Electrifying the Australian road trip
The DISCONNECT between high-emission 4WDs and PRISTINE WILDERNESS has finally been addressed; DAN DOWN discovers the Australian STARTUP making your next ROAD TRIP cleaner and GREENER.
WE LIVE IN A BIG BROWN LAND ripe for exploration.
In fact, our country is so big that it’s said to be unconquerable; how exactly would an invading force manage a supply chain all the way from Darwin down to Adelaide? They’d be stranded, left for dead in its vastness, like many an early intrepid explorer gone before.
Australia necessitates a set of dune-busting wheels to give you the freedom to reach every corner of it… sensibly. We’re rightly obsessed with our 4WDs, which are perhaps to Australians what scooters are to the Italians, or the horse and carriage to the Amish.
But our love affair is about to undergo a radical transformation for the better. The advent of powerful electric motors coupled with huge, efficient batteries will enable a 4WD to hit 600-kilometre-plus ranges, and we needn’t leave a trail of filthy exhaust behind us. Startup company Jaunt, operating out of Melbourne, has spotted an opportunity; it is retrofitting classic Land Rovers with advanced electric drivetrains for people to road trip around Byron Bay and the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, and Daylesford in Victoria, with more destinations to follow. “I’ve become increasingly aware of how much fuel I’m using to get to pristine, natural places,” says Jaunt co-founder Dave Budge.
Pristine, natural places include Queensland’s heritage-listed Lamington National Park, which was partially destroyed during the unseasonably high number of bushfires in northern New South Wales and Queensland in September. How can a sopping wet rainforest go up in flames? Hundreds of thousands of Australians, who took to the streets across the country as part of a Global Climate Strike day of action on 20 September – even while those cinders were still being extinguished – are certainly asking that question.
Acknowledging our environmental toll when travelling in this country and abroad is paramount, if we want to have beautiful destinations to explore in the first place. It’s a chicken-and-egg scenario. “It’s hugely important [to think about it]. If you take one of those online tests about your carbon emissions, as soon as you put in a flight your emissions shoot way up, and that’s just the beginning,” says Budge. “I think most of us are guilty of leaving our good habits at home when we’re on holiday, like always running the air-conditioning or ordering more packaged food. Unfortunately it’s still hard work to make choices that keep emissions and waste to a minimum, and it’s so difficult to be informed when you’re away from home.
“But I think it’s up to businesses as much as it’s up to individuals. With Jaunt we want to create an experience that doesn’t involve compromise, that is simply better.”
Electric vehicles aren’t going to spell the “end of the weekend” (thank our PM for that particular pearler); in fact, they’re here to make it a damn sight better. With no cranks and pistons to get going before power is transmitted from rubber to red earth, the torque supplied by the near-instant delivery of power by an electric vehicle makes them perfect for off-roading; for getting up the Big Red sand dune in the Simpson, say, or a slippery incline in the Blue Mountains.
And there are other benefits too. “One of the simplest reasons I want Jaunt to exist is so I can drive through the bush and hear it. The bush, that is. While the sound of tyres on the track, crunching twigs and gum leaves blends in like footsteps do, the sound of an engine doesn’t,” enthuses Budge.
You can even look good while leaving nothing but tyre treads in your wake. “Australia has a love of 4WDs and SUVs, plus a dry climate, which means that there are thousands of old vehicles that are still in great condition,” he continues. “We think upcycling classic vehicles that fit into our imagination of adventure means we can create something both nostalgic and progressive.”
The off-roading old school might be quick to point out that outback-worthy electric vehicles have yet to hit the market, and they’ll never outperform a trusty Land Cruiser. But it’s only a matter of time before the likes of Tesla unveils its pick-up in November, and Amazon-backed Rivian starts selling its 600-kilometre-plus-range ute towards the end of next year. However, don’t let the big names of Silicon Valley steal the show, because this Aussie startup got the jump on them.
“We see Jaunt as a real solution to the ‘last-few-miles’ of transport in regional areas,” Budge says. “A lot of the technology and services coming to market are designed for dense urban areas and are just not feasible with the distances and infrastructure available outside of capital cities. We want people to have a desirable and approachable option to explore Australia and try an electric vehicle.”
Do Australians dream of electric utes? Not anymore.