It has been more than two years since “Ruining the Weekend” found its way into the Australian vernacular, at least when it comes to electric cars.
As a reminder, it goes something like this: ahead of the 2019 elections, Labor dared to promise to support a clean transport transition through a 50% sales target for electric vehicles if there was an election.
The coalition – led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, along with Ministers Angus Taylor and Michaelia Cash – quickly launched an assault on these bold ambitions, accusing Labor and EVs of ruining the weekend and stealing work from the artisans, and so on.
In classic Australian form, electric vehicle enthusiasts rose to the challenge. And as we approach the end of 2021 and move into the next election year, it is encouraging to see that the mission has not subsided to prove how misleading this campaign has been.
If anything, it is gaining legs.
A Facebook group with the title “I ruined the weekend” started in early 2021 now has 547 members, many of whom have shown time and again that it is possible to drive an electric vehicle over the weekend and (contrary to the group name) do not have it ruined it. Others have even pulled things with their electric vehicles, from trailers to caravans.
Katrin Swindell took a nearly 1,000 km journey along the WA coast in her Tesla Model 3.
“Another weekend was ruined, driving a total of 980 km for one night in the cloudy but beautiful Bremen Bay,” she said.
She continued, “2 charging stops each way on the Williams Tesla Fast Charger and the Katanning Visitor Center Charger, which gave us time for brunch / lunch and then a pot of tea / coffee and the chance to stretch our legs.
“I can confirm that the battery has a better range than my bladder 
. The total cost of topping up in Katanning was $ 18 with the rest being free. Bremer Bay Resort offers free Tesla charging and we still have Tesla charging credit that we use on the fast chargers, ”she said.
Courtesy: Katrin Swindell
Tim and Meredith Budge with Peter and Jill Allan made an estimated 270 km trip in one weekend in an electric Hyundai Ioniq.
“Collective ruin. Visited Kilmore, High Camp, Lancefield, Kyneton (for lunch and recharge), Taradale then back to Melbourne. Check out the bushes and enjoy country roads and fossil-free electric travel, ”the Budges wrote.
Source: I ruined the weekend / Facebook
Sam Blight took a casual drive and ruined an entire afternoon in his Kona Electric: “The afternoon takes us to Yennyenning Lakes, which are full after good rain this year. ”You can feel the serenity.
Kona Electric on the Yennyenning Lakes. Courtesy: Sam Blight
Ant Day, who started the group, took a 1,500km trip to Esperance, ruined a three day weekend visiting the Edge of the Bay festival and was horrified to see some beautiful wildflowers along the way and then visited some very beautiful beaches.
“On the way to the Edge of the Bay Festival in Esperance. These beautiful flowers in this incredibly biodiverse region ruined my long weekend more than the electric car! ”He said.
“Esperance ruin day 2. Hard to describe how beautiful the beaches are in Esperance. Breathtaking. Sorry for the prospect of coming here with an electric vehicle that drove flawlessly despite the weekend. ”The customer review has been automatically translated from German.
After a trip to Esperance. Courtesy: Ant Day
Christopher Lees took a four-hour drive to Nhill and even managed to find a Tesla Supercharger to increase the range on the way: “Driven from Melbourne to Nhill yesterday. Sunny and no rain. Ruined the day! ”He said.
Courtesy: Christopher Lees
Shane Parker said he was “It’s a shame that Tesla totally ruined the Bridgetown Blues Festival for me this year. “
Courtesy: Shane Parker
Parker joined that too “You can’t drag anything with an electric vehicle” Club as shown below. “Weekend completely crammed. Seemingly,” he said.
Courtesy: Shane Parker
Jay Smith didn’t ruin the weekend – he ruined a whole week and gave the new Victorian Charging the Regions network a good chance.
“Why ruin the weekend when you can ruin a whole week ?! Great to check out some of the new public EV fast chargers between Mildura and Melbourne last week 
,” he said.
Courtesy: Jay Smith
And the list goes on. With the holiday season now undoubtedly there are plenty of opportunities to ruin an entire summer break! And with another election in early 2022 and a new Labor target in sight, there has never been a better time than now to show that EVs work perfectly as modes of transport, both during the week and at the weekend.
If you’d like to join the Facebook group you can find them here, and you can read more road trips on The Driven here. We welcome stories of your own road trips that you can send [email protected].
Bridie Schmidt is a senior reporter for The Driven, the sister company of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018 and is very interested in the role that emission-free transport must play for sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organizer of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model 3 and can rent it at evee.com.au.