After several years of consideration, 2021 was the year that we got an electric car (EV). Six months later and with rising fuel prices we have no regrets. But what’s it like to own an electric car in Byron Shire?
Firstly, there are the things you expect: the quiet ride; the guilt free travel, but there are also some surprises. Our maiden journey, for example, was a trip to Tweed and we were so excited that we didn’t fully charge the car. On the way home we managed to limp back as far as Brunswick Heads where we made a surprise visit to a friend and enjoyed a bottle of wine while the car charged at the end of a chain of extension cords coming from the front of her house.
We left Bruns after dinner feeling that our battery charging incompetence had only served to make a mundane trip into something that was much more fun.
It did take us a little while to move beyond charging the car at home to using the chargers that can be found ‘in the wild’. Charging locations can be found fairly simply by using either the Chargefox app or the Plugshare app. For us the closest option is in the car park of the offices of Byron Council but this comes at the cost of getting the car covered in pigeon shit while it is charging.
Range anxiety
The phenomenon of ‘range anxiety’ is the fear your EV will run out of charge before you get to your destination. Sometimes the world conspires against you. On a recent trip to Kingscliff I was planning to charge the car while my eldest son played soccer, but the charging station in Kingscliff was not working. Through the Chargefox app I was able to call customer support for the charging station and after they rebooted the charging station the problem was not sreolved.
I collected my lad and headed to Tropical Fruit World where there is another a charging station… and this one wasn’t working either. The customer support people were, again, lovely but in the end all they could suggest was that I get as close to home as I could, then call the NRMA to tow me the rest of the way.
Luckily we made it to Ocean Shores where – déjà vu – we enjoyed a glass of scotch on the verandah with friends. The experience was a reminder that infrastructure can let you down.
It would be a shame if EV owners had to resort to carrying portable generators with them, so it is good to hear that the State government has pledged to spend $171m on more charging stations across the State.
Owning an EV means you need to be mindful of the vehicle’s battery life, but for us that does not detract from the joy of having it. When you put your foot down it really moves (don’t forget to dodge the potholes) but as time has gone by the joy of going fast has been replaced with the pursuit of energy efficiency.
It is fun to make full use of the regenerative braking and I find myself driving below the speed limit (very unlike me) to try and find the most efficient speed and feeling happier for it. Maybe the thing I don’t enjoy is seeing the projected range drop when I turn on the air conditioning, however, most of the time this is not a worry.
I really think that one day petrol will be something that is only found in museums of the 20th century where school children will wrinkle their noses when they get a foul whiff of authentic 20th century hydrocarbons.
Owning an electric car feels like being part of that future.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
