Advertisement
BBC TopGear
BBC TopGear
Subscribe to Top Gear newsletter
Sign up now for more news, reviews and exclusives from Top Gear.
Subscribe
Electric

This woman drove her Tesla 20,396km around Australia

Got range anxiety on your commute? Try telling Sylvia Wilson and her Model S

Published: 13 Sep 2018

Worried an electric car won’t have enough range for your 25-mile commute? Got range anxiety driving to Sainsbury's? Well, step aside. Sylvia Wilson has driven her Model S 75kW the entire perimeter of Australia.

The fully electric saloon covered a ridiculous 20,396 kilometers (12,674 miles) in 110 days, making Sylvia the first woman to drive an electric car around Oz. Most impressively, the entire fuel bill for the journey was a measly $150.90 AUD, or about £82.

Advertisement - Page continues below

The Round Australia Electric Highway is a network of EV charging stations, suitable for any electric brand, spaced on average 200km (124 miles) apart. Some of the remote charging stations Sylvia visited had never been used before, or lived up to the same impeccable standard (read: broken) as you get in the UK.

Speaking to the Guardian Australia, Sylvia said of a broken charger in Kimberley, Fitzroy Crossing: “They found the only electrician in town and he came and did something and it worked!”

She continues. “They call it range anxiety. That’s what everyone talks about. It’s totally valid to have that, to be thinking about the next charge, once you’ve got an EV. But the reality is that if you can see the lights on, or that the kettle works, then you can charge. Even in the remotest places you can still charge the car. In a way there are more places to charge an EV than there are a fossil fuel car.”

Sylvia did the trip in honour of her late husband Rod, who she had joked about the idea with before he passed, but also said she wanted to do it to prove a point.

Advertisement - Page continues below

“The concern about the environment was front and centre. These cars are bloody expensive. But once you’ve paid for the car, your running costs are bugger all.” You tell ‘em Sylvia.

Images: Sylvia Wilson

Top Gear
Newsletter

Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.

More from Top Gear

Loading
See more on Tesla

Subscribe to the Top Gear Newsletter

Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, you agree to receive news, promotions and offers by email from Top Gear and BBC Studios. Your information will be used in accordance with our privacy policy.

BBC TopGear

Try BBC Top Gear Magazine

subscribe