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How a couple’s dream road trip in Tesla turned into a nightmare after they were stranded without a charger deep in the country, when a tow truck admitted even he couldn’t help them
- A couple hired a Tesla electric car for a road trip to test if they wanted to buy one
- But they found themselves in rural Victoria without the correct charging cable.
- The next closest charging station was out of service leaving them stranded.
- New Charghound tech platform launched in Australia in hopes of bridging the gap
A couple’s dream road trip turned into a nightmare when they discovered their electric car did not have the proper cable for a charging station, leaving them stranded in rural Australia.
Bernadette and Stephen Janson from Sydney hired a Tesla Model 3 for the recent six-day trip to Echuca in rural Victoria as a try-before-you-buy test drive.
But the couple ran into trouble on the third day of the trip when, with 12 kilometers of battery remaining, they located an electric vehicle charging station in the town of Leitchville, on the New South Wales-Victoria border.
But things got worse when they realized their Tesla didn’t have the cable they needed and the station was down.
“Mass drama today, we had enough charge to drive to the next town in Cohuna where there is a charger only to find out it’s not working,” Ms Janson said in a video shared on TikTok.
“We have been talking on the phone for three hours trying to establish the relationship between the car rental company, the RACV and the NRMA.”
Bernadette and Stephen Janson (pictured) rented an electric car to see if they wanted to buy one, but ended up stranded.
The Tesla Model 3 (same model in the photo) they contracted did not have a special charging cable included
Ms Janson said she finally saw a tow truck that had stopped nearby and “rushed to grab the driver” but even he was unable to help with the correct cables or any way to load the car.
“But he said he knew a lady who lives in Cohuna with a Tesla, so we called her and she told us it would take about six hours to get enough charge to get back to Echuca,” he said.
“It’s 2 in the afternoon and we’ve been at this since 7 in the morning, so frankly that’s not ideal.”
The issue was only resolved after the car rental company agreed to pay the bill for a tow truck to the nearest charging station because the additional charging adapter they initially needed was not included in their car.
“But we’re going to have to extend our road trip for another day,” said Ms. Janson.
Ms Janson shared a video on social media detailing her drama and showing the car being towed away (pictured)
Bernadette Janson stranded with her husband due to charging issue
Jansons story will only become a more common story as Australians buy more and more electric vehicles and the government continues its move away from fossil fuels towards ‘greener’ alternatives.
As of 2021, electric cars accounted for almost 2 percent of new car sales, but this is expected to grow to 18 percent by 2030, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
Gasoline cars will account for 24 percent of sales for that year with the rest being gasoline-electric hybrids made by companies like Toyota and Mazda.
One answer to the problem is market-style charging networks where drivers can access private charging stations across the country.
One Australian company already doing this is Chargehound, which bills itself as the ‘Airbnb of charging stations’.
“We already connect 200,000 drivers looking for car parking through our other Parkhound platform, so it made sense to apply that principle to charging facilities as well,” said CEO Mike Rosenbaum.
The new Chargehound technology platform has launched in Australia in hopes of filling the gap for EV car owners who need to know where they can get a charge.
“For many inner-city residents living in apartment blocks or shared houses, it is very difficult for them to access charging options.
“That’s the benefit of a peer-to-peer network: We’ll have the largest distributed network of EV chargers in the country.”
Some estimates put the number of public charging stations needed in Australia by 2030 at 2.8 million, with only a few thousand currently built.
Chargehound users pay for the temporary parking space with electricity included and the site owner receives a commission.