This weekend I attended an AEVA Electric Vehicle display at the Byron Solar Revolution in the Byron ECO park (Tyagarah, near Byron Bay). It is about 340 km round trip and needs four charges.
I drove 72 km from Cleveland to the Gold Coast using the motorway. It was 6:30 am, so I drove at 90 km/h (is a 110 km/h zone) to lessen the charge time. I used one less bar than a previous attempt using the side roads.
 |
| Cleveland to Surfers Paradise using Pacific motorway |
 |
| Arrived about 7:30am at the Bruce Bishop Carpark in Surfers Paradise |
While waiting for the car to charge, I went to the coffee club for breakfast. When I got back I cleaned the car ready for the display.
 |
| Took about 2.5 hours to charge |
The next leg was from Surfers Paradise to Tyagarah (about 80 km). When I entered the motorway at Tweed Heads, it began raining heavily and the wind was blowing hard from the side. I could barely see the cars in front, so I dropped to 80 km/h. It stopped raining about Brunswick Heads. Which was good as showing cars in the rain is a pain. I arrived with 20 km on the range meter. On a sunny day, I think I would have had 30+ km left.
I put the car on charge, but was only able to leave it for 90 minutes as the power point was not where the display was. It was enough for the range meter to display 50 km.
 |
| Surfers to Tyagarah using the Pacific motorway |
 |
| Our display - Outlander, iMiEV, Custom Echo, Custom Suzuki, LEAF |
I left for the Chargepoint at the Macadamia Castle at Knockrow. I had never been there before and didn't realise the hill was so steep. I travelled 20 km and had 10 km on the range meter. I parked under the solar canopy and plugged in about 6 pm. Luckily there is free wifi, so I had a snooze and read some forums.
 |
| Tyagarah to Knockrow up the gigantic hill |
 |
| Parked under the solar canopy as it started to rain |
It took approximately 3 hours to charge. During this time a huge thunderstorm rolled through. One thunderclap was really loud and made me jump in my seat.
 |
| The range meter was lower than normal as I had climbed the hill |
I set off from Knockrow with 99 km on the range meter and 96 ish km to travel. Carwings warned me multiple times about not being able to make it to the destination, but once I descended the giant hill, the range meter stayed on 95 km for about 20 minutes. It rained the whole way to Surfers Paradise, but the wind was low. I stayed on 80 km/h as the road was super quiet (most of the time there were no headlights in sight). There was a lot of traffic round Broadbeach, so it took longer than I expected. I made it to Surfers Paradise about 10:30pm with 18 km left.
 |
| Knockrow to Surfers Paradise using the Pacific motorway |
 |
| Arrived with heaps to spare |
I was super hungry as I had not had anything to eat since 5pm, so I went back to the coffee club for dinner. Not sure why I went back to the same place (normally I prefer to try out new places I wander past). It stopped raining, so I took a walk down main beach and headed back to the car. I charged to 80% this time as it was 1:00am and I was tired.
 |
| Off home from Surfers Paradise |
I drove about 80 km/h on the motorway with hardly any cars on the road. Sailed in home with 20 km to spare.
 |
| Home at last |
Next time tho, I will book a place in Byron Bay and stay for the weekend, much too nice a place to only visit for a few hours :)
Energy consumption
9 KW/h for 72km -> 12.5 KWh / 100km BNE to GC
15KW/h for 98km -> 15.3 KWh / 100km GC to Knockrow
9 KW/h for 96km -> 9.3 KWh / 100km Knockrow to GC
10KW/h for 72km -> 13.8 KWh / 100km GC to BNE
