How bad could the wait be? Tesla Model Y Supercharging - Sydney to Melbourne during Public holidays

[@Fredngpinas]

Thank you.. will follow your journey in 2 weeks time

[@ZappedAU]

All the best!

[@bikersydney5653]

Interesting results Roland. We did a similar Syd-Meb-Syd road trip in our 2021 M3LR from 1st to 4th Jan 2024 to check out the Tesla Charging network. But we travelled the coast road Syd-Melb charging at Narooma (V2 SC 21min). Cann River (V3 SC 31mins) and stayed overnight Traralgon in country Victoria (Mantra hotel Tesla destination charger) Then 2 nights in Melbourne CBD . Did day-trip to Sorrento plus checked out Melb CBD on foot. Pullman Hotel had Tesla destination charger. Return Melb-Syd on 4th Jan. Departed hotel with 100%. Charge stops Albury (V4 SC 35mins) and Yass (V3 SC 28mins). Arrived home with 23% SoC. Total travel time 10hr 30mins. 4 stops (2 charging, plus (30 min) 2 other breaks). No waiting for supercharging . Average speed on Hume 106kph. 161wh/km. No drop out of LTE signal Spotify/ Podcasts the whole way. Syd-Melb-Syd total distance 2,147km. Total cost $124.28

[@ZappedAU]

Seems about right in terms of the pricing as I factored mine based on paying for peak pricing and no "free charging/top-ups" anywhere. It's great to know you had no LTE signal drop out for the other viewers of this video. This also re-assures that my issue was for my car specifically!

[@bikersydney5653]

@@ZappedAU We used 345kwh in total . All data recorded in Tessie. Staying in accommodation with charging is convenient, cheaper and often free. But I think with your referral credits Roland your real supercharge costs would have been $0. But your MYP is rolling on 21’ wheels and slightly thirstier 😅

[@ZappedAU]

Totally correct on all points! We stayed at an apartment in Melbourne so there was no overnight freebie charging. For the Albury one, it was just coincidental that the place we stayed at was literally opposite the Supercharger. 21" wheels do chew up abit more from what I have read in terms of range impact. I didn't mention it in my previous comment, but it's quite re-assuring for others to know that you didn't have to wait for supercharging too. It seems it's possibly just the rare occasions that do get the media attention which then blows up to a bigger story than needed.

[@Subh8081]

I did not do this trip, but Sydey to Bateman's Bay in Easter 2023 in my 2021 Tesla Standard Range Plus and charged in Berry. We set out on Thursday. It was busy. But we were lucky and got the only free charging station when we arrived. While returning on Easter Monday, it was even more busy. We had to wait like 20 minutes at the Bateman's Bay charger and 5 minutes at the Berry charger. One charging station was not working. Christmas long drives have been good as its a longer spread holiday for most.

[@Spade080]

Good review, but it would have been a slightly better test if you drove to Melbourne on the 23rd of December (Saturday) as it is the first day of the long weekend. I wouldn't expect Boxing Day to be a peak day to drive as most people would already be in their destinations by then. I live in Canberra and the mass exodus to other states started on the 23rd of Dec, not the 26th.

[@ZappedAU]

Thanks for the tips! Will try plan for a big drive on day 1. Always hard managing work/schedule but for 2024 with more new chargers, i'd be keen to see how it goes.

[@andyg3752]

What was the MG doing at Euroa? The euroa superchargers are only open to Tesla’s!

[@ZappedAU]

Not too sure to be honest! I didn't have a chat with them. They were there only for 5-10mins though. Perhaps they were just trying to see if they could get it working. I just checked the app and it's definitely still Tesla only.

[@andyg3752]

In regards to your costs if you charged to 100% at home and arrived home with say 20% then ~144kWh of your total usage could be free if on say a plan like OVO or if charged overnight very cheap at 8c kWh which would dramatically reduce your costs. I know you had free supercharger credits so for your example the way you did it was cheapest for you. 😊

[@ZappedAU]

The usage I calculated is just purely on the view that I supercharged for that. You're right in terms of cheap costs. I do have the OVO Plan and instead of overnight 8c per kWh, I charge during the day. Anything above my excess solar production is considered "free".

[@andyg3752]

Lots of superchargers now between Sydney and Melbourne which is great. I noticed you aren’t using autosteer when on the freeway, any particular reason why?

[@ZappedAU]

Yep! There were a few other Supercharger stops that could have been taken that I didn't cover off so I think we're in a good state in 2024. Sometimes I feel it's easier/quicker to overtake cars when doing it myself as opposed to sitting behind another car. Based on testing the GPS accuracy, our Model Y Performance reads less than 1km variance from the actual speed. Plenty of other cars read lower so when I am on Autopilot, the car will already catch up to others. We don't have enhanced autopilot so it's a little inconvenient to always toggle it on/off when overtaking.

[@clayton4115]

29:15 what is that Orange MG4 doing there, this one at Euroa are for Tesla only. Not open to other EV's.

[@ZappedAU]

I didn’t get to chat to the owner but seemed like they were plugged in and talking to someone. I’m assuming it didn’t work though!

[@alanjm1234]

In my old Diesel Mondeo, Sydney to Melbourne took about 3/4 of a tank.

[@ZappedAU]

Thanks but I think you're missing the point of the video. Intent was around wait times and how it would be taking an EV Syd to Melb and back!

[@SydneyEV]

A B737 could do it on 1/8 tank.... thats not the point of the vid.

[@bondibois]

Maybe so, but it’s an old Diesel Mondeo. 😂

[@johnharris4600]

Hi Roland , I've just got on to your channel here , watched a few of your videos already, I enjoyed this one as I am interested in the trip between Melbourne and Sydney using an Ev , and I have watched quite, and it's quite obvious to me at the moment that you do need to have a Tesla to have peace of mind charging at this current time , what annoys me though is having to Drive quite a little distance off the Highway to the Charging Stations,Goulborn for instance, to me this adds more time to the whole experience, and it doesn't appear to be a lot there either, not many reviewers are critical of this including yourself , Ludicrous Tom, etc, But the way I look at it it stands out like a sore thumb, my question is how do you feel about it . I can't understand why these aren't located close to the Highways like roadside fuel ⛽ stations that have good food amenities and restrooms 🚻 . For me personally as much i love Electric vehicles until they can get this infrastructure better and more conveniently located I'm going to sit on the fence for a bit longer. I would love to see the Tesla drive in's but that would be asking to i suppose. Also a point of reference I was watching a Tuber in Melbourne, " Not a car guy" , Driving Melbourne to Adelaide, the Tailem Bend Supercharger stop , to me this is how it should be done . See what you think 💬🤔. Regards John in Melbourne 😊

[@ZappedAU]

Thanks John and Welcome :). I agree with your points especially around Goulburn! I didn’t expect to head that far into the city centre to charge. The Big Merino would have been a perfect location. I haven’t seen the “not a car guy” episode. Will need to check it out. I think when Tesla opens the network; it will be a lot better and also when other charging companies work on their outages too. It might also probably help when a lot of the petrol stations start to adopt 1-2 chargers per location.

[@petermcinnes5575]

@@ZappedAUas a non-Tesla driver and rural born Australian (Goulburn). I am interested in this debate. Tesla seems to be locating most of their Hume highway superchargers close to locations with lots of amenities. Clubs with good food and nicer environments. Closer to rural town centres with greater choice for food and exploring during normal business hours at least. This appears to me to suggest that Tesla thinks the EV touring experience is fundamentally different from the soon to become extinct ICE vehicle experience. Charging - they appear to be betting - won’t get a lot faster. In that instance (and as an MG ZS EV owner I can attest to this) non-Tesla charging experience is a real challenge when I travel with my family. Most of non-Tesla chargers are located adjacent to ICE drinking holes. The food is mostly crap and my family want to go somewhere nice (as we always did when driving an ICE). But we are trapped in fast food hell! Albury now open to our MG was a pleasant change. Tesla could also be thinking about how to bring back business to small businesses in country towns that the multi-national fast food chains have sucked out in the last 20 years as a consequence of extensive by-passing. Though I actually doubt that is the reason. Goulburn is a bit of an anomaly. It is very far in. It’s an early fast charger (2014??) and yes the Big Merino might be better (Trappers is a great place for a pie and coffee). Again Tesla’s FC is located next to the RSL club suggesting it’s part of a plan. Really enjoyed your trip video - non Tesla EV experience is very poor in comparison.