Wagga council's electric car avoids conking out on epic Sydney trip

In a charge led by Councillor Paul Funnell, mayor Greg Conkey was asked to drive the council's new $40,000 Hyundai IONIQ Electric on the 1000km round trip.

The epic journey came at a time when tensions between councillors over climate change and what role, if any, council should have in reducing emissions are at an all-time high.

The electric vehicle, which Cr Conkey stressed was never intended to travel such long distances, has a limit of up to 280 kilometres on a single charge.

Cr Conkey was not at the September meeting when his colleagues voted in favour of the trip, however, he said he had no objections upon hearing the news.

After completing his trip, he said it was a "nice little car to drive" and will present his full findings at Monday night's council meeting.

The journey took eight-and-a-half hours to Sydney and just over seven hours on the return trip back to Wagga. A typical trip from Wagga to Sydney takes just over five hours.

Cr Conkey stopped three times to charge - at Jugiong and Mittagong, which took 25 and 35 minutes respectively and Goulburn, where he allowed two hours. The return journey was faster, according to his report.

"The one stumbling block was Goulburn which does not have a fast-charging station," Cr Conkey said.

"I normally stop a couple of times going to Sydney and with more fast-charging stations coming, it will be much easier in the next six months and a breeze in the next year."

Given the vehicle was designed for Wagga-based driving, Cr Conkey said it would be ideal to use it accordingly in the future.

Cr Funnell, on the other hand, remains firmly against council expanding its fleet of electric vehicles, despite supporting the move for the first electric vehicle.

He said he appreciated Cr Conkey's efforts in answering all his questions, but Cr Funnell said the council has a long way to go before making another purchase and it is not getting its money's worth.

"I am not against electric vehicles, but it shows there are problems in the system still and it highlights that as a society we need an awful lot of investment in this infrastructure," he said.

"I think given that it's early days ... I would say not to buy any more at this stage. Not because of infrastructure, but bang for your buck."

Cr Funnell said he understood the council's electric vehicle was not designed for long-distance travelling, but maintained councillors who want to declare a climate emergency should lead by example.