A bush camping holiday with a runabout city EV? It can be done

March 1, 2026 — 2:00am

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The first thing to know about taking an EV on a family camping holiday – loaded up with kids, tents, eskies, camping gear strapped to the roof racks, and a fully laden trailer – is that you’d best be prepared.

Once I left the charging cable at home, assuming the public charger at our bush camping site would have a cable attached. It did not. We limped home days later on 6 per cent battery; hearts in mouths and windows down, air-conditioning firmly switched off.

But if you’re prepared, it’s not just possible to take an electric vehicle camping for eight nights – it’s actually fun. You just have to change the way you do things.

For the past three years, my family has joined a convoy of friends from Melbourne to a sleepy hollow (calling it a town would be overstating it) in south Gippsland for a week-long camping trip.

The first year was straightforward – our Volvo tank of a family wagon ran on diesel, and we powered down the highways with no need to refuel.

But our 10-year-old Volvo wasn’t just expensive to run, it was threatening to get very expensive – and soon. A growing catch and delay in the gears foreshadowed looming transmission issues. We agreed it was time to make a change.

Once........

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