Sylvia Wilson and her now late husband Rod wanted to prove a point when they decided to live off the grid and convert their property to solar power.

Within a few years, Ms Wilson had undertaken a 20,000-kilometre journey around Australia in her electric car with charging costs of $150.

The former farmer said her passion for looking after the environment and Rod's interest in technology led them to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle at their property near Calliope in central Queensland.

They started by installing 32 solar panels, but after adding air conditioning and an electric car into the mix, they ended up needing 12 more.

"We've got 44 altogether now — except if there's a long wet week, I'm fine," Ms Wilson said.

Sylvia Wilson says she lives very comfortably off the grid. ( ABC Capricornia: Erin Semmler )

Before Mr Wilson's death in 2017, curiosity also drove the couple to buy an electric car online.

"One night at nine o'clock I said [to my husband] 'this company is interesting, these cars are looking pretty good'," she said.

"He came and sat beside me and we bought it within an hour through the internet.

"And of course we'd never sat in one and never drove one, and 10 weeks later it turned up on the back of the truck.

"We were both very excited but a bit apprehensive because I'd never driven an electric car."

Sylvia Wilson drove her electric car around Australia for $150.90. ( ABC Capricornia: Erin Semmler )

In 2018, Ms Wilson embarked on a 20,396-kilometre road trip around Australia — a journey she had wanted to do since buying the car.

"It was 110 days and most of the places we stayed were very happy for us to charge the car there."

In total, she spent $150.90 on electricity for the car during her three-and-a-half-month trip.

The costs

Ms Wilson said the expense of installing solar panels and buying an electric car had been worth the benefits and lack of maintenance costs.

"The setup cost is there; it's a bit like insurance, you invest in the future with insurance and it's the same with solar and with an electric car.

"Once you get over the hassle of thinking about the money you've got to spend to do it, it's very easy, it's very cost effective.

"[The solar panels] cost me a lot to set up but it costs me nothing to run."

She said the total cost of owning an electric car had decreased over time.

"I haven't spent much money, it hardly needs a service, it's magic.

"There's so many fewer moving parts in an electric car than there are in an internal combustion engine.

"Your cost of running the car is significantly lower, and of course when you've got solar, it reduces your power bill."

Switching off the grid was like "turning off an appliance" for Sylvia Wilson. ( ABC Capricornia: Erin Semmler )

Switching off the grid

The Wilsons liked the idea of pushing conventional boundaries.

"We were both trying to prove a point — we believed in it, but could we do it?" Ms Wilson said.

"And that's what we proved, that we can and very happily live [off the grid]."

Her solar setup requires the use of a battery bank and inverters.

"It's an old-fashioned setup now because we put it in in 2015, so they're lead-acid batteries but hardly any maintenance has been required," she said.

"It's been a good investment and it's been a good experiment."

And weather had rarely impacted her electricity system, Ms Wilson said.

"There's been a couple of cyclonic influences that have made it overcast for five or six days, I'm lucky here that we've got other power on the property," she said.

"I can plug in somewhere else so it doesn't bother me."

Ms Wilson says she hasn't looked back since buying her electric car online. ( ABC Capricornia: Erin Semmler )

How practical is an electric car?

Since buying the car in 2016, Ms Wilson said infrastructure had improved dramatically.

"Shopping centres right up and down the coast now have two Tesla destination chargers," she said.

"Because I have solar I generally charge the car during the day — if I charge it at night, I just have to watch that I don't deplete the [house] batteries too much.

"Because of my lifestyle, I'm not going to work every day. A lot of people charge at work."

Ms Wilson said she and her husband were lucky to afford the car but she understood that price was a big factor for most people.

"Even just in three years since we've had the car, the price of solar and these cars are starting to come down.

"It won't be long before there's a crossover point where the electric cars are not more expensive than a comparable internal combustion engine car — I would say within the next three to five years.

"It's becoming more doable and not just wantable."