Trans-Tasmanian Tesla

The island state commissioned its first privately-operated hydro-electric plant in 1895 (decommissioned in 1955) and since 1914 has opened and operated a total of 30 water-fed power stations, the largest of which supplies 300mW of power to the grid.

Given the Apple Isle's dramatic topography and relatively high rainfall, the employment of hydro-electricity is logical. But with political pressure to preserve its remaining wilderness areas and the risk of future droughts, Tasmania's hydro power supply is now bolstered by four wind turbine facilities, six gas-fired generation facilities and of course the Basslink submarine power cable which since 2005 has offset Tassie's base load with up to 630mW of coal-generated power from Victoria's LaTrobe Valley.

That small blip aside, Tasmania is the only state in Australia that can genuinely offer consumers an emissions-free power supply for electric vehicles. As part of its renewable energy strategy, the Tasmanian government will initially look to operate its own fleet of EVs on green energy before eventually moving to offer fiscal incentives to the motoring public.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether the green portion of Tasmania's electricity supply is capable of supporting a population estimated to hit 650,000 people by 2050 – or indeed if it could suddenly power the 442,575 vehicles currently registered in the state were they all to become electrically powered.

Still, the notion is one worth applauding in the world's fourth-largest coal producing nation and, assuming the rate of wind-turbine generation and roof-top solar generation continues, is one that is more feasible than Tasmania's current reliance on supplementary power from the mainland might suggest.

But the reality of a state full of EVs is probably a little further away than even the most well-intentioned politician might envisage. Currently, Tasmania offers no public charging infrastructure; but more on that in a moment.

As is evidenced elsewhere around the globe, the case for EVs is heavily reliant on incentives, subsidies or other inducements – a "build it and they will come" scenario, if you will. Australian governments at all levels have done next to nothing to support greener motoring in terms of both incentives and infrastructure, to the point where slow sales of models like the Holden Volt and Mitsubishi i-MiEV have seen them withdrawn from sale by their importers.

Some EV manufacturers attempt to quell the problem at both ends, offering not only a vehicle capable of travelling further from a single charge, but also by providing home charging stations fed by solar panels and backed by deep-cycle batteries. Indeed, with domestic roof-top photovoltaic-cell units expected to contribute up to 300mW to Tasmania's supply by the end of the next decade (up from 70mW currently), the reality of home charging makes private EV ownership a lot more realistic.

Of course, if we may play devil's advocate for a moment, we must point out that the idea of utopian EV state is hindered by Tasmania's slowing economy. With one of the highest unemployment rates in the country (at almost seven per cent) and a declining manufacturing and natural resources industry (predominantly logging and mining), there's an argument the state's coffers are incapable of supporting the infrastructure required to embrace a Californian-esque CO2 emissions mandate.

However, one could also proffer that the reduction in the reliance of imported fuel could offset the balance – as could a sell-back arrangement of the electricity not required by Tassie's manufacturing industry to the mainland; though realistically an island state full of EVs, a reliance on heavy sea and road-freight haulage and an expanding boutique agricultural network will likely consume any variance.

Tasmania's smaller size typically means shorter distances to travel, and with distance currently the enemy of electric vehicles, one might say the EV and Tasmania is a match made in heaven. That said, the significant changes in elevation as you twist and turn from one side of the island to the other may challenge the range of even the best EV on offer today – that's where the Tesla Model S comes in.

The sleek aluminium-bodied five-door hatch offers by far the best range of any pure-electric vehicle currently available in the Australian market. The US manufacturer claims its rear-wheel drive models can travel up to 502km on a single charge of its 85kWh lithium-ion battery pack and accelerate to 100km/h in 5.6 seconds, while the range-topping dual-motor all-wheel drive can hit 100km/h in as little as 3.4 sec!

But if we were going to circumnavigate Tasmania without running out of charge the dash to 100km/h would be one best taken gently. Conserving charge is the name of the game in Tassie, especially given there is no publicly available charging infrastructure capable of charging the Tesla quickly.

For us, most of the week's charging would come courtesy of a 240-volt, 10-amp domestic power outlet, filling the batteries at a rate of around 15km/hr. On the bright side the longer we sleep in, the further we go!

It's a route that not only bisects many of the 'hydro' sites that would be used to power the Model S on its journey, but one aimed at testing the model's range claims to their limits. To make things more interesting, we'll also attempt to employ the car's auxiliary systems to the same extent a regular owner would. The wipers, headlights and climate-control will all be used as Tesla intended; as will the 774 litres of cargo space (or 1795 litres with seats flipped down) occupied by our photographer's paraphernalia.

We topped the batteries at Tesla's 300-amp 'Supercharger' station in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond before boarding the ferry (the Supercharger can fully charge the Model S in an hour). The screen showed a distance to empty of 398km, which is calculated on a range of factors, including how the car was previously driven.

However, by the time we'd travelled to Station Pier, boarded the ferry and disembarked in Devonport, the remaining range tallied 379km. Given the route we'd elected to take to Hobart totalled 295km, and that we'd need to spend a lot of time doubling back-and-forth for video, the odds of making it were long.

As we set off at 110km/h with the heater cranked up (it was six degrees outside) and the headlights on, the range began to fall faster than the odometer rose. We'd been told the heater would significantly impact range and decided to give it the boot, to see if matters improved. We travelled 50km at this point and used 70km of range – the cold weather had indeed taken its toll. We began to consider that at this rate, Hobart might indeed be a stretch and by Campbell Town it was fair to say range anxiety was setting in.

Fortunately, the good folk at the Red Bridge Cafe & Providore allowed us to plug in for an hour while we had lunch. We had travelled 176km to reach the historic town but consumed 206km worth of range. With 173km to empty, the 9km of range scored over lunch was indeed a welcome addition – especially considering Hobart was still 131km away.

Departing Campbell Town with (now) 182km showing, we stuck to the highway, adhering to the posted speed limits but using the climate-control sparingly. A bit of good luck saw an invite from MONA museum founder David Walsh to use his charging point until he needed it, which gave us a 32-amp kick to tackle Hobart's rush hour. We rolled in to MONA with just 62km remaining and departed with 111km.

From here we'd planned to utilise the Nissan LEAF charge point at DJ Motors in Hobart. We'd borrowed what we were told was the right adaptor for the charge point, but on arrival found it incompatible. We were now up the creek and our accommodation didn't have a parking space with a 240-volt outlet...

After pulling in to Hobart on static (a term I've coined in lieu of 'fumes') it was pretty obvious that a 240-volt charge simply wouldn't give us the daily range required to finish the journey in the time we'd allocated. Simply, if Tasmania is to adopt EVs en masse, it needs to do something about providing adequate infrastructure tout de suite.

As luck would have it, the good people at RACT were kind enough to offer us secure parking and a 240-volt outlet for the night. It was enough to give us an additional 111km of range, but not enough to get us to Queenstown.

We were left with few options. We could push on knowing we wouldn't make it and call for a tow, or we could spend another day in Hobart, charge the batteries to capacity, then carry on to Queenstown. The trouble was we'd have to spend another 36 hours plugged into the wall when we got there to make it back to the boat. Given our time constraints and a non-flexible ferry fare, this course of action simply wasn't feasible.

So, we took the only avenue available to us to meet our time target: we trucked the car to Launceston, had it fully charged over night, and met it there the following morning to take an alternative route across the north of the state, visiting a number of hydro sites along the way.

While the Tesla was in 'transit', we used the downtime to visit the Gordon Dam. As the state's largest and tallest hydro dam, it supplies 13 per cent of Tasmania's electric power. The scale of the site gives you an idea of the sort of resources the island state has at its disposal, and shows the level of investment it takes to supply renewable power in breathtaking form.

But the site wasn't the only eye-opener of the journey. Travelling in a conventionally-powered vehicle to and from Gordon Dam, we found the transition back to an internal combustion engine pronounced. The noise and the lack of fluidity from the driveline were the biggest differences, and the automatic transmission couldn't match the linearity of the Tesla's reduction gear arrangement, quickly frustrating us by its reluctance to 'shift' with the seamlessness of the Model S.

The benefit of an extra night's charge meant the Tesla was again good to go. The distance to empty showed 371km and with the usual stops and starts for photography we were certain the trek west to Devonport (via Paloona Dam) would be a cakewalk.

We took a quick detour past the Trevallyn power station in Launceston before jumping on Highway 1; using the obsequious radar cruise control to full effect here, we managing a near 1:1 ratio between kilometres travelled and kilometres of range used. The mild weather certainly helped improve our range and, knowing we had range to burn, we made the most of the Tesla's creature comforts, including the sensational stereo and near-silent climate-control.

It's also impressive to note how natural the primary controls feel and how smooth the feedback is they offer. Many EVs feel a little clumsy or way too light. But the Model S is as good as any sporty luxury sedan we can think of, and offers an air-sprung ride/handling compromise that belies its 2108kg kerb weight and size (on par with a Holden Commodore at 4970mm long, 1964mm wide and 1435mm high).

The substantial extra weight of the batteries is set low in the floor, significantly contributing to flat, tidy cornering. There's no body roll to speak of here, just smooth, confident cornering and mountains of ever-available torque.

Tesla rates the 'base' Model S outputs at 270kW/440Nm. It feels stronger and a healthy dose of torque is quite literally always just a prod of the throttle away – no waiting, no lag, no fuss. Overtaking is a breeze, as is climbing hills and dashing across busy intersections. It's a no-compromises kind of car, even if you really do need high-amperage charging stations at your disposal to make a long journey quickly.

Of course, we knew we'd be pressed to make a lap of Tassie in the time we'd allowed. With more time up our sleeves, the 700km-plus circuit would indeed have proved do-able, but without faster charging ports at our disposal the abbreviated tour speaks for itself.

Back at the ferry we'd travelled 226km from the last charge, leaving us with 129km of range. The figure shows how good the Model S is at estimating its distance to empty, remembering we had 371km before setting off from Launceston (16km difference isn't bad in my book).

On our return to Melbourne and after a few more kays to and from the office, we tallied a distance of 745.4km and used 158.6kWh of power. The Model S placed our average consumption at 213Wh/km, which at a current price (according to my power bill) of 27 cents per kWh, means our time with the car would have cost us $42.82.

It sounds expensive, but if you consider a similarly sized and specified petrol-powered car would have used about $108 worth of 91 RON unleaded over the same distance at current prices, it really isn't. In fact, it's more than 60 per cent cheaper!

If we had to nit-pick, we'd say the front seats are too high. There's height adjustment, but even in the lowest setting my head was only an inch away from the roof lining ('our' Model S was equipped with a panoramic glass roof), meaning shorter drivers will find themselves close to the A-pillar, not unlike any Ford Falcon since the AU-series.

Another gripe relates to the retracting door-handles. It's a gimmick like Jaguar's 'handshake' vents and phallic gearshift, but one that seems unnecessary – a novelty for novelty's sake if you ask us, and one without any worthwhile aerodynamic benefits.

We also found the lack of oddment storage a little odd considering the space available in the cabin. There are no pockets in the door cards and no lidded console bin as such – just a huge open tray for all your gear. Yes, there is a good-sized glovebox and a couple of cup-holders, but a more traditional cabin layout may yield more space for all the junk we seem to cart around with us these days – especially on extended trips.

Finally, and this is an odd one, the charge-point cover blocks the LED lights that are supposed to illuminate the charge-point at night. If the flap swung the other way, or the lights were positioned elsewhere, it would work a treat. But as it stands the idea is a little redundant.

On balance, these trivial complaints pale into insignificance alongside the groundbreaking Model S' many positives. With or without electric propulsion it's a wonderful thing to drive. And considering how far can roam without the internal combustion engine we've relied on for more than a century now, it's the perfect paradigm of our EV future.

No, Tasmania's lack of fast-charge points didn't allow us to complete our self-imposed task in the time we'd allocated, but that's not a reflection on the Tesla. With the right infrastructure there's absolutely no reason we couldn't all happily drive around in a car like the Model S right now.

By any measure, the Model S is an outstanding car. As EVs stand today, it sets the benchmark. Now it's time for the attitudes of people and governments to catch up.

With thanks to:
David Walsh and MONA, DJ Motors Hobart, Hydro Tasmania, Les Walkden Enterprises, Motorsport Safety & Rescue, RACT and the Red Bridge Cafe & Providore.