With 3000km to go and not a drop of petrol in the tank, it sounds like a road trip gone terribly wrong. Yet this is the perfect situation for  American electric sports car maker, Tesla. This company has set out to travel up the east coast in the electric-powered Tesla Roadster 2.5 in order to show the ability of the electric car and the effect it will have on the environment and economy.

Although the car may be electric, it doesn’t mean it will be a quick trip. Even though the Tesla’s best cruising range of 394km is almost double the range of most other electric cars, it still means each leg of the trip will take longer than a petrol powered car. The first leg from Melbourne to Sydney (880km) can usually be reached in one day with one tank of petrol. However, as the electric car needs to be charged, this part of the trip will take about three full days to complete.

Today marks the first day of the journey with Tesla’s Australian national marketing manager, Jay McCormack, driving the entire trip and has plans to reach Port Douglas, the final destination, in 30 days. This is to allow for stoppages to organize test drives and meeting prospective clients.

McCormack expects to save quite a lot of money with this trip, planning to use about $170 worth of electricity, which is approximately half the amount that would be spent on petrol. Although the trip may technically be cheaper, owning a Tesla costs $206,188, which is unfortunately not in everyone’s budget.

Fast-charging stations have been donated by ChargePoint, a charging station provider to Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and the Sunshine Coast.

ChargePoint stations allow for faster recharge time as the Tesla usually needs 15 hours to fully charge from a normal powerpoint. However, at ChargePoint stations, it will only take around 12 hours at a “stage one” station.

The “stage two” station cuts the charging time for the Tesla to around six-and-a-half hours. Whereas it will only take around four hours for a vehicle with a smaller battery.

McCormack plans to travel along the highway at 90 to 100km/h in order to get the best use out of the batteries.

This road trip is a fundamental step towards introducing the electric car to more Australians. The more people who see and hear about a product, the more chance there is the product will take off.