How a Tesla travelled over 9,000kms without a Supercharger network
One of Australia’s first owners of a Tesla Model S, Marc Talloen, has told of how he travelled over 9,000 kilometres through Queensland without the support of a Supercharger network. He managed some clever charging solutions, including tapping into wind energy at one point.

Using a modern EVSE Charge Controller, it only takes 3 phase 5 pin 32A power sockets to reach an 80% charge in 3 hours in the case of a Tesla MS with dual chargers! One hour charging gives the car +/- 120km of typical range! The waiting time may be an issue for some but not in case you have other activities to take on instead of waiting and watching…

Many public and private sites along the Bruce Highway and on branch artery roads to coastal and inland towns already have powerful substations and 3 phase electrical infrastructure. The majority of those sites I visited to top-up my Tesla’s batteries are very open to support the idea of the QLD electric highway!

A number of sites that I found to top-up batteries already have renewable energy while others boost great potential for solar energy which could well fit in to their own needs and supplementary provide employment opportunities. Let’s just mention a couple of ideas: wouldn’t solar shaded parking spots, tribunes and cafeterias fit into showgrounds?

A previous trip reported in Renew Economy Tesla return trip Brisbane – Canberra – Brisbane illustrated my motivation for environmental protection, EVs and sense for adventure. This time around, I propped it up a notch higher proving that it is perfectly possible to combine this life vision and mission with a very enjoyable family holiday.N-Queensland has strong international tourism ace cards and beyond the beaten tourist tracks, this area really offers some magic and fun! The environmental and scenic diversity is vast and distances to some attractive spots can be considerable but with the 400km “Typical Range” available from the Tesla MS we haven’t experienced any real range anxiety.As I expressed to local press and ABC radio, I like to reiterate here that writing this article fits my self- proclaimed mission of proving to Australians that with the Tesla Model S the era of electric transport has started NOW and that with little equipment you can travel thousands of km far from Tesla- or public charging infrastructure making use where ever possible of renewable energy resources. This is reality and not a far-fetched dream!Lately, I was encouraged to read about the Electric Highway initiative from the QLD Government. I wish that my practical experience reported hereafter proves to the initiative takers that this project, besides Super-, DC- and Level 2 chargers should also integrate 3-phase charging from regular industrial sockets in existing public and private facilities, as well as destination charging such as recently promoted by Tesla + Airbnb. This approach will relieve budget strain, drive an increased adoption rate of EVs in QLD and can act as a prelude for phased installation of DC chargers.Now, let’s consider, here is what I experienced in practice: