Hiring snow chains for the Alpine Way

NSW South Coast + Bright 2023

Venturing from Corryong to Khancoban, we decided to keep going east, through the Snowy Mountains along the Alpine Way, past Thredbo to Jindabyne. The road has signs that require all two wheel drive cars to carry snow chains. So we hired some from Khancoban, which could be returned in Jindabyne (“one way hire”). In the end, we never actually had to fit them, since all the roads were cleared.

We stopped a few times along the way, including a rest stop next to the origin of the Murray River (pictured). I left the cap/cup from my thermos on one of the garden border markers near the toilet block, so I wouldn’t drop it as we clambered down to the river. But I forgot about it as we walked back to the car and drove off 🤦‍♂️. If you happen to be driving past Mount Kosciusko, please keep an eye out for it 😉.

We returned the snow chains on the other side of Mount Kosciusko at in Jindabyne. The service stations were packed with people queuing for petrol, I guess on the last day of the school holidays.

Charging

Our last serious charge was back in Yackandandah. We topped up about 10% at the showground while in Corryong. We could have used the fast charger at Jindabyne, but we kept driving to stay the night in Cooma, and charged the next day.

16 comments

  1. I’m heading to Thredbo on the weekend. My Tesla’s 1st serious outing in cold weather. My hunch is it will be a toasty drive with the heated seats 🙂 But is there considerable charge loss with cold? There is slow chargers at overnight carpark 4 at Thredbo PlugShare tells me. I’m hoping to do a slow charge there. I’ll make sure to look out for your cup
    1

    Reply

    1. Susan Hill Hi! I didn’t notice extra loss in the cold. I tend to just believe the Tesla’s predicted arrival battery percentage. It was pretty spot on, as usual, for the percentage we would have left at Jindabyne and Cooma.

      I have seen warnings appear if I park the car in the cold with less than 20% charge remaining, so I would just recommend not leaving it parked in the cold with very low charge.

      Thank you for keeping an eye out for my cup 😉
      1

      Reply

    2. Susan Hill With the ‘cold’ we have in Australia, the battery doesn’t really suffer any significant loss but a fall power output that’s fully managed by the BMS. What will drop your charge are battery/cabin heating from near freezing. Expect 1-3% consumption.
      1

      Reply

      1. Weiyun Sydney that’s really good to know.

        Reply

    3. Susan Hill How was your trip?
      1

      Reply

      1. Tesla Tripping I was relying on charging at the overnight parking at Thredbo but forgot to bring a type 2 charger. 😞 the battery is losing ALOT of charge in the cold. It’s all a learning curve. I’ve got everything turned off, even sentry although the car is parked for most of the day. Siggghh but the up side is it was the most sublime and comfy trip from the Bega Valley up to Kosciusko N.P with the heated seats. And the alpine region is magic

        Reply

  2. Looks delightful.
    1

    Reply

  3. Wow, you guys sure are EV tour around! What was the road like West of Thredbo and I hear they are twisty and needed concentration. Someone recently ask about driving that way to Falls Creek, VIC and mentioned charging options are limited on that route.
    1

    Reply

    1. Weiyun Sydney The road west of Thredbo is sealed, smooth, windy, sometimes a bit narrow, but beautiful. We went east this time, but west a few months back (before the snow).

      As you’ll see in our posts, there aren’t chargers immediately on the other side, but there are fast chargers at Yackandandah, Ovens, Bright and Albury. According to PlugShare, there is a fast charger being built in Corryong. And of course there are power points everywhere, if you can use them at overnight accommodation.
      1

      Reply

      1. Tesla Tripping Brilliant!
        1

        Reply

  4. Did you wanna drop a location for where you lost the thermos I might be swinging by depending on my trip I take next week?

    Reply

    1. Lachlan Hubbard LOL. That would be funny, if you managed to collect it. It’s at a rest stop that has a toilet, where the Alpine Way meets the Murray River. See map where I took the photo.

      Reply

      1. I have added a “reenactment” photo showing the cap on a similar wooden stake.

        Reply

      2. Tesla Tripping I was heading down to Jindabyne, not quite as far as the border lol. Alpine way is a looooooong road ahahha, sorry to have gotten your hopes up
        1

        Reply

      3. Lachlan Hubbard Haha. No problem. The cap is probably worth less than a dollar. We’ll head back through there some day. Beautiful drive.

        Reply

      4. Tesla Tripping a great excuse for it I reckon
        1

        Reply

Leave a comment