Two new Instavolt rapids being installed on the A55 Expressway into Wales.

Lovemyev said:
I know the location of that charger !.
Easy off and back on the A55 expressway.
Bottom corner of the Marstons car park, behind the stone wall !.
Too close to home for use by ourselves.
I believe there is a rapid in the Aldi car park in LLandudno if that is more convenient ?.
It has a wait time restriction on it though I think ?.
Not used it, but somebody told me last week that some people have been fined for over staying their welcome.
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The charger at Lidl is at Llandudno junction and only one, I don't fancy my chances on that :D
 
Ventured onto Anglesey on our mini trip yesterday. Spotted in zapmap that the Ecotricity at Euro garages Bangor was on free dispense so called in on our way back to Llandudno.
Never used an old Ecotricity before and when we arrived the screen was flickering. Pressed some buttons and eventually it said plug in, which I did. It commenced usual communicating..... Etc. Then started charging. Nice little bonus.
Condition of plug was terrible, dirty, bits broken off and was surprised it actually worked.
 
Gomev said:
Ventured onto Anglesey on our mini trip yesterday. Spotted in zapmap that the Ecotricity at Euro garages Bangor was on free dispense so called in on our way back to Llandudno.
Never used an old Ecotricity before and when we arrived the screen was flickering. Pressed some buttons and eventually it said plug in, which I did. It commenced usual communicating..... Etc. Then started charging. Nice little bonus.
Condition of plug was terrible, dirty, bits broken off and was surprised it actually worked.
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You can’t beat a bit of “Free Vend”.
I think a lot of the Electric Highway chargers, have been charger TOO long now and need replacing !.
 
Gomev said:
The charger at Lidl is at Llandudno junction and only one, I don't fancy my chances on that :D
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Used it earlier today - worked on 2nd attempt and averaged 48 kWh from around 60% to 82%. An Ioniq hybrid was on AC and a similar Ioniq BEV model popped on CCS after me

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We drove past it twice yesterday on our way to Conwy and back. I was at 80% so not worth trying at the time.
Back home to Leeds today starting SOC 75% should be plenty for the 125 miles but them darned pennines take a chunk out.
 
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Gomev said:
We drove past it twice yesterday on our way to Conwy and back. I was at 80% so not worth trying at the time.
Back home to Leeds today starting SOC 75% should be plenty for the 125 miles but them darned pennines take a chunk out.
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The Lidl PodPoint can get busy so I’m grabbing free AC at Tesco when shopping - when heading back north will likely use the Tesla at Flint Mountain - just for novelty - to get enough to reach the new Gridserve hub on M6.

Wish there were a few 7kW units in the various car parks though - even some 3.6kW units for the 8 hour overnight charge would be fine.

It’s hard to go past a PodPoint even for just 10 to 15% top up at just 28p/kWh though.
 
If you are not bothered about paying for the novelty at Flint, I can highly recommend the Osprey at the Talardy hotel 100yds off the A55 at the junction with A525.
Only 125 miles to the Gridserve hub from there.
I used the left unit no bother at all 49p contactless or use their app.
 
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Gomev said:
If you are not bothered about paying for the novelty at Flint, I can highly recommend the Osprey at the Talardy hotel 100yds off the A55 at the junction with A525.
Only 125 miles to the Gridserve hub from there.
I used the left unit no bother at all 49p contactless or use their app.
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Oddly - I was just thinking about Osprey due to their new Octopus Juice discount 👍
 
Gomev said:
If you are not bothered about paying for the novelty at Flint, I can highly recommend the Osprey at the Talardy hotel 100yds off the A55 at the junction with A525.
Only 125 miles to the Gridserve hub from there.
I used the left unit no bother at all 49p contactless or use their app.
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Hi these specific Talardy chargers have been known to BRICK mk2 ZS ev’s.was yours a mk1 ??
 
biffo said:
Oddly - I was just thinking about Osprey due to their new Octopus Juice discount 👍
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Indeed, are you travelling at night though? The 7-11 discount is only in the evening ? :(
 
Gomev said:
Indeed, are you travelling at night though? The 7-11 discount is only in the evening ? :(
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10am checkout so likely top up to 80%+ at Lidl PodPoint as the cheapest option - but if busy I might justify a drive along A55 the night before leaving - to try this or the Ecotricity unit.

I’m about 130 miles to burton-in-Kendal services, at motorway speed & fully loaded with a roof box and only using the mid-60% that’s about achievable, but given the number of chargers there and near-guaranteed charge, dropping to 10% on arrival shouldn’t be a problem.

Otherwise, I’ll use WattsUp! en route and stop at Tesla as a back up plan. We’re still a few years from being able to just drive a long journey with no planning 🤔
 
biffo said:
10am checkout so likely top up to 80%+ at Lidl PodPoint as the cheapest option - but if busy I might justify a drive along A55 the night before leaving - to try this or the Ecotricity unit.

I’m about 130 miles to burton-in-Kendal services, at motorway speed & fully loaded with a roof box and only using the mid-60% that’s about achievable, but given the number of chargers there and near-guaranteed charge, dropping to 10% on arrival shouldn’t be a problem.

Otherwise, I’ll use WattsUp! en route and stop at Tesla as a back up plan. We’re still a few years from being able to just drive a long journey with no planning 🤔
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I would have thought leaving the Lidl at 80 plus percent should get you to the Gridserve.
 
Gomev said:
I would have thought leaving the Lidl at 80 plus percent should get you to the Gridserve.
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At 130 miles, using middle 60% of 57kWh gives about 34kWh to use - this needs 3.8 miles per kWh. Not sure I’ll achieve that loaded with roofbox. If I go to 10% on arrival, gives 40kWh usable so only need 3.25 kWh which is achievable.

So, yeah - so long as I can get to around 83% charge and arrive sub 20% - should be good 👍
 
biffo said:
At 130 miles, using middle 60% of 57kWh gives about 34kWh to use - this needs 3.8 miles per kWh. Not sure I’ll achieve that loaded with roofbox. If I go to 10% on arrival, gives 40kWh usable so only need 3.25 kWh which is achievable.

So, yeah - so long as I can get to around 83% charge and arrive sub 20% - should be good 👍
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And as you said near guaranteed charge at Gridserve, probably 100% guaranteed if prepared to wait a while if necessary.
We left Llandudno with 77% and drove steady 60/65 crossed the Pennines arriving home after 122 miles with 24% left. No roofbox though and achieved 4.3 m/kWh. Temp was 14 when we set off 21 at the end.
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Gomev said:
And as you said near guaranteed charge at Gridserve, probably 100% guaranteed if prepared to wait a while if necessary.
We left Llandudno with 77% and drove steady 60/65 crossed the Pennines arriving home after 122 miles with 24% left. No roofbox though and achieved 4.3 m/kWh. Temp was 14 when we set off 21 at the end.
View attachment 9635
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Left Conwy at 90% and arrived at Burton-in-Kendal at 34% (after a detour through Preston) and all chargers full (including an MG5 on a 350kW unit). I circled around and both the 50kW units were free this time, so popped on for 50 minutes until 90% and got back to Glasgow with 6% left (ABRP still not quite showing same SOC as car does). Could have charged to 80%, but very quiet and would have meant a 2nd stop 🤷‍♂️

A couple of traffic jams on A55 there and M6/M74 on way back and traffic jam assist proves it’s worth - best feature on the car

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Gomev said:
If you are not bothered about paying for the novelty at Flint, I can highly recommend the Osprey at the Talardy hotel 100yds off the A55 at the junction with A525.
Only 125 miles to the Gridserve hub from there.
I used the left unit no bother at all 49p contactless or use their app.
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This is one of the chargers still on the bonnet app,do the sums before signing up as it used to be a no brainer, recent price increases and reduction in the number of affiliated charge points has made it less of a bargain (use code R9DBK if you do decide it's worth it and we both get a discount) I used the app a lot (over 200kwh a month) until recently but it's not such amazing value now. :-(
 
biffo said:
Left Conwy at 90% and arrived at Burton-in-Kendal at 34% (after a detour through Preston) and all chargers full (including an MG5 on a 350kW unit). I circled around and both the 50kW units were free this time, so popped on for 50 minutes until 90% and got back to Glasgow with 6% left (ABRP still not quite showing same SOC as car does). Could have charged to 80%, but very quiet and would have meant a 2nd stop 🤷‍♂️

A couple of traffic jams on A55 there and M6/M74 on way back and traffic jam assist proves it’s worth - best feature on the car

View attachment 9746

View attachment 9745
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The leg from Conwy looks like it was went very well only 56% used for 128ish miles with your load is superb, and a bit of a tight finish to get home. What speeds did you travel at ?
We used 53% for 122 miles with only 2 up and no roofbox, so it look's like crossing the Pennines is the equivalent of driving with a roofbox on. :) (I know driving styles etc.....)
 
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