Tesla Model 3 SR + Road Trip Around Queensland – Part 7
For those of you who have just joined us, it’s in the midst of a saga of driving from Brisbane on the Queensland coast 1,500 miles to the inner city of Winton in a Tesla Model 3 SR +. Previous articles are available in my author archives. In this stage we go from Winton to Longreach to Barcaldine in Queensland.
Image courtesy of Waterworths on Tesla Road Trip Australia.
We left Winton this Sunday morning with a full battery – a range of 350 km (217 miles). But Tess lies like a politician. Halfway to Longreach (around 90km in our 290km stage) the car started telling us we weren’t going to get to Barcaldine. Remember, we had driven the other way just a few days ago and the car did. We couldn’t determine what the problem was, but we dutifully shut off the air conditioning and drove at 90 km / h (in a 110 km / h zone). Equally well, there was very little traffic on the road. Those on the road passed us easily, and I wondered what must be going through their heads: “I thought those Tesla cars were supposed to be fast !!” Range prediction has not improved.
Long drive to Longreach, courtesy of the Waterworths on Tesla Road Trip Australia.
Later, checking the weather forecast, we found that we had driven with a headwind of 40 km / h. Meanwhile, we had to find refills in the nearby town, Longreach. PlugShare was of no help, as nothing was listed. We called the information center and two trailer parks. Only one answered the phone. He had a cousin who owns a Tesla. This cousin had bought stocks and made millions. “That’s great,” I thought, “he’ll be understanding.” But no, he wanted $ 29 for a two hour charge, or about $ 2 of electricity. No thanks. Then he wanted to continue discussing his problems at the trailer park. Sorry buddy, I have my own problems – I need to find a place to recharge.
We made it to the information center where the lovely manager looked around the building but couldn’t find an external power outlet. So we drove around the other trailer park (the one we hadn’t spoken to, and who hadn’t returned our phone call). We thought of various backup plans – staying overnight, a very expensive option at $ 240 per night; by car to Ilfracombe, but also not sure where we could load there. Of course, there was one obvious thing: arriving at Barcaldine in the back of a tow truck after waiting long hours at the side of the road.
Image courtesy of Waterworths on Tesla Road Trip Australia.
Then we found a very helpful Maori lady at the Longreach Tourist Park office. Yes, they had room. Yes, we could use a powered site. And yes, we could charge our car. Yay! Once again, the tyranny of distance (and strong headwinds) has been overcome by the kindness of strangers. So we walked around town with 2 hours to enjoy the delicacies of Longreach.
The coffee, food and service were excellent at the Merino Bakery and the prices were reasonable. After lunch, we headed to Outback Pioneer Tours to examine their historic building and artifacts. As usual, I told the manager that I was a writer for CleanTechnica and was writing my Tesla trip. We had the most interesting conversation about Brazil. Yes, the manager and his wife were from Brazil. Her cousin’s children attend an exclusive school in Brazil and need extra security due to the possibility of kidnapping. So, of course, we talked about the Cybertruck as being bulletproof. He wants one!
Martian brain in charge.
It’s time to get back to the car (we certainly walked our 10,000 steps that day) and head back to Barcaldine. The wind had not died down and we now had to fight against the tumbleweeds. It was like being in a bowling alley with giant kangaroos throwing hundreds of big gray balls across the road. We were still hypermile and arrived at our motel (and our destination charger) in the red.
Another Furphy. Image courtesy of Waterworths on Tesla Road Trip Australia.
While walking around after dinner I noticed a trailer parked next to the motel and realized there were worse possibilities than running out of charge. Two thousand liters of flammable liquid would do a hell of a job.
Image courtesy of Waterworths on Tesla Road Trip Australia.
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