“Hey John, I just saw a bloody Tesla. What’s that doing out here!”

These were the words heard over the radio by Tesla Owner’s Club of Australia president Mark Tipping and partner Franca, who are currently on an outback trip deep into the Northern Territory to visit communities and find out what they need to tackle the problem on everyone’s lips: energy security.

Except, energy security is something outback communities experience more often than most. More accurately, it is referred to as energy poverty.

It’s certainly not the first time a Tesla electric car has travelled in the Australia outback but this trip outback by Tipping is something special.

As highlighted in this policy paper in January, Australia’s indigenous peoples experience a significantly higher chance of energy disconnections. In 2018-2019, it was reported that dozens of communities were subjected to disconnections on one out of three very hot or very cold days.

Tipping, who is also managing director of Edea Energy, has been on the road since May 17 and has driven almost 7,000km to reach Warumungu elder and community leader Norm, to deliver a 3kWh portable battery. Located near Tennant Creek, Norm and partner Serena live on community about 900km south-east of Darwin.

Edea Energy will also deliver a battery to Purple House in Kincore, an indigenous initiative that provides health services. It will add backup to the centre’s solar system, ensuring critically needed dialysis machines can still operate in the case of a blackout.

The timing of the battery delivery to Norm and Serena couldn’t have been more fortuitous, says Tipping.

“We delivered one of our energy solutions that can help in blackouts because power is unreliable there,” he tells The Driven.

“Just hours afterwards, the entire Tennant Creek area went into blackout. Norm and Serena’s was the only place with lights on, so all the kids were there playing Playstation and the adults lit up the BBQ.”

While The Driven has covered numerous “Big Lap” electric road trips over the years, Tipping believes this trip represents the first time a Tesla has been driven under permit to many of these communities.

When the Tesla Model S 100D turns up, he says “people are generally excited to see the car out here.” The couple has taken people for rides, but some have been outright shocked to see a Tesla so deep in central Australia, he says.

“We’ve shocked a few people – especially when we did the Mereenie loop,” says Tipping. The Mereenie loop consists of 180km of dirt roads about 230km west of Alice Springs, in Luritja country.

“We’ve also taken the Tesla right up towards Papunya with permits,” says Tipping.

“When we go into these communities, we’re asking what they need,” he adds. “It’s blackfellas telling us whitefellas what they need – not other way around.”

Keeping the car charged on the trip, which has so far taken in the eastern seaboard up to Townsville, then west to Tennant Creek, down to Alice Springs, and now to Kings Canyon via Glen Helen, has been a bit hit and miss, says Tipping.

While many EV owners might use Plugshare or a Better Route Planner, this Tipping trip is definitely the road less travelled, and there are no DC Tesla Superchargers in the outback.

“We set out from Melbourne a few weeks back,” he says. “Our planning has consisted of buying an old paper touring atlas road map at the RACV in Wodonga, and marking off charging sites in pen on the map.”

Tipping is famously known in the EV community for pushing the envelope by arriving at chargers with 0% left on the battery.

His method this time has – not surprisingly – been completely different. The first leg up the east coast saw the couple instead arrive at chargers with enough charge to get to the next one should it not be working.

This proved wise, because there were two chargers on the Queensland Electric Super Highway (QESH) that were out of order. “It came in handy in Gin Gin and Proserpine – we had just enough to skip and keep going,” he says.

After that, the couple has been relying on the hospitality of accommodation and campgrounds, which require longer charging at a lower AC charge rate.

Only one accommodation manager was not welcoming. Although a three-phase socket had been provided by the Australian Electric Vehicle Association, Tipping says the manager would not allow the couple to use it. Instead, they were only allowed to use a slower 15 amp connection.

He’s reluctant to reveal which homestead it was, but suffice to say, his advice is always to call ahead to check you can charge, offer to pay extra for the electricity, and check comments on Plugshare.

Other than that, the dual-motor Tesla has proved a workhorse for the trip.

“We’re not rock climbing so we don’t need huge ground clearance, but the 4WD in the Tesla will get us through sand and most boggy marshes,” says Tipping.

And even though driving in sand doubles the energy usage, he notes that fuel outback at the moment is also through the roof. “Diesel is $2.99 cents per litre, and the cheapest unleaded is $2.83 cents,” he says.

Although the couple has offered to pay for their electricity at their stays, the “cost of energy for us has been included in our hospitality.”

From Kings Canyon, the couple plan to head to Uluru, then across to Erldundra, south through Coober Pedy, and then down to Burra in South Australia.

“From Burra we either head to Mildura and Canberra or up to Broken Hill, which is most likely, then Sydney to Canberra to Melbourne,” says Tipping.

By the end of the trip, the couple will have covered some 14,000km.

This article has been updated to clarify the battery is yet to be delivered to Purple House.

Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model 3 and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.

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