Doing Brisbane to Cairns in the EV for the first time — worth carrying a portable Type 2 as backup once we're past Rockhampton?
Normally my EV stays local, coast to inland for work and the ute does anything further or anything towing. But we're taking the whole family up to Cairns next month for a wedding and for once it makes more sense to take the EV than the ute, better on fuel for the distance and the kids actually prefer it.
Chargefox and Evie coverage is solid enough down to about Rockhampton, I've used most of those sites already on work trips. North of there it gets patchier from what I can see on the map, and a few of the motels we're looking at for overnight stops advertise a Type 2 outlet in the carport rather than an actual charger, the kind you're expected to bring your own cable and just trickle off overnight.
Never needed a portable EVSE before because home charging covers everything normally. Is it worth buying one just for this trip, or is carrying a Type 2 cable and hoping the motel outlet is enough? Don't want to turn up with the wrong gear for what's actually there.
Filed under: Road Trips & Regional
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@jonno1985July 24, 2026
Carried a portable on both trips towing the van and used it more than the actual DC chargers some weeks north of Rocky. A motel Type 2 outlet is nearly always a bare 10 or 15A circuit, not proper EVSE, so having the protection built into the unit is the actual reason to carry one instead of just a cable.
Makes sense when you put it that way. Is there a particular amperage worth chasing or does anything rated for a standard AU GPO do the job at that kind of trickle pace?
10A GPO-rated is the safest bet if you don't know what's actually at the other end, most motels will have at least a regular powerpoint even where the fancier outlet's missing. Slower obviously, but it's an overnight top-up, not the main charging strategy for the trip.
@petey_fxJuly 24, 2026
Seconding a portable over just a cable, but check the outlet type before you leave home, not on arrival. Mate turned up expecting a 15A blue and found a standard 10A GPO instead, completely different plug shape, cable was dead weight.
Mismatch problem's more common at older motels than newer ones from what I've seen. A lot of the newer regional builds have actually put proper 15A blue sockets in because caravan owners were complaining about it for years before EVs showed up.
@shazbot99July 29, 2026
North of Rocky in the middle of the year the cable housing gets properly hot sitting in the sun by afternoon. Worth checking it's not lying across bitumen or a dark car space when you plug in.
Good call, we'll be pulling in mid-afternoon most days so that's exactly when it'd be worst. Will keep it in shade even if that means parking further from the outlet.
@gregolasJuly 24, 2026
Been running mine off a plain GPO for months with zero dramas, does about 15km an hour overnight, which sounds like exactly the trickle scenario you're after for a motel stop.
15 an hour would cover what we need easily, we're not doing huge distances between the coastal stops. Nice to have an actual number instead of guessing at it.
@just_lurking22July 31, 2026
Doing this same trip in September too.
@hanny_bJuly 24, 2026
Following for the family logistics angle, we've never done anything this long with kids in the car. Does the portable add much to the packing compared to just carrying the cable?
Barely notices next to everything else you're already fitting in. Mine's roughly the size of a large shoebox, coils up into its own bag, and lives wedged in the same spot as the tyre repair kit rather than competing with the pram or the esky for room. The cable's the bulkier part if anything, the actual EVSE box itself is small enough you forget it's there until you need it.
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