95 only most of day).
Departed our golf resort at Murray Downes only partially charged but hopefully enough to get us to Bendigo. Dined exclusively this morning for breakfast at MacDonalds (pancakes and coffee) and drove straight through to Bendigo sweating each kilometre and calculation remaining battery etc.
Made it! 32 kms to spare!
Decided to recharge at Bendigo Exhibition Centre where I knew we could get 32A 3 phase rather that at a vey generous offer from a new Tesla owner in Bendigo.
As it turned out, while we were trying to get setup for the charge (took a couple of shots at different points) he turned up to welcome us anyway. Very hospitable. He overwhelmed us with offers of assistance and farewelled us as we scootered off into town (in the rain and cold).
Soon we were queueing for tickets to the Marilyn Munroe exhibition which we enjoyed and certainly filled the charging time nicely. A quick spaghetti bol and we were back on our scooters returning the a freshly partially charged albeit dirty and damaged red Tesla.
The run home started all uphill, testing our computations of the recharge but 80 kms out of Melbourne everything changed and we cruised home downhill with ample (68?) charge to spare.
One highlight of the day: The sadness we experienced upon reminiscing about this trip. What a blast we've had, so many memories and experiencing in so few days.
Summary
Days travelled - 10 days
Overall Kms Travelled - 2511
Overall kWH - 503.4
Overall Wh/Km - 200
This car is a modern day wonder - so wonderfully easy to drive - such adventures to be had - I commend road trips to you all!!
This car is a modern day wonder - so wonderfully easy to drive - such adventures to be had - I commend road trips to you all!!
Oh, and one second last thing - and I didn't mention this nearly often enough - this country of ours ... I had almost forgotten before I started doing roadtrips again ... It is the most beautiful, rugged, unique and inspiring you will ever find ...
And now lastly, but by no means leastly, if you plan one of these trips, (and half the fun is in the planning), then make sure you take with you a partner like my wife Sharon. She has a spirit that is full of wonder and she possesses that 'never say die' attitude that is essential for an adventure like this. I can honestly say we wouldn't have made it without her (nor would it have been so much fun). Thanks babe!
Any interest to cruise on from Adelaide to Alice Springs. I am keen to see a Tesla in the Red Centre soon.
I'll be keen to do it when I get mine!! Getting the boss to agree to it is an entirely different problem though.
Discussions in the last 10 ks of this trip were about our next road trip, either across the Nullabor or up to Darwin. I'm leaning towards the Darwin option myself. Any trip info most appreciated.
Stay tuned.
Give me the bosses number. When electric cars can cross the nation east to west and north to south we will know that petrol and pistons are history.
Thanks Alpal. As a new member I am just working out the intricacies of this forum.
My interest is to have a couple, even one, surf board rider drive in an electric car to Alice Springs to feature at "Henley on Todd" in early August. 5000 people will attend this event and it is generally a fun day. Running a boat race in a dry river bed has risks. Cancelled once in 53 years as there was water in the river.
Alice Springs is a Solar City and there is a hot debate ongoing in the community at the moment on expanding Solar. A Tesla in town would feed into this debate.
The ALP is likely to form the next government. They have shown interest in purchasing electric vehicles in the Government fleet. A Tesla in town would feed into the campaign.
It is an exciting time to be in Central Australia. I look forward to hearing from you if you want to be part of it.
The boss is my wife!! I'm self employed so taking 'leave' is not an issue other than the necessary sign off. I won't have my car until November but I would be keen to do it next winter. I think trying to do the trip in summer is asking for trouble for the time being.
Alpal, Adelaide to Darwin seems like an epic trip. Alice to Darwin would be interesting, from memory the last time I did that there were a few huge stretches without anything at all. I would need to travel from Newcastle via Sydney/Melb/Adel but would be happy to pick someone up on the way.
I 100% agree on the solar city exposure. Alice is a great case for an electric centre, ditch fossil fuels and they would be happily energy independent with sensible deployment of Solar and battery, a lot cheaper than diesel based generation as well.
My surf boarder friend is semi retired and lives Adelaide southern suburbs. His son is a pharmaceutical manager in Sydney so we may be able to add a personal encounter that way before we commit.
Rich Bentley I am familiar with the southern section and know most distances are under 200km between town with one space 250KM. I have had a contact with a mine midway in this space who could help with a generator.
My assumption is that fast chargers will be non existant in this space so we will need to overnight charge and travel speed will be constrained by this. Your experience in this area will be valuable but I am happy to do any research you require.
I work in a remote location 300km to NW of Alice Springs and it is possible that access to this forum will be barred by our IT security. If you dont hear from me Mondays to Fridays that will likely be the explanation.
I work for Central Desert Regional Council in their CDP employment contract. My birthplace is WA but have lived and worked or studied in every state except Tasmania over the last 50 years.
I see a future when remote people will be able to travel cheaply in electric cars. And hopefully they will be more reliable. Central Australian communities are littered with broken cars.
Sydney direct to Adelaide is out because of missing charging stations?
Henley on Todd is run by the three Rotary Clubs of Alice Springs and is entering its 54th year.
The Arid Lands Environment Centre is behind Re-Power Alice Springs- pushing for more solar. The NT government and Territory Generation have just committed to 10 gas fired generators. Claim no room for more solar.
The Frack Free Alliance is campaigning against gas fracking in the NT which is being promoted by industry and the current NT Government. The ALP have agreed to a 4 year moratorium.
CAT (Centre for Appropriate Technology) have a big interest in developing solar in Central Australia.
I expect Google will help you locate these organisations and campaigns if you want to obtain more detail.
I will supply additional detail on request.
@Rich Bentley - wow sounds great! But just a tad early for our next road trip. Have to recover from our last (repairs to my baby Tesla and I need a new iPhone) and there's just one or two things to attend to before our next adventure - but this sounds like it would have been perfect.
Could be a bit early this year but the Tesla Owners Club of Australia may be looking for a new venue in 2017 for their AGM. What better place for all members that have to travel from interstate to have at a central location. Can't get much more central than central Australia.
Send/post more details as it is an idea worthy of more consideration.
Rich Bentley There are several organisations who would help you organise a conference. Tourism NT Alice Springs office, Alice Springs Town Council, Caravan Parks, Casino etc. Alice Springs is a popular venue for moderate sized conferences for the very reason that it is central.
Would be great if we could find a pioneer who could visit this year and explore the options in advance.
CAT (Centre for Appropriate Technology) who host some solar research in Alice Springs would surely be interested.
HOT (Henley on Todd) is a boat race in a dry river bed. - madness.run for 50+years. Attracts 5000 local, interstate and international visitors. Is run by three rotary clubs. A surf rider in a dry river bed fits in with the general theme- crazy.
Please to help with some contacts.
Would be great if we could find a pioneer who could visit this year and explore the options in advance.
CAT (Centre for Appropriate Technology) who host some solar research in Alice Springs would surely be interested.
HOT (Henley on Todd) is a boat race in a dry river bed. - madness.run for 50+years. Attracts 5000 local, interstate and international visitors. Is run by three rotary clubs. A surf rider in a dry river bed fits in with the general theme- crazy.
Please to help with some contacts.
Sounds more like a wish than a fact, the ALP forming the next government.
As a follow up Alpha I have obtained a contact Ben Johannsen from NT Conventions who is the Business Events Officer contactable on 08 8951 8427 who could provide details on facilities available in Alice Springs to support a conference. Details on Convention Centre, Entertainment Centre, motels and caravan parks with holiday units etc.
Our event Henley on Todd is usually held on the second weekend in August and fills the better part of Saturday. There are social events that precede and follow the event which is held in the bed of the Todd River in the center of town. There is a parade to start the day which Tesla cars might join and there could be an opportunity to have a few cars on the river bank during the day where spectators could meet owners and obtain some insight into the experience of driving an electric car.
To the north of town is 200 km of open speed limit road that those interested in speed could use for a day trip. There are Indigenous communities in this area who usually drive Fords or Holdens that are purchased for $2000 or so and rarely last more than a few months. I can see a day when electric vehicles will provide more reliable and cheaper transport than the current vehicles.
I may have mentioned CAT which has some expertise in solar power and would no doubt want to discuss how electric cars might assist in the stabilisation of our electricity grid. Also Charles Darwin Automotive section with apprentice mechanics in all years of apprenticeship who might also like to learn about the advantages of electric transportation.
I am sure you will enjoy the experience of visiting central Australia and that we have first class facilities for a conference. If the conference timing coincides with our event and there is an opportunity to involve you in HOT I will be pleased to assist further with contacts and to help plan that part of your trip.
I look forward to hearing more from you and learning more about the Tesla experience.
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