Driving an EV from Melbourne to Wilsons Prom: Charging Stops & What If You Run Flat
Melbourne to Wilsons Prom is a 230 km run with fast charging through South Gippsland and none at Tidal River. Here's where to charge on the way, how to plan for the park, and what to do if you run flat.
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Wilsons Promontory is where a lot of Victorian families spend their summer: camping at Tidal River, swimming at Squeaky Beach, walking up Mount Oberon. From Melbourne it’s about 230 km and roughly three hours by car, and in an EV the drive down is easy. The part that needs a little planning is the end of the road. There’s no charging at Tidal River, so you need enough in the battery to get in, explore the park and drive back out again. Here are the stops, and the plan.
How many stops will your EV need?
No charging stop needed
Estimated from about 353 km of real-world range: leave at 90%, arrive with 15% in reserve, charge to 80% on the road. Highway speeds, cold weather and hills all cut range, so treat this as a planning estimate.
Showing a typical 60 kWh EV. Pick your car above for your own estimate.
Can you drive an EV from Melbourne to Wilsons Promontory?
Yes. It’s roughly 230 km, about three hours of driving. Parks Victoria’s directions take you along the Monash Freeway (M1) and the South Gippsland Freeway and Highway (M420/A440) as far as Meeniyan, then down the Meeniyan-Promontory Road (C444) through Fish Creek to the park entrance just past Yanakie. Tidal River, home to the campground, visitor centre and general store, is another 30 km inside the park. Allow about half an hour for that last leg.
As of October 2026, most EVs can make the trip down on a single charge if they leave Melbourne full, and there are fast chargers in Korumburra, Leongatha, Meeniyan, Fish Creek, Foster and Yanakie along the way. What needs planning is everything after you arrive. Parks Victoria is blunt about it: there is no fuel or electric vehicle charging at Tidal River. Treat the park as a dead end for charging and the trip is simple.
Fast-charging stops, Melbourne → Wilsons Promontory
The DC fast-charging stops along the route, drawn live from Open Charge Map:
On the city fringe there’s fast charging around Clyde North and a Tesla Supercharger at Pakenham. Once you’re into South Gippsland, the stop list covers Korumburra, Leongatha, Meeniyan, Fish Creek and Foster, and then Yanakie, the last charger before the park entrance.
Korumburra and Leongatha each have two separate fast-charging sites. One belongs to South Gippsland Shire Council and runs on the Chargefox network; the other is run by Evie. If one is busy or out of action, there’s a second option in the same town. Meeniyan, Foster and Yanakie have one council charger each, and Evie has a single charger in Fish Creek. Meeniyan’s has two CCS2 plugs and no CHAdeMO, so if your car charges on CHAdeMO (the Nissan Leaf, for example), plan to stop in Korumburra, Leongatha or Foster instead.
These are smaller chargers than the big ultra-rapid hubs on the Hume or the Pacific Highway (the stop list shows each site’s top speed), so a decent top-up takes a while. Pick a town where you’d happily stop for a coffee or lunch. You pay through the Chargefox or Evie app, and our guide to paying for public charging covers the apps and cards.
The first part of the drive shares the road with the run to Phillip Island. If you’re splitting the holidays between the two, our Melbourne to Phillip Island guide covers that leg.
How to plan your stops
The simplest plan is to leave Melbourne at or close to 100%, then top up again in Leongatha, Meeniyan, Fish Creek or Foster on the way down. Yanakie, a few minutes short of the park entrance, is the very last chance to charge, but with a single charger there it’s better as a backup than as your plan. That last charge is the one you’ll live on for the whole stay. Squeaky Beach, Whisky Bay and the other day-visit spots are short drives from Tidal River, but over a week of camping they add up, and at the end you still have to drive back out of the park to a charger. Work out roughly how much driving you’ll do in the park, add the drive back to Yanakie or Foster, and arrive with that plus a healthy buffer.
Doing it as a day trip? The round trip from Melbourne is around 460 km, even before any driving around the park. That’s more than most EVs can manage on one charge, so plan a stop on the way home as well.
Summer adds three more things to think about:
- Waiting to get in. Parks Victoria limits the number of vehicles in the park on busy summer days. It asks visitors to arrive before 10am and warns that you may have to wait in your car, so bring food and water. Sitting in a queue with the aircon running uses some charge, which is one more reason to arrive with a buffer.
- Wildlife after dark. Parks Victoria asks drivers to look out for wildlife on the road in, and to avoid driving between dusk and dawn. Time your charging stops so you aren’t doing the last 30 km into Tidal River as the light fades.
- Powering the campsite. Generators aren’t allowed at Tidal River. If you plan to run a fridge or lights from your car’s vehicle-to-load socket, every kilowatt-hour comes out of the charge you need to drive home. Our guide to camping with an EV runs through the numbers.
Charging at Tidal River and inside Wilsons Promontory National Park
As of October 2026 there’s nowhere to charge an EV inside Wilsons Promontory National Park. Parks Victoria’s Tidal River page says there is “no fuel or electric vehicle charging at Tidal River”, and the park’s visitor guide puts the nearest charging outside the park. Don’t plan on plugging into a powered campsite or cabin. Assume you’ll get no charge at all while you’re there, and anything else is a bonus.
A few other things worth knowing before you go:
- Mobile reception is unreliable in the park, according to Parks Victoria’s visitor guide. There’s a public phone outside the Tidal River General Store. Download the free park maps to your phone before you lose signal.
- Summer camping books out early. Over the 2026–27 summer peak (Sunday 20 December to Sunday 24 January), Tidal River camping requires a stay of 7–14 nights, arriving and leaving on a Sunday. There’s no ballot any more. Parks Victoria now releases peak dates through its regular booking rounds, and popular periods fill quickly. If you missed out, keep an eye out for cancellations, or make it a day trip.
- It gets crowded. On busy days, parking and getting around at Tidal River and Squeaky Beach can be hard work, and Parks Victoria suggests a weekday visit if you can manage one.
What if you run out of charge between Melbourne and Wilsons Promontory?
Top up in the South Gippsland towns and running flat on the way down is unlikely. The live stop list above shows the current longest gap between chargers on the route, and it’s well within a single charge for any moderate-range EV. The part to watch is the park itself. There’s no charging at Tidal River, mobile reception is patchy, and a tow truck has a long way to come.
If you do run flat:
- Get safe. Off the road, hazard lights on, stand well clear of traffic.
- Call roadside assistance. 13 11 11 reaches RACV in Victoria. If you have no signal inside the park, there’s a public phone outside the Tidal River General Store. Tesla drivers can use the Tesla app.
- Say it’s an EV. Most EVs must be flat-bed towed. Saying so up front gets the right truck first time, which matters more when it’s coming from a long way off.
- Ask about the options. Usually that’s a tow to the nearest fast charger. Ask whether a mobile top-up can reach you.
Before you leave, confirm your roadside cover handles out-of-charge events and check its tow distance limit. Our complete guide to EV roadside assistance in Australia compares providers, the Victorian roadside guide covers RACV’s plans, and the out-of-charge guide explains what happens after you call.
Frequently asked questions
Can you drive an electric car from Melbourne to Wilsons Promontory?
Yes. It's about 230 km, roughly three hours, down the Monash Freeway and South Gippsland Highway and then the Meeniyan-Promontory Road to the park. Many EVs can do the trip down on one charge, and there is fast charging in Korumburra, Leongatha, Meeniyan, Fish Creek, Foster and Yanakie on the way. The catch is at the far end: as of October 2026, Parks Victoria says there is no electric vehicle charging at Tidal River.
How many times do you need to charge an EV from Melbourne to Wilsons Prom?
Often not at all on the way down, if you leave Melbourne full. Most drivers should still stop once, in Leongatha, Meeniyan or Foster, so they reach the park with plenty in the battery. Tidal River has no charging, so the drive in, any driving around the park and the drive back out to South Gippsland all come out of the same charge.
What's the longest gap between EV chargers from Melbourne to Wilsons Prom?
The live stop list below shows the current longest gap between fast chargers on the way down. The stretch to plan around is the national park itself. Tidal River sits 30 km inside the park entrance and has no charging, so leave South Gippsland with a good charge rather than counting on a top-up later.
What happens if my EV runs out of charge on the way to Wilsons Prom?
Get safely off the road, hazards on, and call RACV on 13 11 11. Tell them it's an EV so they send a flatbed. Mobile reception is unreliable inside the national park, and there's a public phone outside the Tidal River General Store. Before you leave, check that your roadside cover handles out-of-charge events and how far it will tow you.