In a Tesla to Uluru and back: a 5500 km recap
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July 23 - August 11: We drove to the centre of Australia and back in an EV. Using the shortest range EV that Tesla currently builds.
If you like a long drive, the scenery is spectacular and sprawling. Wandering the sand dunes and spinifex plains is very peaceful. Sunsets and Uluru are otherworldly.
The charging infrastructure in Australia is getting better, but the drive up the Stuart Highway isn’t quite there yet. Thanks to RAA / Chargefox and The NRMA for your work so far on chargers along the Stuart Highway. We need improved reliability. We luckily dodged a few outages. Pimba lost power for a couple of days that made the EV charger unusable, but it fortunately worked during our time there. Glendambo (between Pimba and Coober Pedy) has only a 7kW charger that runs off the town’s diesel generator, and would not initially start, both times we passed through. The NRMA charger at Erldunda Roadhouse, in Ghan, died a couple of days after we visited.
But, there’s almost always a plan B for an EV. Any power point will do, albeit slow. While we were getting the charger rebooted in Glendambo, the service station there had also just run out of diesel, so other motorists had to just wait.
Below are some stats for EV nerds.
For everyone else, look at the photos 😉. For details of each stop along the way, charging etc, see individual posts in our travel blog Tesla Tripping.
Total kilometres: 5,519km, driveway to driveway. That is the return trip: 2,643km one way from Emerald to Uluru, then 248km driving around Uluru and Kata Tjuṯa, then 2,628km home again on a different route through the Barossa Valley.
Energy used: 883kWh, averaging 161Wh/km
Charging away from home: 45 sessions, 1,056kWh added. Another 19 plug-ins delivered nothing at all, 12 of them at Glendambo.
Overnight stays, 19 nights away:
To Uluru:
Vic: Emerald (home), Halls Gap (2 nights), SA: Hahndorf (2 nights), Port Pirie, Pimba, Coober Pedy (2 nights), NT: Kulgera Roadhouse, Yulara (3 nights)
Returning home:
NT: Yulara, Ghan (Erldunda Roadhouse), Marla Travellers Rest Roadhouse, SA: Coober Pedy, Port Augusta, Lyndoch (Barossa Valley, 2 nights), Vic: Sea Lake, Emerald (home)
Car details:
Tesla Model Y “Juniper”, RWD standard range, 2025. “Launch Edition” with 20” wheels.
How long have we had this car?:
Since May 14. 3 months, or 12 weeks.
Odometer at Uluru: 9,864km
Odometer back home: 12,740km
Related Posts
- Before we left, the car could not find a route there: 'No route found' to Uluru, says the Tesla 23 Jul 2025
- The first two nights, at Halls Gap in the Grampians: Kangaroos and emus at Halls Gap Lakeside 24 Jul 2025
- Two nights in Hahndorf, in the Adelaide Hills: Two nights in historic Hahndorf 27 Jul 2025
- The back roads north to Port Pirie: Avoiding highways from Hahndorf to Port Pirie 27 Jul 2025
- The night at Pimba, where the roadhouse is the town: An EV-friendly overnight at Spud's Roadhouse 28 Jul 2025
- The Pimba blackout, and a charger that would not release our cable: Charging confusion at Spud's Roadhouse 28 Jul 2025
- Glendambo on the way north, and a roadhouse out of diesel: On our way to Coober Pedy — first Glendambo stop 29 Jul 2025
- The tightest leg for range, Pimba to Coober Pedy, arriving on 2%: The toughest range leg: Pimba to Coober Pedy 29 Jul 2025
- Two nights underground at Coober Pedy: A couple of days exploring Coober Pedy 29 Jul 2025
- Charging in Coober Pedy: Destination charger in Coober Pedy 31 Jul 2025
- The night at Kulgera Roadhouse, over the border into the NT: Almost there… to Uluru 31 Jul 2025
- Fuel and charging at the Erldunda turn-off, both about 50% dearer out there: Charging at the centre of the centre of Australia 1 Aug 2025
- Mount Conner (Atila), the mountain that fools everyone: Fooluru 1 Aug 2025
- Three nights at Yulara, next to Uluru: Arriving early at Ayers Rock Campground 1 Aug 2025
- Driving the loop around Uluru: Driving around, and around, Uluru 2 Aug 2025
- A camp-fridge breakfast under Kata Tjuṯa: Breakfast under Kata Tjuṯa 4 Aug 2025
- Glendambo on the way south, where Chris reset the charger for us: Stuck in Glendambo with the local hero (Chris) 7 Aug 2025
- Port Augusta, and the chargers on the way back: Green lawns and EV chargers at Port Augusta 8 Aug 2025
- Two nights in the Barossa Valley, at Lyndoch: Dinner at The Lord Lyndoch, in The Barossa Valley 8 Aug 2025
- The last night away, in Sea Lake: Last overnight stop, in Sea Lake 11 Aug 2025
- The coal-fed NRMA charger at Wycheproof, on the run home: Bakery breakfast, and a coal-fed NRMA charger, in Wycheproof 11 Aug 2025
- What happened after we got home: Yahoo News picks up our 2% moment in Coober Pedy 13 Aug 2025
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I mean a looooong time, put it this way I used a Sony Handycam and film camera last trip!
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Did you used plug share? Or what AAP?
On an average regular or mobile charger charges ~26-28% overnight, how did you manage when you stayed overnight?
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We used PlugShare to locate charging along the way. We used mainly fast chargers and destination chargers. Only a couple of times a 10A power point (10A x 240V x 12h = 28kWh).
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Our light weight camper (and 4WD tracks) meant currently not possible to go with our BEV.
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