Driving an electric vehicle (EV) in regional Australia used to be a feat of planning and logistics, but country owners say range anxiety is now a thing of the past.
“It’s a fear in people’s minds that it can run out of charge anytime and you will not find any charging stations. It’s not like that,” said Mackay-based mining engineer Samial Hasnat.
Mr Hasnat is one of a growing number of country Australians who have made the switch to an EV in an effort to save on fuel and maintenance costs.
Recent data compiled by the Electric Vehicle Council shows nearly 20 per cent of EV sales are coming from rural and regional Australia, trailing inner and outer metro areas on 39 and 43 per cent respectively.
The council’s Ross De Rango said there were about 3,000 EVs in regional Queensland, a significant jump from a couple of years ago.
He attributed the uptake to increasing model choices with a wider range of price points.
“We’re at a point where nationally about one new vehicle in 12 is an EV; it takes time for people to become accustomed to a new technology,” Mr De Rango said.
Longer distances, more fuel savings
David Mayne said he had saved tens of thousands of dollars in fuel costs by switching his diesel four-wheel drive for an electric car.
The central Queensland farmer said he was concerned about how his EV would handle the 40-kilometre round trip on a dirt road he’d make to the nearest town of Springsure, but it had had no issues.
He paid $72,000 for his EV and has driven 70,000 kilometres in the 18 months he’s owned it.
“If I’d done that same 70,000 kilometres in our old LandCruiser that would have been about an extra $35,000 just in diesel,” Mr Mayne said.
“If we keep it three years … we’ll have paid for the cost in fuel savings alone.”
Mr Mayne lives off grid and charges his car through solar power.
“If I take into [account] the cost of the solar system and what I expect it to produce over its lifetime, it’s about 70 cents to charge this car completely empty to full on the solar system we’ve got here.”
Mr De Rango said it could still be cheaper for people to own EVs in Queensland’s south-east corner, depending on their electricity provider.
He said there were more providers to choose from in Brisbane, which had better cost-saving tariffs available for overnight EV charging.
Infrastructure still needed
Caboolture farmer Andrew Radford also transitioned the primary vehicle on his cattle farm away from a diesel ute nearly two years ago.
Mr Radford said the time he saved on vehicle maintenance could be used fixing other machinery on the farm.
“From working on my old LandCruiser, constantly fixing things, it’s just a joy to have an EV with very, very little chance of things breaking down on them,” he said.
“Maintenance is just nothing, basically top up the wiper water.”
Mr Mayne said the only downside to his purchase was the lack of available chargers when he drove to Brisbane.
“I’ve got to take a longer route than I would in an internal combustion engine vehicle, so it’s a couple hundred kilometres longer.
“If we could have one charge point in Injune, that would save me maybe 300 kilometres from here to Brisbane.”
But previously he said the trip to Brisbane would cost him $1,200 in fuel, so the inconvenience saves him money and a trip to Queensland’s capital now costs him just $24 in charging.
Mr Mayne has also driven to Melbourne, which was “almost too easy”.
“We’re putting in the address and it shows us every charging stop along the way and how long we’re going to be there,” he said.
Mr De Rango acknowledged there still needed to be more charging infrastructure built in regional Queensland.
More chargers popping up
When Mr Hasnat bought his car three years ago, he said the nearest high-speed charging station was more than 1,000 kilometres away.
“Now, it’s getting a lot better, we have lots of charging stations popping up in town,” he said.
He still used his family’s second car, a hybrid, to go on road trips that had less charging infrastructure, like when travelling to western Queensland.
“If you know the car’s ability and you plan a little bit, I’ve never had a problem.”
While sometimes charging stations might be out of order, there was always a nearby one that would work, Mr Hasnat claimed.
“Your car will let you know how far you still can go and you will find places where you can plug in.”
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