Road trips · Summer 2026–27

Christmas EV road trips and holiday parks: Australia 2026

Long beach days. A cabin for the family. A country weekend at your own pace. Plan the summer you want with practical electric-vehicle itineraries and charging details close at hand.

Find your escape
Sunny coastline at Umina Beach on the NSW Central Coast.
Australian summer on the NSW Central Coast. Destination photography; not a photograph of a featured holiday park. Photo: Maksym Kozlenko · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and converted to WebP; display crops.

Make a little room for summer

Road trips and holiday parks.

Choose a weekend or a longer escape

For a break of a few nights, the Central Coast, Ballarat and the Gold Coast offer three different ways to build a family itinerary. Treat these as suggested travel plans and adjust them around your starting suburb, booked accommodation and interests.

Allow time for stops and summer traffic. Check your accommodation’s arrival arrangements and any Christmas or New Year opening changes before making a particular attraction the centrepiece of the trip.

Calculate the whole journey

A 100 km drive at an assumed 18 kWh per 100 km uses 18 kWh. In an EV with 60 kWh of usable battery capacity, that is 30 percentage points of battery charge. This is a worked example, not a measured route or a result for every car.

Include the journey from home and back, local outings and charging detours. The calculator below lets you replace the example inputs. Keep an arrival reserve separately; estimated energy use is not a recommended departure charge.

Book the stay and the charging arrangement together

A park’s EV charger may belong to a particular cabin, be shared, or require a separate payment. A powered campsite does not automatically permit vehicle charging. Ask what your booking includes and keep a public alternative in your route plan.

The park selection is an editorial planning shortlist. It does not represent live vacancies, a special room rate or a star-rating ranking. Check the operator’s December and January booking conditions before paying.

  • Enter your home, accommodation and return journey in navigation.
  • Save a compatible public charger and an alternative before departure.
  • Ask the park about charger access for your exact cabin or campsite.
  • Check event dates, road conditions and the next day’s energy needs.

Your car. Your distance.

How much charge could the drive use?

The starting values are an example, not a measured route or a recommendation for departure charge. Change them to match your complete journey.

Include home, stops, charger detours and return.
Use usable capacity, not the gross pack figure.
Use recent real-world driving for similar conditions.
For example, additional air-conditioning while waiting.

Estimated battery use

30.0%

18.0 kWh for the entered journey

Percentage points of a full usable battery. Keep your arrival reserve separate.

Calculation and assumptions

Energy (kWh) = distance × consumption ÷ 100 + extra energy. Battery use (%) = energy ÷ usable battery capacity × 100.

Defaults: 60 kWh usable battery, 18 kWh/100 km and no extra stationary allowance. These are illustrative inputs, not specifications for a named EV. The estimate is battery energy consumed, not electricity purchased from a charger; charging losses are not included. Weather, hills, traffic, towing, load and battery condition can change the result. Use your vehicle’s route planner and keep an appropriate reserve.

Useful answers

Before you set off.

Do the holiday parks guarantee charging for every booking?

No. Cabin-linked charging and communal equipment have different access rules. Confirm the current arrangement for your exact cabin or campsite directly with the park.

Can any EV do these drives on the same percentage?

No. Battery size, consumption, total distance and auxiliary loads differ. Use the calculator with your usable battery capacity and recent real-world consumption.

Evidence behind the guide

Sources checked 5 November 2026.

Event dates come from organisers or councils where available. Charger descriptions use operator or official destination information. Older inventories and pending events are identified in the guide; a review date does not turn an older source into a live check.

Read EVITAL’s editorial approach