Charging our EV in "the centre of the centre of Australia".

After driving 1500km north along the Stuart Highway, we reached “the centre of the centre of Australia”., with a turn left/west towards Yulara and Uluru. First we stopped at the intersection’s Erldunda Roadhouse, in the town of Ghan (well, that’s all there is in Ghan).

We grabbed some lunch, laughed at the banners for sale, and visited the emus. No cell reception for our Belong phone SIMs (which it seems doesn’t quite give us the whole Telstra network), so we made use of the free wifi.

Petrol here is about a dollar per litre more expensive (about 50%) 😮. The fast charger is also about 50% more expensive than typical.

At the EV charging station, we chatted to Jigar. He bought his EV in Darwin, then later started working at Uluru and I think Alice Springs. This charger is perfectly positioned for EVs passing through.

Charging:

Erldunda Roadhouse has a DC fast(ish) EV charging station, managed by The NRMA. It has four cables for up to four EVs. The roadhouse is off grid, run by diesel generator. The EV charging station is self contained, independently powered by the solar panels on the roof, which feed power into a large battery. It also has a backup diesel generator for the rare occasion that there is more EV demand than sunshine. Great setup.

Some of the specifications I’ve managed to find:

26kW canopy of solar panels
200kWh battery storage
2 x 80kW EV chargers, each with two cables.
80kW peak EV charging speed
40kW EV charging speed when shared or low available power
$1.04 per kWh for EV changing

Some calculations/estimates:

0 - 1% actual power by diesel: On the very rare occasion that EV demand is higher than battery + solar.
5 EVs can charge (typical 40kWh added) from a full site battery: 200kWh / 40kWh
145kWh per day from solar, summer
95kWh per day from solar, in winter

Our 40kW charge rate was slow, but by the time we had finished at the roadhouse, our EV was all charged up for the final 244km to Ayers Rock Resort.

Earlier this morning we left Kulgera Roadhouse, after charging there from a powered site. On the way here to Erldunda Roadhouse, the Tesla navigation didn’t register this next charging station. We ignored its advice to slow down in order to make it to Ayers Rock Resort.