Campsite near Undara Volcanic National Park
The McLennan family explores the Australian Dinosaur Trail along Queensland’s EV-friendly Electric Super Highway.
Heading into the fourth month of our electric Big Lap we crossed the border into Queensland and took the Overlanders Way to travel east through the outback towns. This route proved both extremely interesting and incredibly accessible for electric travel. The kids were especially keen to take this path to allow us to experience the Australian Dinosaur Trail connecting Richmond, Hughenden and Winton, and the Queensland Electric Super Highway along this route made it hassle free in an EV.
The Electric Super Highway has been rolled out over recent years in three phases. The first two phases joining Coolangatta in the south to Port Douglas in the north are complete. Phase three is nearing completion with new locations coming online throughout regional areas.
The Queensland Electric Super Highway charging network
At regular intervals we made use of the drive-through charging stations hosted by many of these small rural towns, generally offering charging at a speed of 75kW and a cost of $0.55/kWh (or $55 for a full charge). With only short distances between towns, we would often just do a small top-up while stopped for lunch or visiting a local attraction and then carry on. Many of the towns demonstrate their commitment to being RV-friendly and provide free campsites in, or close to, their town centres and charging stations, making visits uncomplicated and very economical!
It was interesting to come across campgrounds that signposted ‘no charging of electric vehicles of any kind’, based upon concerns about EV lithium battery fires. Ironically, no apprehension was expressed about the charging of mobile phones, laptops or caravan batteries that use the same technologies. The worry with lithium batteries is the possibility of thermal runaway, although this is not even a risk for all lithium batteries as different chemistries and construction methods can eliminate this potential.
However, research funded by the Australian Department of Defence has found that there have been just six EV battery fires in Australia out of more than 180,000 EVs on the road. In a submission to a Federal Government enquiry on electric vehicle battery fire risk, it noted that none of these were spontaneous, related to charging or caused explosions. EV battery fires are far less common than internal combustion engine vehicle fires (measured against vehicles sold and per kilometres travelled), but a lot of misinformation continues to exist.
With abundant space, sunshine and wind, the number of renewable energy projects powering the small rural communities was incredibly encouraging. They included solar and wind farms, battery storage and even a past attempt at harnessing geothermal power and providing clean energy for the uptake of more electric transport. A great example is the Kennedy Energy Park, 25km from Hughenden, which is the first utility scale hybrid energy farm in Australia, combining turbines, panels and battery storage, generating enough clean energy to power 35,000 homes.
Wind farms around Atherton
The dinosaur trail experience was a spectacular success and the highlight of seven-year-old Xavier’s trip to date. Winton’s Australian Age of Dinosaurs exhibition and the opportunity to fossick at a real palaeontology fossil dig site just outside of Richmond were particular high points. With our prehistoric thirst satiated, we next headed north up through the fascinating volcanic area of Undara towards Atherton and onto the breathtaking Cassowary Coast.
Xavier at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs exhibition in Winton, Qld
Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest meets the reef, was another definite highlight, with a horse ride through the Daintree Rainforest and onto the beach and zip lining through the canopy featuring among the favourite experiences. Although having the range to make the return trip between Cairns and Cape Tribulation without needing to charge our Kia EV, we came across the Tropical North Queensland Electric Vehicle Drive on our way back and took advantage of the free charging facilities while we spent time exploring Mossman Gorge.
Cape Tribulation horse ride
These free destination charging stations are located along a 500km stretch covering key tourist attractions in northern Queensland including the Kuranda Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures, Paronella Park, Historic Herberton Village, Coffee Works Mareeba and the Mossman Gorge Visitor Centre. Each location has two 7kW AC chargers, enough to let you travel the full 500km at no cost, leaving no dent on the holiday budget.
While camping at the fantastic and free Babinda Boulders Camping Area, our 10kWh camper battery mysteriously sounded the low voltage alarm and went flat the first night. The tendency for young Xavier to play with the energy storage system console and settings may well have been the cause of the issue. Fortunately, one of the benefits of camping off-grid with an EV is the ability to use the Vehicle-to-Load functionality, allowing us to power the camper from our car battery. The weather was unseasonably cold, so we were grateful to be able to draw power from the EV and keep the electric blankets on overnight!
Josephine Falls, Wooroonooran National Park
Etty Bay Beach
We loved our time in Girringun National Park with its campground located in a magnificent location adjacent to Stony Creek at the top of Wallaman Gorge. It is accessed by a 15km stretch of very steep and extremely windy, narrow road. When we arrived, we noticed that the campgrounds were populated with campers in tents without another trailer or caravan in sight. The information online about access to the campsite is ambiguous about whether it is accessible for trailers, but when we later descended from the peak the sign at the bottom clearly stated that the road was not suitable for towing vehicles. Fortunately, the EV9’s electric motors, which are ideal for this kind of driving, had no difficulty ascending the steep climb, and managed a controlled descent easily with the regenerative braking on the way down, recouping some of the energy used to get up the hill and reducing reliance and wear on the brake pads.
Girringun National Park
We were passing through Cardwell at the time of the global IT outage resulting from the CrowdStrike software issues. The town’s beachfront EV charger was a victim of the outage and, like many fuel stations and other service providers, was unable to accept payment and was therefore not operational. Unlike the WA EV network’s chargers that default to providing free charge if there is a problem with the payment system, the Queensland network doesn’t have this handy function. Instead, we enjoyed some time at the Cardwell waterfront before continuing on through Ingham to charge there instead.
Until now, our Electrek has largely been through less populated areas where electric vehicles are few and far between. As a result, we have had no competition for charging stations and have never needed to wait to charge. However, as we now head further south down the coast and to more populous areas, we will soon discover whether higher demand for public charging infrastructure is an obstacle.
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The adventure will continue next month as the McLennan family continues exploring some of Australia's best rural areas during their all-electric Big Lap.
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