Mon 2 Nov 2026 15.32 AEDT
Photo: AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Over Easter, my family took our new 2026 Jaecoo J5 EV, which we call Jackie, on a round trip from Adelaide to Melbourne. We covered 1,451 km, made three charging stops on the way there, and four on the way back – including one extra stop when we got nervous about the battery. We also gathered plenty of real-world data that would make any spreadsheet fan happy.
If you’re interested in all the details, the numbers, the chaos at the Horsham charging queue, our nerve-wracking 7% battery arrival, and the real cost of driving an EV between states, you can check out the full story here.
If you just want the highlights, here are the five main lessons we wish we’d known before our first EV road trip. These tips could save you time, stress, and a few tense moments.
This is the section I most want other owners to read, because at every single charging stop on this trip, I spoke with EV drivers who were making the same avoidable mistakes, costing themselves significant time and money.
Remember, this is mostly my opinion, but I’ve done a fair bit of research, plus this experience to land here.
This is the most important mindset shift for new EV owners. With a petrol car, filling to 100% takes 3 minutes and costs nothing in extra time. So “always fill up” makes sense.
With a battery, charging to 100% when you don’t need to is one of the most expensive mistakes you can make, in terms of time rather than money. Here’s why.
DC fast chargers work fastest between roughly 10% and 75-80% state of charge. In that window, the battery accepts charge at the maximum rate… hopefully. Above 80%, the car’s battery management system deliberately slows the charge rate to protect the cells. The slowdown above 80% is significant. What took 1 minute to add 1% at 30% charge might take 3 to 4 minutes to add 1% at 85-90%. You are waiting in a car park, paying for electricity, while the car deliberately slows down.
At Horsham, I watched a couple of drivers charging to 100%. One had been there for over 90 minutes. Their car could have been recharged to a practical level for travel in 25 minutes. They used 65 extra minutes to add the final 20%, at the slowest possible rate, while other drivers waited for their bay. This is the charger etiquette conversation that needs to be understood. Charging is very different to a petrol/diesel bowser.
The rule that changed our trip: never charge past 75-80% unless you have a specific reason. Stop there and move on. You will get to your destination faster.
Know before you leave where you’ll charge, what percentage you’ll aim to arrive at, and what percentage you’ll leave at. Write it down. Put it in the car. I did, and it gave me so much comfort.
Tip – Use ChatGPT or Claude. AI’s ability to use Jackie’s real specs and create a plan for you is unbelievable. The original estimates were scary close to real-life. PlugShare was great for trip planning, seeing the whole trip elevation plan, then adding each leg to Google Maps. I was even able to paste the complete trip into ChatGPT or Claude (I preferred Claude), where the complete model was then made from that.
Quality research, analysis, explainers and factchecks from experts you can trust.
If you just drive until you feel like stopping and plug in to whatever % feels comfortable, you will overstay, overcharge, and slow down everyone behind you.
On our outbound trip, most drivers at Horsham had no plan. They were choosing charge percentages in the moment based on how they felt, not based on what they needed. One driver told us they always charged to 100% because of range anxiety. Their car had a real-world range of approx. 500 km. They were parked at Horsham, 299 km from Melbourne, charging to 100%. They needed about 75%. They were there for 75 minutes.
At Horsham, there are two 350kW stalls and three 50kW stalls. On our outbound trip, we were initially forced onto a 50kW stall. We charged for 27 minutes on the 50kW stall and added 8.02 kWh. We then swapped to a 350kW stall after chatting with others in the line, and added 26.59 kWh in 19 minutes.
The 350kW stall is not 7 times faster in practice because Jackie accepts up to 130kW, but it is roughly 4 to 5 times faster than the 50kW unit for a car like ours. The best I saw was a bit over 100kW, but it mostly averaged 99kW. If you have a choice, always take the 350kW stall. If both 350kW stalls are occupied, wait. Do not take the 50kW unit unless your battery is critically low and the wait time is genuinely long. Or, you have a plug-in hybrid with much smaller batteries to charge.
Our outbound trip ran in 15°C conditions with fog. Our return ran in 27-28°C afternoon heat. The difference in consumption was real and measurable across every leg.
At 27-28°C with AC running and full highway speed, we were using noticeably more energy than the cooler outbound. This contributed directly to our unplanned fourth stop at Mt Barker. In summer conditions (35°C and above), this effect is further amplified. If you’re planning a summer trip, which we are, build in more buffer at each stop and consider whether your charging targets need to be higher than they would be in mild conditions.
The Evie charger at Warrenheip had one of two units down on both our outbound and return legs, despite PlugShare and Evie showing both as operational. The Chargefox app accurately showed the live bay status at Horsham, but not one of the bays in Keith.
Open your charging app about 20 km before each stop. Get your passenger to do that so you stay focused on the road. If no passenger, please pull over briefly. It gives you time to mentally adjust and, occasionally, to change your plan, before you’re sitting in the car park making decisions under pressure.
If you’re planning your first long trip in a J5 or any EV: plan your stops, know your targets, stop at 75-80%, and get back on the road. The car will do the rest.
Mikal Howard is a finance and mortgage broker in Adelaide, founder of Mikal Howard Finance. A self-described data and tech enthusiast, Mikal found an unlikely home for both passions in electric vehicles.
