Chip oil fuels outback adventure

Would I like to take the new Polestar 2 EV (Electric Vehicle) for a test drive from Caiguna on the West Australian Nullarbor Plain to Kalgoorlie?

Hell yes!

I love the idea of EVs around the city, but taking one through a remote area is a great challenge — a chance to answer all those questions so many have in their minds about how EVs can work on long trips, in remote WA, outside the everyday, city norm.

It can be a long way between drinks when driving a petrol-powered car in the outback and might feel even further driving an EV.

The State Government has announced plans for a network of up to 90 new electric vehicle fast charging stations stretching from Kununurra in the north to Esperance in the south and east to Kalgoorlie but it is not expected to be fully operational until 2024.

And even when it is finished, there will be a significant gap between Kalgoorlie and the South Australian border.

Thankfully, Perth engineer Jon Edwards and a group of EV enthusiasts have taken matters into their own hands and come up with an ingenious solution. Their portable BiØfil chargers are a world-first EV fast-charging system that is fully off-grid, self-contained and powered by used vegetable oil from roadhouse deep fryers.

The Polestar 2 and I will be among the first to try the new chargers installed at Caiguna and Norseman.

(Read more about the BiØfil chargers and Jon Edwards in the separate story.)

THE CAR

Polestar is owned by Volvo’s parent company Geely Automotive, and is committed to a fully an electric future. There are no half measures like hybrid engines in their cars.

The Polestar 2 comes in three different versions: two 170kW 306Nm single-motor options, with either a standard or a long-range motor, and a powerful 300kW 660Nm long-range dual-motor that boasts an impressive acceleration from 0 to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds.

Both the single-engine versions are front-wheel drive and the top-of-the range dual-motor version is all-wheel drive.

The Polestar 2 model I’ll be driving is a stylish looking machine. It’s minimalist Scandinavian design, but there are plenty of curves and sharp lines to make it stand out from the crowd.

It has many of the design features from the Volvo’s XC40 Recharge, which we featured in our pages recently.

It has the long-range single motor and is fitted with 20 inch alloy wheels as well as what Polestar calls Pilot and Plus packs that add some extra luxury and safety features such as adaptive cruise control, lane keeping and 360 degree cameras to assist with parking and when navigating tight spaces.

The interior also looks stylish with black ash deco with slate weave textile seats, a digital dash plus a big free-floating control screen powered by a built-in Android operation system.

Google Assistant voice commands communicate with the car’s systems, so you can talk to the car and control its smart features as well as search for destinations, send messages and choose music or podcasts. There’s even a full scale Vivaldi web browser that allows you to browse the web.

THE DRIVE

I’m up early in Caiguna and ready to hit the road straight away. The Polestar was charged to the recommended 90 per cent at the BiØfill charger last night, so I’m good to go.

The display in the car tells me the 90 per cent charge equals a 400km range, but that is the best case scenario and I’m keen to find out what the real life range is when cruising at highway speeds.

The soft morning light kisses the Nullarbor landscape as I quietly roll out on to the 140-odd kilometres of the “90 mile straight” between Caiguna and Balladonia.

I set the cruise control to 110km/h and check the Range Assistant on the touch screen in the car. It tells me I’m using 20kWh at this speed and the range is now reduced to 360km, but that is plenty because it is only 153km to Balladonia.

I’ve set the car up so it takes maximum advantage of the regenerative charging when braking, even though I won’t get much out of that on this flat straight run. All I can do to save power out here is to keep it smooth and take advantage of a bit of drafting from other vehicles if an opportunity comes up.

The Polestar 2 is a beautiful car to drive. It has a luxurious quality feel, and apart from the noise from the tyres on the coarse road surface, it’s quiet.

All the controls are at my fingertips and easy to use. Everything can be controlled from the large touch screen or with the Google Assistant, which is ready to take my verbal instructions.

The fully adjustable seats are firm but comfortable.

“This is going to be good,” I think to myself as I select some Pink Floyd tunes that seem to complement the landscape I’m passing through.

I have my eyes peeled for wildlife there’s a few kangas hopping around and I see cattle from time to time, but I can literally see for miles, so I feel safe to continue at the speed limit.

Just before Balladonia, the landscape starts to change as I enter the Great Western Woodlands. It’s a welcome change after a couple of hours along the desolate landscape on the Nullarbor Plain.

Balladonia will be my first recharge point. The car tells me there’s still 41 per cent “in the tank”, so since the EV charger here is only a 22kW one, I’m not planning to wait for a full recharge.

I plug the Polestar in and head inside for some breakfast and to catch up on the morning news. That kills about half an hour, so I mooch around the Balladonia Museum at the roadhouse and learn some interesting facts about the cultural heritage of the area, and I check out the 175m Skylab Par 3 golf hole, which is part of the Nullarbor Links, the world’s longest golf course. (Note to self: Next time bring the golf clubs.)

By now, I’ve successfully killed 90 minutes and the Polestar is up to 80 per cent charge. Time to hit the frog and toad again for the next stretch along the Eyre Highway to Norseman, 219km away.

I decide to listen to an audio book for this stretch, while I enjoy the slightly undulating terrain through the Great Western Woodlands. I spot a few emus along the way, but other than DCI Jim Daley beginning his investigation into a murder after the body of a young woman is washed up on an idyllic beach on the West Coast of Scotland, it is a pretty uneventful drive.

I arrive in Norseman with 26 per cent charge and plug into the 50kW BiØfil charger at the roadhouse, have some lunch, catch up on the news and do a bit of work and I am on the road to Kalgoorlie an hour and 30 minutes later with the Polestar charged to 87 per cent and a projected range of 390km.

Kalgoorlie is another 188km along the track. It’s a scorching 46C outside, and when I stop to send the drone up to capture some images of the car among the woodlands, I get it done as quickly as I can, so that I can jump back into the cool comfort of the Polestar, where DCI Daley continues his murder investigation.

The Polestar handles the trip through the outback heat with flying colours. There’s 34 per cent charge and approximately 150km of range left when I arrive in Kalgoorlie.

It’s been a big day on the road. Driving the Polestar has been a pleasure, equal to any other luxury car I’ve driven, but I’m not sure I could live with the extended charging stops if I was doing regular trips in the outback.

But the outback trip was designed to push the limits and show the potential of EVs.

The Polestar 2 is much more at home in the city, of course, where I also drive it for a few days. The nimble handling and fast acceleration makes it an absolute pleasure to live with.

The “one pedal drive technique” with the regenerative braking takes a little getting used to, but once I learn to feather the accelerator, it is smooth as silk.

In the city and around home it is much simpler to manage the charging. I find no real need to plug in anywhere apart from home in my garage but I do try a few of the free charging points at work and my local shopping centre, and a paid fast charger at Ross’s Discount Home Centre in Guildford.

CHARGERS & CHARGING

Driving an EV requires a shift in how you think about fuel. You can’t just pop into a service station and fill up in a few minutes. You have to start thinking about parking time as charging time. Every time you park, plug it in and top it up. It’s just like charging your phone, the plug is just bigger.

Charging times can vary but it will take 80 minutes to reach 80 per cent of charge using a 50kWh fast charger and about eight hours when using an 11kWh wall-box connection at home.

This is fine when you drive to and from work in the city but on longer journeys like the drive from Caiguna to Kalgoorlie, you need to factor in extended breaks at charging stations to get from A to B.

Smartphone apps like Plugshare and Chargefox become my new best friend when looking for charging spots around town. The apps are essentially like Google maps but shows all the charging stations in along your journey. They have information about the types of chargers, and the distance between them. They also have user reviews and tips and with Chargefox you can also pay via the app when payment is required.

Many of the chargers are free to use.

THE RANGE

Like in a conventional car, how you drive the Polestar affects the range. Speed, driving style and other factors like air temperature and how much you use the air-conditioning are all contributing factors.

The lithium batteries used in EVs operate most efficiently when driven in a state of charge between 20 and 80 per cent.

There’s a Range Assistant on the Polestar website where you can key in details like vehicle version, speed, wheel size and temperature to calculate the maximum range on a charge and the Range Assistant in the car will give you real time range and power consumption as you go.

DRIVING TIPS

• To get the best out of range, slow and steady wins the race. Avoid lots of overtaking and fast acceleration.
• Correct tyre pressure will not only improve the range but also prolong the life of tyres.
• When parked and recharging, turn on the air-conditioning a few minutes before unplugging from the charger, to avoid using the car battery to power the air-conditioner.
• Use the highest possible setting for regenerative braking.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Polestar 2 is a fantastic car in so many ways. I thoroughly enjoyed the driving experience in both the outback and in the city but the time needed to recharge makes taking an EV for a spin out yonder a bit of a hassle.

The BiØfil 50kWh chargers I used on the trip were great but when you are low on charge, you will need about an hour and 30 minutes to get up to 80-90 per cent charge.

Ultimately, the government needs to show some leadership and ensure there’s a usable network of fast charging facilities available in both the city and country areas as soon as possible.

Until that happens, EVs are, in my opinion best suited as city cars.

FACT FILE

Polestar vehicles can only be purchased online and are sold with non-negotiable fixed prices.

Polestar vehicles are covered by a five-year/unlimited warranty and the battery packs have an eight-year/160,00km warranty.

Vehicle handovers and servicing are handled by selected Volvo outlets.

A Polestar 2 with a standard single motor costs $66,304 drive away. As tested with the long-range single-motor version, Pilot and Plus packs it costs $78,017, drive away. The long-range dual-motor version starts from $69.900. The Pilot costs $5000, the Plus pack costs $6000, the Performance pack adds another $8000 and a set of 20 inch V Spoke Alloy wheels cost an extra $1400.

polestar.com.au

BiØfil Chargers plug the gap

Until now, it has been nearly impossible to get a quick recharge for your electric vehicle (EV) anywhere in the West Australian outback but two new biofuel chargers at Norseman and Caiguna have helped realise an electric dream for EV drivers.

BiØfil has plugged the gap between WA and South Australia with its innovative portable chip-oil-fuelled fast chargers for electric vehicles

Perth inventor and retired engineer Jon Edwards who came up with the idea says he chose waste vegetable oil to power the chargers because it is a carbon neutral and cheap alternative to solar-powered EV chargers. The chargers are relatively cheap to manufacture and they solve a big problem for EV drivers and solves the cooking oil waste problems for roadhouses.

Jon says the chargers are ideal for remote locations where there’s not enough power but hopes the initiative will spark interest for others to put more in using renewable resources like solar to power the chargers.

He explains: “The West Australian Government has committed to build a big EV charging network but they left out the WA Nullarbor from Norseman to the South Australian border — I mean, that’s part of our national highway and even if it is expensive and not highly utilised initially, you would think it would be imperative.

“But instead of us grizzling and complaining about it we thought we’d just get out and do it.”

The BiØfil project is a not-for-profit venture that was developed for the benefit of the electric vehicle driving community. Jon has had some assistance from Gemtec and funding from The Big Lap has a Gap crowd funding campaign which has been well supported by EV owners and clubs in WA.

Jon wants to build more of the mobile chargers and hopes to raise more funds. If you are interested in donating head to The Big Lap has a Gap crowd funding page at chuffed.org