Townsville from Sydney by EV

Categorised as EV Trips
4,849km by EV Sydney Brisbane Townsville Return

I travelled 4,849km, Sydney to Townsville by EV and return from Townsville, via Kingaroy and New England Highway, to Sydney by EV.

Weather Conditions
Average conditions were 100-110km/hr and roads were wet on some days. AC was on 20°C the whole trip in Autumn temps from mid teens in Sydney to 30°C in Townsville.

Range
Real EV range for the trip in my 2021 Tesla 3LR varied with conditions from 37.5km to 60.6km per 10% of battery used, with the overall average 437km per 100% of battery used.

Cost of Charging
I paid $356.35 in electricity to travel 4,849km, so the average cost in my EV was $7.35/100km.

The trip was April-May 2024, which was before the Superchargers were opened in Carmila, Mackay and Townsville.

Stops where I charged
There were beaches and towns and places I wanted to visit on the way there and back, so I stayed overnight at Maclean, Birtinya, Rockhampton and Airlie Beach on the way to Townsville via the coast.

After my stay in Townsville, I headed back south down the coast from Townsville, staying at Mackay and Bundaberg, then inland at Warwick and Uralla then Sydney.

My stops heading north from Sydney via Brisbane to Townsville were:

  • Tuggerah – charged at the Supercharger during breakfast at HomeCo;
  • Thrumster – charged at the Supercharger during lunch;
  • Maclean – stayed overnight and charged at the AC chargers while at the motel;
  • Byron Bay – Breakfast and lunch with AC charging at the shops while at the beach;
  • Birtinya – Stayed overnight and charged at the AC chargers while at the motel;
  • Gympie – Stopped for breakfast and charge at the Supercharger;
  • Gin Gin – Morning Tea with a charge at the Chargefox DC charger;
  • Calliope – Lunch and a top up at the Supercharger,
  • Rockhampton – Stayed overnight and next morning charged at the Supercharger during breakfast,
  • Marlborough – Morning tea and charged at the Chargefox DC,
  • Carmila –  Lunch and top up at Chargefox DC,
  • Airlie Beach – Stayed overnight and charging at the AC charger while at the accommodation,
  • Bowen – Breakfast and Supercharger
  • Townsville – Topped up at the Evie chargers.

Stops heading South from Townsville via Kingaroy and Tamworth to Sydney 

  • Townsville – topped up at the Evie chargers;
  • Bowen – A meal while Supercharging;
  • Mackay – Stayed overnight and topped up at Chargefox DC;
  • Carmila – Coffee and top up at Chargefox DC;
  • Rockhampton – Lunch during Supercharging;
  • Calliope – Afternoon break and top up at Supercharger;
  • Bundaberg – Stayed and used AC chargers at motel;
  • Kingaroy – Lunch while filling up from Chargefox DC;
  • Toowoomba – A break at the Golf Club and a charge at the Supercharger;
  • Warwick – stayed overnight and during breakfast recharged using the DC charger in the Acacia Ave carpark;
  • Tenterfield – Brunch and top up at Supercharger;
  • Uralla – Stayed overnight;
  • Tamworth – During breakfast charged at NRMA;
  • Jerry’s Plains – During lunch topped up at the Supercharger;
  • Sydney – home.

As it was my first trip to Townsville by EV, I used PlugShare to check for EV charger locations at the towns I wanted to visit or stay in. PlugShare had all the EV chargers, so it was easy to pick one near where I wanted to stop and for accommodation to stay at, with EV chargers on site. (I tried ABRP but it was missing lots of chargers, so I only used PlugShare).

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