HE said he was shaking when he arrived, but the main thing was he made it: on Friday morning John Ward became the first person to drive an electric car from Sydney to the Highlands.
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Mr Ward had 14 kilometres left in his Nissan Leaf when he pulled in to the recharge station at the Southern Highlands Welcome Centre. When fully charged, the car has a range of 170km.
"I think I'm a bit of a pioneer for doing this, but I believe in getting our footprint on the earth down. This isn't about climate change; it's more about how there are so many people on our planet, and more of them are going to drive, so we have to do something otherwise it will go bust," he said.
Mr Ward is an electrical engineer and said for the last run into the Highlands calculations were flashing through his head as to whether his electric car would make it from Strathfield to Mittagong on one charge. He topped up at Pheasants Nest just in case, but he would have made it on the original charge.
The Welcome Centre has a Level 2 charger, which takes six hours to recharge the car's 25kw engine.
"There is only one fast charger on the east coast of Australia, and that is at Homebush. That charges my car in about 10 minutes," Mr Ward said.
Mr Ward said he has joined others to lobby for more fast chargers in NSW. Tesla electric cars can charge at the Goulburn Visitor Information Centre, however, other electric cars cannot use that station.
"Driving an electric car requires a change in thinking, however, it is a very smooth way to travel. Once you have driven an electric car you'd never go back," Mr Ward said, who charges his car overnight from solar panels in his home, and during the day from solar panels at his workplace.
"The Welcome Centre is a very go-ahead place - I'm pleased this was my destination for my first foray."
Wingecarribee Council's Barry Arthur said Mr Ward's arrival was just what the council were hoping for.
"We see this as a catalyst for the future. It proves we are just the right distance from Sydney, and we envisage tourists could come here and then hire an electric bike to explore the Highlands while their car charges," he said.
Mr Ward said his Nissan Leaf was the biggest selling electric car in the world, and that he hoped the NSW Government would provide more support for electric cars and charging stations.
And he was able to drive home with much more peace of mind.