Polestar Australia and a retired engineer have gone out of their way to prove a point: all-electric vehicles (EVs) can traverse the infamous Nullabor level, despite the obvious challenges of charging infrastructure.
Yes, an example of Polestar Australia’s soon-to-be-launched mid-size EV Polestar 2 has traveled more than 700km between the Western Australian cities of Caiguna and Southern Cross, but how did it do it?
Well, retired engineer Jon Edwards noted that the proposed ‘EV highway’ in WA leaves a significant gap to the Nullabor and therefore prevents EVs from cruising around the country, so he decided to solve the problem himself.
Read more about the Polestar 2
The solution? EV fast chargers that naturally run on waste oil from the Caiguna Roadhouse. The new self-contained technology, dubbed Biofil, allowed the Polestar 2 to sustainably charge while fully off the grid and en route to Perth.
Biofil extracts energy from the waste oil via a generator, while the chip fat from the fryers comes from seed plants (canola, sunflower and others) that absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) and sunlight. The CO2 generated to operate the fast chargers for electric vehicles corresponds to the absorbed CO2.
“Polestar is thrilled to share our passion for innovation and sustainability with visionaries like Jon Edwards,” said Polestar CEO Samantha Johnson.
“Turning a waste product into a carbon-neutral charging solution that connects Australian EV owners from the east to the west is the kind of ingenuity that has led to so much Australian innovation.”
Mr Edwards added: “The cost of installing an equivalent solar powered EV fast charger is more than five times the cost of building the Bi0fil fast charger.
“Solar power would not have been economically feasible for such a low-traffic location, making Biofil the eco-friendly transitional solution for electric vehicles now navigating the Nullarbor.”
For reference, the Caiguna Roadhouse connects WA to South Australia which is 370 km east of Norsemen and 370 km west of the South African border. Halfway now allows EV drivers to conquer the Nullabor. Who would have thought?