In October 2024 Diana and I embarked on a 13-day road trip in our MG4 from our home in Canberra to Hobart and return, a journey of more than 2400 km.
Our main purpose was to attend the 2024 AEVA Conference and its associated activities. We also aimed to explore a couple of places in Tasmania that we had not previously visited.
Trip overview
We generally aim to drive less than 500 km per day, so we did not attempt to reach the ferry terminal at Geelong on the first day. We spent our first night at a motel in Wangaratta where we had stayed previously, and our second night crossing Bass Strait on the Spirit of Tasmania. We spent five nights in Hobart, where we were involved in AEVA meetings and the EEE (Energy, Efficiency, Electric) Expo. We then spent two nights at St Helens, two nights at Launceston, one night on the return crossing of Bass Strait, and one night in Holbrook NSW before returning home.
Our charging experience
Unlike our previous highway trip in 2024, we were unable to make significant use of destination charging at overnight accommodation.
Our first charging stop was at Tarcutta where we had our first reminder: yes, every so often you will have to wait to charge. (In our previous trip to Moreton Bay we did not have to wait once). Four other EVs had arrived in the previous half hour, including a Tesla which opted to charge at an Evie station because it was cheaper. We spent 45 minutes chatting to the other EV drivers before we could begin charging.
Our overnight stop was at the Wangaratta Quality Hotel where we planned to use the Tesla destination charger that we had used successfully last year. And we had our second reminder: a previously “promiscuous” Tesla destination charger can revert to Tesla-only. It worked last year with our Ioniq hatchback, but this time it didn’t work with our MG4. However, we were able to part-charge (from 17% to 50%) using our trickle charger at a 10 amp power point in the hotel’s parking basement, and we then filled up to 85% the next morning at the Wangaratta Docker St Evie station.
The Evie charger at Docker St Wangaratta
This charger functioned well, but it is located at the exit of a roundabout and is a nose-forward configuration, so reversing after charging carries the risk of a rear-end collision with cars leaving the roundabout.
On the way to Geelong we stopped for lunch at Gisborne while charging at the 25 kW Everty station at Middy’s electrical store. We had already validated our AEVA RFID card in the Everty app, and it worked as expected.
On our third morning (Wednesday) we left the ferry at Devonport with over 100 km of range, and drove to the excellent Evie charging station at Westbury, 65 km SE of Devonport.
The Evie charging station at Westbury
This station has two 350 kW chargers, aligned so that the second charging bay can accommodate cars that are towing. The site has a good supermarket and an excellent café, so we enjoyed a hearty breakfast while the MG4 charged from 12% to 90%. After driving to Hobart, we charged up to 95% at the Chargefox station at Glenorchy.
We settled in to our accommodation on Elizabeth St Pier, and attended AEVA events over the next few days. We were due to compete in the kunanyi Challenge on the Sunday morning, so we topped up to 100% at the free EVUp charger at the Pier.
We finished mid-field in the kunanyi Challenge with an economy result of 14.2 kWh/100 km and a measured energy of 6.25 kWh for the ascent/descent. It was pleasing to see that the overall winner of the Challenge was a 2018 Hyundai Ioniq hatchback – the same model as our other EV.
After our stay in Hobart we headed to St Helens, charging on the way at the Evie station at Campbell Town. This was a brief rest break, and we would have made it comfortably to St Helens without this charge.
During our brief stay at St Helens we did the Beerbarrel Beach walk: not the greatest short bushwalk, except that on the track we encountered this:
Echidna on the Beerbarrel Beach track
Before leaving St Helens we used the Chargefox charger near the IGA supermarket without any problems.
If you want to stay on paved roads, there are two ways to get from St Helens to Launceston: a northerly route via Scottsdale, and a southerly route via Avoca and Conara. We decided to attempt a modified version of the southerly route, via Mathinna. This took us along the Upper Esk Road, which comprises more than 50 km of gravel. It was a good quality gravel road, though, and the MG4 handled it with ease.
At Launceston we charged at Kings Meadows, a site which is conveniently located at a popular shopping centre with several cafes. The next day, we explored Launceston and took a scenic 2.5 hour cruise through Cataract Gorge and up the Tamar estuary.
On the way to the ferry terminal at Devonport we visited AEVA colleagues in the locality of Selbourne. They generously showed us around their property, including their extensive vegetable gardens, their vehicle conversions and their DIY home battery.
After the northward crossing of Bass Strait we hoped for a repeat of our experience on the southward leg: a good breakfast at a café while charging. It was not to be. We did consider the Evie chargers at McDonalds Melton South, but there were some mixed reports on Plugshare so we went to Werribee instead. We charged there, but neither the Wyndham City Council Civic Centre or the Ampol Foodary at Werribee had suitable dining facilities.
Our next charging stop was at BP Glenrowan North, a far more congenial location with food, toilets and picnic tables. After visiting the Brown Bros winery and the Cheese Factory at Milawa, we pressed on to our overnight rest stop at Holbrook.
We had to wait about 20 minutes before using the NRMA charger at Submarine Park. Holbrook also has a site with 9 Tesla Superchargers, but these are set to Tesla-only which is disappointing given the importance of Holbrook as a rest stop between Sydney and Melbourne. It is encouraging, though, that 2 chargers are now planned for the Ampol Foodary at Holbrook.
We headed for home after night’s rest at the Holbrook Motel in Sydney Rd. We would have made it comfortably back to Canberra, but we decided on a brief rest stop at Yass where we topped up at the Lead St carpark where the 12 Superchargers are open to non-Teslas.
Costs and efficiency
During this journey of 2460 km we used a total of 423 kWh, including the 30 kWh at home at the end of the journey, to return the battery to the 90% level that we had when we set off. This worked out at an average of 17.2 kWh per 100 km, which was slightly worse than our efficiency of 16.6 on the Moreton Bay trip earlier in the year.
Our charging expenses totalled $252, giving an average fuel cost of $10.20 per 100 km. The same journey in a petrol car would have incurred a fuel cost of around $500.
Summing up
Many Australians are currently opting to buy new hybrid cars, presumably because they lack confidence in Australia’s highway charging infrastructure. These people should do more research, and a good place to start would be the road trip reports on the AEVA website.
We have now done three highway trips in our MG4 during 2024, with a total of more than 6000 km travelled. We have found the charging infrastructure in southeastern Australia to be completely adequate for our needs, while acknowledging that our journeys were not made at peak holiday times.
One reason for buying the MG4 was to give us confidence in travelling on back roads. We did that on the Putty Road and the Oberon-Taralga Road during our return from the Hunter Valley in February; we did it on the Bylong Valley Way during our return from Moreton Bay in June; and we did it on this trip, on the Upper Esk Road between Mathinna and Launceston. We will certainly attempt it again in the future with complete confidence.