Tesla owners vow to sell campervan after experimental 2,800km road trip across Australia

The couple said they decided to take their annual trip in their new EV 'to see if it could handle it'.

Brianne Tolj
·Associate News Editor
Updated ·4-min read
Left, Ramon standing next to the couple's black Tesla model 3 during the road trip. Right, the couple with their campervan at the beach. Inset, the couple smiling up close.
Sonia and Ramon have vowed to sell their vintage campervan after a successful experimental 2,800km road trip across Australia in their new Tesla. Source: Supplied

A couple have decided to ditch their usual road trip companion — their beloved vintage campervan — after undertaking a 2,800km experimental trek across Australia in their Tesla.

Sonia, 29, and Ramon, 27, packed up their brand new Model 3 Highland earlier this month and travelled from Melbourne to Port Douglas, Queensland, for a business trip. Over four consecutive days the couple, who own an opal jewellery company, drove up the country’s east coast with about 100kg of luggage — and even slept on a makeshift mattress in the back.

“We do this trip usually once a year to meet with opal sellers and see what’s available. We also do a bit of gold detecting and stuff like that,” Ramon told Yahoo News Australia over the weekend.

“So we used to do it in our old van. Now we’ve upgraded to the Tesla we pretty much just wanted to see if it could handle this kind of trip.”

Despite being repeatedly warned about the supposed lack of charging infrastructure for EVs in Australia, the couple said they found that to be far from the truth.

“So basically we had so many people telling us, ‘You can’t do a long drive in a Tesla. It’s going to add on so many hours. It’s not worth it’. So we just wanted to see for ourselves, seeing as this is our first Tesla and we’ve owned it for two months,” Sonia said.

Left, Sonia on the makeshift mattress in the back of her Tesla. Right, the couple's Tesla at a charging station during their road trip.
Impressively, the couple slept on a makeshift mattress in the back of their Tesla. Source: Supplied

The pair said they found a “typical” charging break was about 15 to 20 minutes and there were numerous available superchargers along the way.

“We found generally it’s good to just stop regularly. You know, you need to use the bathroom, get some food — so in the end you’re not any slower than a petrol car because any normal driver needs to take regular breaks,” Ramon added.

Overall, the couple said it cost about $300 in charging costs — staggeringly less than the more than $700 they would have had to fork out if they took their campervan.

As well as the obvious savings, the pair told Yahoo another added perk was the autopilot feature, which allowed them to drive for long stretches of time.

“The autopilot is probably the biggest surprise in terms of how convenient it is, and it also allows you to just do way more kilometres,” Ramon said. “You can drive late at night as well, because when you get tired late at night, you want to drive slower.

“So I feel much safer at high speeds with the autopilot doing the driving, and it’s allowed us to do up to 11 hours of driving in the day, and you could go a lot further if you wanted to, but that’s been pretty good for us.”

Left, Sonia standing next to their Tesla model 3. Right, the couple in their makeshift bed in the back of the car.
The pair told Yahoo the trip from Melbourne to Port Douglas cost $300. Source: Supplied

In an impressive move, 6”2 Ramon and Sonia, who stands tall at 5”11, turned their EV into a makeshift hotel when they were ready to rest.

After pulling the front and back seats forward, the couple used a martial arts mat, memory foam and a mattress topper to create a bed.

“We measured the van and it’s only 10cm wider, which is pretty crazy because this is just a sedan,” Sonia said, adding they turned on ‘camp mode’ to help regulate the inside temperature as they slept.

“So it’s comparable in terms of width to the van where it matters, which is at your torso… it does slim down a lot on the legs, so your legs are a bit like in a coffin, and that’s the only downside,” Ramon added. “But once you’re asleep, you don’t really notice it, and it’s been a very comfortable sleep.”

Last week, Sonia shared details about their “amazing drive” on a Facebook page dedicated to Tesla owners, noting she hadn’t seen many similar reviews. While numerous fellow EV fans were shocked the couple was able to sleep peacefully inside the vehicle, others applauded their “great work”.

“Thanks for sharing. This is great info,” one person commented.

“We have done it two years running now. Sydney to Port Douglas. No issues with good planning. We love our Tesla 3,” another Aussie said, with Sonia and Roman agreeing it’s the only way they’ll be travelling from now on.

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