Motoring journalist Matt Brogan planned to tour the state in a Californian-made Tesla Model S, but was caught short in Hobart with no suitable charging station.

"We actually got all the way down here [to Hobart] from Devonport yesterday on a single charge, which is something that was just unheard of even three or four years ago," Mr Brogan said.

"We've got down here and we can't charge the car up we've had to find other ways to get it back to the boat."

Mr Brogan picked Tasmania to test out the $108,000 car using 100 per cent renewable hydro-electricity.

"We've taken this on as a bit of an experiment," he said.

"Not everyone's driving an electric car but as they do start to become more popular and cheaper, which is something that will happen over the next 18 months to two years, we're going to start finding ourselves a little bit short on charging stations."

Opposition finance spokesman Scott Bacon wants Tasmania to get on the front foot of the technology.

"Labor's budget reply included a $10 million commitment to invest in electric vehicle technology, including utilising specialist manufacturing expertise and facilities in North-West Tasmania to retrofit public buses to run on electricity," Mr Bacon said.

Mr Bacon said Mr Brogan's project was a great advertisement for the state, despite a truck being required to get the vehicle back to Devonport.

"Labor's policy would not only take an important step towards securing Tasmania's energy future but also create jobs in advanced manufacturing," he said.

"We have to start thinking about these issues now."

A Tesla charger can re-charge a vehicle in 20 minutes, but without it, it can take an hour to get enough charge to last 15 kilometres.

Mr Brogan said it could cost as low as $8 to charge the vehicle to drive 400 kilometres.