Electric vehicle charging stations could be installed along one of Australia's most isolated outback roads, under a plan pushed by the road's governing council.
Stretching more than 2,700km from Laverton in Western Australia's Goldfields to Winton in central Queensland, the Outback Way looms as the nation's next major cross-country highway.
Pat Hill has spearheaded the push to seal the Outback Way since 1997, in his role as foundation chairman of the Outback Highway Development Council, by lobbying state and federal governments to develop tourism and business opportunities in central Australia.
With funding secured to seal the road over the next decade, Mr Hill has already turned his attention towards improving essential infrastructure along the route.
He said charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) are already being discussed, along with improving communications and tourist accommodation.
"It's a no-brainer as far as I am concerned," Mr Hill said.
"We've already looked into this … the Outback Highway committee looked into using the Outback Way as a pilot program for recharging electric vehicles."
An estimated 300 to 400 vehicles a day are expected to travel on the Outback Way once it is fully sealed.
Mr Hill said "range anxiety" – which refers to EV drivers concerned about running out of battery charge before reaching their destination – could be overcome.
"About 300 kilometres is the furthest distance you travel on the road (between stops), so there's an opportunity for us to do it (install EV chargers along the route)," he said.
"Communications is the next big thing … improving mobile phone coverage and the reliability of that service as well."
'Electric highway' road map
When the WA government announced its $21 million electric highway plan in 2021, it initially left the Nullarbor off the list but has committed to installing 98 charging stations across 49 locations by 2024.
The chargers are spread from Eucla at the South Australian border to Kununurra in WA's far north.
But it completely overlooks the northern Goldfields, including the official start of the Outback Way at Laverton.
Niki Curtis, regional climate alliance coordinator for the Goldfields Voluntary Regional Organisation of Councils (GVROC), said the decision was "understandable" due to a lack of suitable infrastructure.
"Hopefully by the time that happens (the Outback Way is fully sealed), EVs will be something that we don't consider to be 'unique', and we will have our head around charging stations more than we do at the moment," she said.
"I know the Nullarbor is receiving fast-charging stations … and by the time this highway is sealed, hopefully we can do something similar."
To better understand the existing charging infrastructure in the region, or lack there of, she drove an electric vehicle more than 800km from Perth to Leonora.
She said it is part of efforts by GVROC, which comprises nine local governments in the Goldfields-Esperance region, to understand the challenges of installing EV infrastructure.
"The costs for them (local government councils), it's not the charging stations themselves that are going to be costly, it's the upgrade of energy," she said.
"In order to put a fast-charging station in, you need to have some serious power coming down the line and for a lot of these towns they don't have that energy infrastructure at the moment.
"I think for a place like Leonora it's probably going to be possible, but for some of the other local governments, they won't be able to put in fast-charging stations because they will basically trip the whole town out."
Meanwhile, the owner of a service station in the northern Goldfields doubts it will be financially viable for regional fuel retailers to install EV charging stations.
Peter Grundy has operated a service station in Wiluna for the past 13 years and is also president of the Shire of Wiluna.
"It's getting pretty complex and it's going to be unrealistic for a lot of us in the regional areas to fund all that, because it's not going to be commercially viable, so we've got to think out of the box," he said.
"Seven years ago, I put 250 solar panels on top of my roof, so I'll be a bit careful next time, because I don't want to over capitalise and not get a return."
