In 1983, they tackled the outback in a V8 Holden. In 2026, they did 15,000km in a Tesla

Tom and Evelyn Hunt had a plan to retrace a trip they made on their honeymoon more than 40 years ago.

Setting off from Oak Flats on the South Coast of NSW, they would travel to South Australia, then up through the Northern Territory all the way to Darwin, before heading through Queensland on the way home.

In 1983, the car they embarked on this journey in was a V8 Holden. In 2026, they did it in a Tesla.

A report from the Electric Vehicle Council released in September revealed more than 150,000 electric vehicles were sold in the first half of 2026, with 100,000 of those being battery electric vehicles.

Despite this rise, in July, locals in the Wollongong CBD - nearby where the Hunts live - said one of their biggest concerns regarding buying a new electric vehicle was range anxiety.

Mr Hunt said the concern was unfounded, having now completed the 15-week trip across Australia with his wife, Evelyn, travelling to 47 different campsites, hotels and motels on a 15,270-kilometre journey.

"Every place has a power point, and we knew there were fast chargers," he said.

"Most places now have fast chargers in town, but we visited a lot of places that didn't. You can't always guarantee them, because there's only one or two of these things around.

"We just made our trip within the range of the car, limiting ourselves to about 250 to 300 km for any one trip in a day."

The Hunts instead used the smaller range to visit and stay in areas they wouldn't have otherwise, and if no fast charger was available, would instead use a power point to charge overnight.

"We rang ahead and checked with the places we were staying to make sure we could plug in," Mr Hunt said.

"There were one or two where there was a fast charger, and they'd prefer you to use those, but on the whole most people were quite happy for us to charge overnight wherever we stayed.

"Many of them didn't even want us to pay them extra for the electricity, it was fantastic."

In total, of the 47 different places they stayed, the Hunts were only asked to charge at nearby fast chargers four times.

While Australia's east coast offers a dense fast-charging network that can top up a battery to 90 per cent in 20 minutes, remote central Australia proved more challenging.

At Kings Canyon, the resort offered only a standard 30-amp outlet. On the way to Alice Springs, the couple faced a choice: a long detour via Erldunda or a shorter dirt road that pushed their battery's operational limit.

Mr Hunt said there was preparation involved in making sure each leg of the trip was ending at a place to charge, and the more than 15,000-kilometre journey led him to reach a conclusion.

"It impressed on me that, really, there's no issue with driving electric cars out west. You don't run a petrol car until it's empty, and similarly, you take the same precautions with electric cars," he said.

"You just don't have the same range. If you plan for that range, it's not a problem."