The Slow Art of Going the Distance

There are journeys measured in distance and journeys measured in doubt—the quiet voice that asks whether the thing can be done at all. For Ed Darmanin, a retired electrical engineer from Sydney, the answer has been unfolding over 18,000 kilometers of Australian road, one carefully calculated charging stop at a time.

Darmanin, 67, is nearing the end of what is understood to be the first circumnavigation of mainland Australia on an electric motorcycle. He departed Sydney on June 24, traveling anti-clockwise on his Energica Experia, visiting every mainland state and territory. The final stretch through Victoria's Gippsland region will bring him home .

The journey has been a feat of planning as much as endurance. Electric motorcycles cannot carry spare batteries—the battery is built into the frame—so Darmanin has relied on DC fast chargers designed for electric cars. His bike's range, under load and at highway speeds, is roughly 160 kilometers. Some stretches between charging points reached 260 to 300 kilometers .

Speed became a strategic variable. "If I sat on 110 km/h compared to 75 km/h, at 110 you use double the energy," Darmanin explained. On remote roads, the margin between arrival and stranding was narrow. Strong headwinds across the Nullarbor Plain forced him to postpone the crossing by two days .

This is not Darmanin's first time pushing the boundaries of what electric motorcycles can do. In 2022, he became the first person to cross Australia by electric motorcycle. In 2024, he rode from Sydney to Darwin via Birdsville, including a 700-kilometer stretch of remote outback road . The Big Lap, as he calls it, is the logical culmination of five years of methodical exploration.

Part of the journey has been shared. His wife Sally rode with him through Far North Queensland and along the Western Australian coast; his son Evan joined for a section from Palm Cove to Mount Isa . But much of the riding has been solo, with only the hum of the motor and the vast Australian landscape for company.

"I'm starting to realise it's quite an achievement," Darmanin said, "and I like to share the story for that reason" . There is no boasting in the statement—just the quiet satisfaction of a man who set out to do something no one had done, and found that the planning, the patience, and the willingness to slow down when necessary were enough.

The finish line is now within sight. The bike will roll back into Sydney, completing a circle that began three months ago. What Darmanin has demonstrated is not merely that the journey is possible, but that the limits of electric travel are often less about the technology than about the care with which we approach them.

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Sources: ABC News, Thepack.news, CleanTechnica, Australian Electric Vehicle Association, UA.News