Travelers looking to road trip in Australia—a country positively made for hitting the highways and backroads with the wind in your hair—tend to default to popular east coast routes leading from Sydney to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef or south along Melbourne’s Great Ocean Road. But with 98 stations of a new electric vehicle highway slated to be live by the end of the year—the majority live now—and spaced an average 100 miles apart, there’s even more reason to set your sights on the opposite coast for a more eco-friendly alternative. Western Australia covers a third of the continent’s landmass; once complete, the WA EV Network’s 4,300 miles of roadway will connect the capital of Perth to Kununurra in the far north and to Eucla near the border of South Australia. Rent an EV from Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, or another car rental company in Perth before setting off on an all-electric journey to storied Aussie spots like the famed food-and-wine region around Margaret River; Exmouth, the gateway to snorkeling with whale sharks at Ningaloo Marine Park; and more epic surf breaks in remote Esperance, where chalk white beaches welcome travelers to relax after one epic road trip.
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