eTripping.au

Our car had signal, our phones didn't

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Uluru via Stuart Highway 2025
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On the Stuart Highway between Coober Pedy and the Northern Territory border, we stopped for a bite to eat, and to charge, at <a href="https://www.marla.com.au/">;Marla Travellers Rest Roadhouse</a>.

We checked our phones to catch up on communications. No signal. But our Tesla’s internet connection worked fine, showing the next stop in Kulgera on the <a href="https://www.plugshare.com/location/124922">;PlugShare website</a>. Our phones use Belong, which is owned by Telstra and uses the Telstra network, so we had assumed that meant all of it. It does not. Belong runs on Telstra Wholesale, about 1.4 million square kilometres of coverage against Telstra's own 2.14 million, and the difference is exactly this sort of country.

Marla Travellers Rest has a bistro menu, such as burgers and chips. There's a bar menu of steaks and schnitzels in the evening, which we'll check out on our way back south in a few days.

Then north, with the border and Kulgera ahead.

Charging

We used three brands on the charger: the unit itself says <a href="https://www.raa.com.au/motor/motoring-services/ev-chargin…;RAA Charge</a>, I tapped my Evie card, and the Chargefox app showed the progress. The Evie card's RFID is linked to my ChargeFox account.

I could not use the Chargefox app to start the charge, because my phone had no internet here. So it was either walk into the bistro to use the wifi, or tap on with the Evie card. I could have ordered a Chargefox card as well, but one card to rule them all is simpler.

The destination charger gave us 7kW, much slower than a fast charger, but nearly three times a standard power point. When we arrived at 39%, the Tesla estimated we'd (not) arrive at our next stop, Kulgera, with -7%. Yes, negative. While we ate burgers, this destination charger slowly increased that prediction to 11%, which is at least a positive.

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4 comments

  1. Campbell Morkham via Facebook ↗
    Belong is Telstra Wholesale, Boost is the full Telstra Network.
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  2. Cecil Barnard via Facebook ↗
    Many EV drivers have raised this, but the general difficulty with RFID cards and what works where and when is annoying.
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  3. Robyn Kenyon via Facebook ↗
    I just love reading your reports on charging in the outback. There is a huge hole in the supercharging network out there but lots of slower options are around and if time is not critical all is well. We did our first road trip a few weeks ago and cured the charging fear. The east coast is simple. Keep up the great stories 👍
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    1. Tesla Tripping eTripping.au
      Greg Beevor Thanks for feedback. Great to see that your first trip cured range anxiety.

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