Ed Darmanin Does the Large Lap round Australia on an Electrical Motorcycle

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A CleanTechnica unique, by Ed Darmanin, as advised to David Waterworth.

Ed Darmanin, a retired electrical engineer from Sydney, is planning to circumnavigate mainland Australia — the world’s largest island continent — on an electrical bike. Why? As a result of nobody has ever executed it earlier than — and since, as two cardiac stents in two years will remind you, there isn’t a assure of a later.

CleanTechnica has adopted Ed’s difficult, dangerous, and typically humorous adventures earlier than. You possibly can examine his 5,000 km Sydney to Darwin journey on the Energica Experia right here.

On this newest chapter, Ed has granted CleanTechnica an unique have a look at the planning course of. You possibly can observe the journey right here, right here, and right here.

In a current cellphone interview, Ed advised me: “On 24 June 2026, I depart Sydney on the primary electrical bike circumnavigation of mainland Australia — roughly 18,000 km by means of each state and territory, in an anti-clockwise loop that takes within the Queensland coast, Cape Tribulation, the Gulf Developmental Highway, Darwin, the Kimberley, Broome, the Pilbara, Perth, the Nullarbor, the Eyre Peninsula, Adelaide, Melbourne and again residence to Sydney. I anticipate to reach residence in time for my 67th celebration in late September.”

The route is split into six sections, with Ed’s spouse Sally becoming a member of him two-up for the legs from Airlie Seaside to Palm Cove and once more from Broome to Perth. His son Evan rides with him by means of the Gulf Nation from Palm Cove to Mount Isa through Cape Tribulation and Normanton. The remaining is solo.

The BMW That Wasn’t

“Final yr I truly purchased a BMW R1300 GS Journey particularly for this journey — arguably the world’s greatest long-distance journey tourer and the plain selection for an 18,000 km journey. I had used an analogous bike on my European Alps tour in 2025. However with petrol provide throughout distant Australia below severe stress, the concept of burning as much as 900 litres of gasoline by means of the outback throughout a nationwide gasoline provide disaster stopped making sense. It felt irresponsible with Australia already working below a Degree 2 gasoline emergency declaration.

“As servos dry out within the outback, they prioritise diesel — so doubtlessly no petrol for the bike. Or I may very well be ready with everybody else for twenty-four to 48 hours for a tanker to reach. As soon as it turned clear that the Center East battle was not going to resolve shortly, it turned obvious I used to be higher off on the electrical bike. The vary anxiousness had flipped from EV to petrol. If I’m caught ready for a tanker, it ruins the lodging and household rendezvous plan. Restrictions are already taking place — petrol is being saved for locals and important companies.”

“The Energica Experia, which I do know intimately from my Darwin journey, turned the best selection for the Large Lap for causes I hadn’t initially deliberate. It has a freeway vary of about 180 km at 100 km/hr which may be elevated to 250 km at round 75 km/hr and about 300 km at 60 km/hr. It weighs 260 kg and round 300 kg totally loaded for touring. Add rider and passenger and we’re taking a look at round 460 kg.

“Earlier this yr I had a second cardiac stent fitted — routine preventative monitoring caught a 90% blockage in my proper coronary artery earlier than it triggered any injury. No coronary heart assault, no drama. Simply the type of methodical self-maintenance I apply to all the pieces I do, together with planning an 18,000 km electrical bike journey. I point out it not as a result of it adjustments something, however as a result of it’s a part of who I’m and the way I method these rides — with thorough preparation, clear eyes in regards to the dangers, and a deep appreciation for not placing issues off.”

Planning an Expedition, Not a Bike Trip

I used to be struck by the extent of planning Ed has utilized to this journey — it isn’t a motorbike journey, it’s an expedition.

“The charging plan alone took dozens of guide iterations utilizing GPS route planning and PlugShare to find out charging choices on route, constructing an in depth spreadsheet to itemise charging areas, distances between them to substantiate they had been inside vary, and lodging for every evening. I additionally referred to as or emailed roadhouses and distant lodges throughout the Kimberley and Gulf Nation personally to substantiate energy level entry, and supplied to pay for the ability utilized in each case. A petroleum rider plans a gasoline cease in thirty seconds and might rightly assume gasoline shall be out there in regular instances … however not in 2026. I plan every leg of this journey like a short-haul flight.

“This meant researching which roadhouses and cities are on the primary electrical energy grid, a micro-grid, or working solely on diesel turbines. Most of my stops turned out to be the previous. Even for a retired electrical engineer and hardened EV traveller like me, it was a shock to find that many of the distant EV charging stations in Western Australia run purely on photo voltaic PV and battery storage, with diesel turbines solely as backup — backup that might not often, if ever, run. Two of those charging websites usually are not even positioned at roadhouses. They sit at relaxation areas or street junctions in the midst of nowhere.”

“Essentially the most difficult leg of all the journey illustrates why this degree of planning is important. At first look the Bidyadanga Group turnoff DC quick charger — 190 km from Broome — seems to be the one factor that makes the leg to Sandfire Roadhouse doable. A 339 km journey two-up into possible Indian Ocean headwinds is past the Experia’s real-world vary with out it. However a single essential charger in the midst of nowhere is a single level of failure, and that’s not how I plan an expedition. Digging deeper, we discovered Barn Hill Station — a farm keep simply in need of the Bidyadanga charger — the place an in a single day cease and a Degree 1 energy level cost makes it doable to succeed in our subsequent vacation spot at 80 Mile Seaside caravan park with out being completely depending on both the Bidyadanga or Sandfire quick chargers. If each are on-line we use them and journey at full freeway pace. If one or each are offline we’ve got a viable various. That’s the distinction between a plan and a contingency.”

“The Ngumban Cliffs relaxation space presents a distinct type of problem. It sits between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing on a 288 km stretch of the Nice Northern Freeway — 192 km from one finish and 96 km from the opposite. There are not any cities, no roadhouses and no in a single day choices anyplace alongside this stretch. In contrast to the Broome leg, there isn’t a workaround if the charger is offline — so the plan is constructed round assuming it received’t be there.

“I depart Halls Creek driving as if the Ngumban Cliffs charger doesn’t exist — settling into 60 to 70 km/h for the complete 288 km to Fitzroy Crossing if needed. At 192 km I arrive at Ngumban Cliffs and verify the charger. Whether it is on-line I plug in, high up, and canopy the ultimate 96 km at full freeway pace. Whether it is offline I press on on the identical conservative tempo and full the leg on the unique cost. The Chargefox app and PlugShare enable me to verify charger standing earlier than departure — however in distant Australia, on-line doesn’t all the time imply operational once you arrive. The plan accounts for that.”

The Gas Disaster Benefit

“I can plan round the truth that in all however just a few instances the place I’m completely reliant on a distant DC quick charger, I’ve the choice of a Degree 1 energy level as a backup if the quick charger is offline. Australia is already working below a Degree 2 gasoline emergency declaration — the framework is energetic however no public buy restrictions have but been imposed. Below the Authorities’s Liquid Gas Emergency Act, Degree 3 brings a documented $40 buy restrict on the bowser — a mechanism first drawn up by officers in 2019 and confirmed by means of FOI paperwork launched in March 2026. This isn’t a rushed emergency measure. It’s a pre-planned, pre-documented authorities response that has been sitting able to activate for seven years. The proof suggests will probably be carried out by late July— precisely once I shall be driving by means of the Kimberley. At that time servos within the outback might run dry for 48 hours or extra between tanker deliveries, and at $3 to $4 a litre or extra, $40 received’t get you far. You can not realistically plan for that state of affairs on a petroleum bike or automobile, apart from to hope for the most effective or settle for that you could be change into stranded for days ready for a tanker to reach. Or worse, if Degree 4 restrictions are imposed mid-trip you completely change into stranded indefinitely.”

The Function of AI in Planning

Ed used AI extensively as a planning software all through the preparation for this journey — and he believes that is the primary time AI has been used on this method for planning a long-distance electrical bike journey.

“I used Claude AI to evaluate prevailing climate situations alongside the route for the precise date ranges I’d be in every a part of the nation — common temperatures, chilly morning begins and their impact on battery vary, and prevailing wind situations for every part. I additionally used it to mannequin tyre choice and inflation pressures, and to calculate goal speeds for every leg based mostly on the precise battery capability of the Experia and the real-world variables I’d face.

“To offer you a sensible instance: I ‘confirmed’ Claude a photograph of the beer-coaster vary calculation we did on the Darwin journey for the longest leg of 262 km from Camooweal to Barkley Homestead, and advised it the Experia has 19.6 kWh of usable saved power and to make use of this info as the bottom case. I then requested it to issue within the new Pirelli street touring tyres, greater tyre pressures, solo versus two-up configurations for various sections, morning departure temperatures and prevailing wind situations — then produce a tenet for goal speeds alongside every leg of every part for me to work with on the street. That’s significantly simpler than working it out on the again of a beer coaster.

“AI initially advised me that the Large Lap couldn’t be executed on an electrical bike as a result of the distances between quick chargers had been too giant — and it was appropriate, initially. Uncooked parameters with out context produced an inconceivable consequence based mostly on the producer’s quoted freeway cycle vary. As soon as I fed in my precise Degree 1 and three charging plan knowledge, my hypermiling speeds and the real-world vary figures from my Darwin journey, the AI assessed the route as achievable with 4 high-risk legs. I had already reached the identical conclusion from expertise utilizing my detailed spreadsheet, however the AI allowed me to think about extra variables — tyre decisions, new environment friendly drive chain, solo versus two-up, climate situations — at a degree of precision that might have taken weeks to calculate manually. AI estimates that the mixture chosen tyres, chain and sprockets ought to enhance effectivity by about 5%.

“I shortly discovered that you need to ask the best query with tight parameters, in any other case you get a solution based mostly on restricted info — not essentially the right one. The outdated adage holds: rubbish in, rubbish out. Growing the interactive map took about ten iterations earlier than the AI correctly matched GPS coordinates from my vacation spot spreadsheet with the precise freeway routes on the map.”

CleanTechnica readers — have you ever used AI instruments in planning your individual EV adventures? We’d love to listen to your experiences within the feedback.

The Tyres

Certainly one of Ed’s extra surprising planning discoveries was the affect of tyre choice on vary. He discovered that purpose-built road-touring tyres — fairly than the crossover journey tyres sometimes fitted to bikes just like the Experia — supplied significant effectivity features, with the development turning into extra pronounced because the tyres put on under 50% of their tread life. On a journey of this distance with lengthy distant sections, each kilometre of improved vary counts.

The Interactive Map

Ed’s web site is now reside and the interactive map is price a glance. As Ed explains: “The positioning covers all six sections intimately together with the charging challenges, the BMW backstory, previous journeys and the interactive map. You possibly can zoom out and in, collapse the legend and stats panels if you happen to want extra display house, and if you happen to maintain your cursor over the colored strains it tells you which of them part it’s and whether or not it’s solo or two-up. Once I start the journey, a yellow line will overlay the route exhibiting the gap travelled to this point, with a pulsing yellow dot exhibiting my present GPS location in actual time. Anybody can watch the dot cross the Nullarbor.”

The map was constructed utilizing AI to generate the code from Ed’s specs — one other instance of the expertise being utilized in a sensible fairly than theoretical method.

What Lies Forward

Ed departs Sydney on 24 June 2026. I anticipate to fulfill with him in Brisbane on the twenty eighth. He has deliberate totally and leaves with real confidence in his preparation. However simply in case — a light-weight tent, sleeping bag, and instruments are coming alongside for the journey.

Ed plans to share the journey with CleanTechnica readers by means of a sequence of articles. In our subsequent instalment, we’ll meet up with Ed on the midway level to learn the way the planning has held up in opposition to actuality, and what the street has thrown at him alongside the way in which. Within the meantime, from 24 June, you’ll be able to observe the yellow dot in actual time at electromotoadventures.com.au — and watch historical past being made, one charging cease at a time.