Photo and story courtesy of the Northern Daily Leader.

While it will be years before they can get behind the wheel, our next generation of drivers are being encouraged to start saving for an electric car.

Yr 7 – 9 Students at Calrossy Anglican School William Cowper Campus were given the chance to sit inside the Tesla, which will set off on a journey right around Australia next month - completely powered by printed, lightweight and easy to roll solar panels.

The visit to Calrossy is part of the "Charge Around Australia" project, which UK based founder Stuart McBain said was to increase the participation of young people enrolling in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM Subjects)

"It's really about trying to encourage that energy transition," he said.

"Fossil fuels are finite by their nature. They will run out."

As part of the STEM road show, the Calrossy students participated in energy science experiments, a tour of the electric vehicle and a zoom presentation about printed solar panels.

Previously, Mr McBain has travelled around the coast of Britain, Iceland and the United Arab Emirates to counteract the fear of running out of electricity while on the road.

But his upcoming trip around Australia will be the first time he has used printed solar panels, which have been manufactured in Newcastle.

"Petrol and diesel is going up and that's not likely to stop going up as fossil fuels become harder to extract," he said.  "But no government I've heard of is going to tax the sun yet."

With a Tesla being out of the price range for most road users, Mr McBain said most manufacturers were now producing electric vehicles in a race to make them more affordable.