EV road trip: Broken Hill to Sydney

We began the first leg of this trip at the NRMA charging station in the heart of Broken Hill on Bromide Street, near the base of the Miner’s Memorial.

With a 300km trip ahead of us, A Better Route Planner told us the trip could use up 80 per cent of our battery charge so we opted to charge up to 96 per cent, mindful to move on from the charger should another EV driver require a top up.

With the battery recharged, we took the 5 minute trip to the Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum, which boasts a huge 42kg silver nugget alongside numerous other geological delights. The outback centre is known to many as “The Silver City” due to its rich seams of silver, zinc and lead.

A final stop at the Thankakali Aboriginal Corporation art gallery before we left town reminded us how this rugged ancient landscape has been cared for by the Wilyakali people for over 40,000 years.

To get to Mildura we went south along the long, straight road that is the Silver City Highway. We passed cattle stations and were surprised to see vast bodies of water along the road in the form of the Popiltah and Nialia Lakes.

We drove alongside the winding Murray River before crossing over it into Mildura, just across the Victorian border.

There we stopped to recharge at one of the two NRMA chargers in the Orange Avenue carpark.

We needed a good 1 hour and 15 minute top up before heading on to Hay, so we checked into Plugshare and went for a wander to grab a bite at one of the many dining options on Langtree Avenue a few blocks over.

After charging up we checked out the Mildura Station Homestead, the recreation of a classic 1850s settler timber home that sits by the side of the mighty Murray.

3 hr (overnight stop) | 290 km

From Mildura we set out along the majestic Hay Plains.

The drive along the Sturt Highway took us up to the meandering Murrumbidgee River, with this seemingly never-ending landscape providing plenty of opportunity for Caraoke.

By the time we made it into town, the skies had put on a stunning sunset show behind us.

Before charging up at Moppett Street NRMA charger (which by the way is perfectly located next to a shaded picnic table), we made sure to catch the Hay Water Tower on the edge of town before the brilliant sunset colours faded.

Part of the Silo Art Trail, the Hay Water Tower commemorates World War I and II servicemen and women of Australia and was created by Melbourne artist Matt Adnate.

A handy thing about driving a Tesla is that when you enter your final destination, it calculates how long you need to charge to reach your next charging station.

So after our bright and early 6.30am start, we followed the car’s advice and stopped at Narrandera at 8.30am for the first charge of the day.

With a forecast half an hour needed to top up, we had enough time for breakfast under the jacaranda tree at Café Shazaray, a perfect stop for coffee aficionados.

Narrandera is known as the ‘place of many lizards’ by the Narrungdera clan that called the area home for many thousands of years before being wiped out in a single massacre by settlers in 1841.

Before heading eastward, we visited the Wiradjuri Honour Wall located in Marie Bashir Park that was built from rammed earth to remember the people of the Narrungdera Clan, as well as the Wiradjuri people of Narrandera Shire.

Famously known as the site of the Dog on the Tuckerbox, we followed the Tesla’s directions to Gundagai, site of the first Tesla Supercharger we used on this road trip.

The quick ten minute charge afforded a toilet and coffee break before we nabbed a photo in front of the iconic canine statue.

Though the Hume Highway artfully dodges the actual town of Gundagai, those wanting a longer pitstop could do worse than nipping into town for a coffee or a picnic stop at Anzac Park on the banks of the Murrumbidgee.

1 hr 50 min (20 min - lunch) | 173 km

The well-travelled highway between Gundagai and Goulburn provides an easy 110km/hr drive to the next potential charge stop.

On reaching Goulburn, we couldn’t pass up the chance to stop at that fifty-foot family favourite, the Big Merino, an imposing celebration of the region’s wool industry.

The Tesla Superchargers at the Visitor Information Centre are a popular stop for Tesla drivers and we took advantage with a quick top up.

We could also have used the Goulburn Gateway or the Mittagong NRMA charger.

With Belmore Park just across the road we stopped for lunch.

This lovely green space also offers clean public toilets and the 20-minute charge is just the right amount of time to rest before the home stretch.