An Extended test

[dsr]

Drove my new ER from Norwich to Chester and back, starting with a full battery.215 miles each way,Used A roads, with only 40 miles or so of dual carriageway. Car had only 50 miles on the clock when I set out, so tried to drive conservatively at no more than 60mph. Set off at dusk each time, so headlights on all the time. My wife was in the car, we had a suitcase on the back seat and lightish stuff in the boot. Used ACC on the dual carriageway section. Played USB music all the way, both ways.
Outward trip was post Storm Ciaran. 20mph headwind, gusting higher. Raining hard much of the way and using intermittent wipers when it wasn’t. A/C on and blower at 3 or 4 for much of the journey. Rear window on and off throughout. Lots of slow traffic around and conditions basically dire. Went to Eco mode for,the last half an hour, but would have made it without this. Averaged 33mph. Arrived with availability showing at 13% battery and 33 miles.
After a LONG granny charge, the return journey was much easier. 20 mph tail wind. Blower on 1. Didn’t need A/C. Put the rear window on occasionally. Didn’t use ACC, but did ‘push it’ to 65mph on the dual carriageway bit. Less traffic. Averaged 43mph. Arrived with 24% and 57 miles showing.
I‘m happy enough with this, hoping I could drive much closer to 300 miles on a summer day. I guess that, if I had been in a LR model I would have been looking to charge 20kWh or so on the way.

 

[Rolfe]

Glad you had a good trip. I'm finding that the more often I do long trips the more confident I get - and I have the SR battery. It's not lack of confidence in the car, but lack of confidence that the charger I'm heading for will be (a) operational and (b) unoccupied.

In actual fact I have not had a bad experience at all. Just a couple of times waiting maybe ten minutes at the Ionity chargers in Stafford - they're popular, and one of the six units was out of order. But other than that I just rock up and plug in. It's all the doom and gloom in the media (and on YouTube) that fuels the nerves. The reality is actually quite non-scary.

 

[dsr]

Glad you had a good trip. I'm finding that the more often I do long trips the more confident I get - and I have the SR battery. It's not lack of confidence in the car, but lack of confidence that the charger I'm heading for will be (a) operational and (b) unoccupied.

In actual fact I have not had a bad experience at all. Just a couple of times waiting maybe ten minutes at the Ionity chargers in Stafford - they're popular, and one of the six units was out of order. But other than that I just rock up and plug in. It's all the doom and gloom in the media (and on YouTube) that fuels the nerves. The reality is actually quite non-scary.

Thank you. Your confidence booster is most welcome. Perhaps, like most users (?), I can count on my fingers the number of times I am likely to charge publicly away from home in a year. Good to know it is unlikely to be an issue.

 

[Rolfe]

I am currently stressing because I have painted myself into the corner of having to drive 186 miles (which is beyond the winter range of the SR) on 23rd December, when every EV in the land will probably be out visiting its nearest and dearest and heading for the chargers. I'll let you know how I get on!

 

[fnegroni]

I am currently stressing because I have painted myself into the corner of having to drive 186 miles (which is beyond the winter range of the SR) on 23rd December, when every EV in the land will probably be out visiting its nearest and dearest and heading for the chargers. I'll let you know how I get on!

I would suggest, add an extra 10-15 minutes to each medium journey and try charging at fast chargers like FastNed, Tesla or Instavolt to top up 7-10 kW.
This way you are giving yourself a bigger buffer of error.

 

[Rolfe]

Oh, if you want the gory details, there's a thread in General Chat.

 

[Buster72]

Yesterday, I had to drive from Bristol to Burnham on Sea and back and then a bit later from Bristol to Swindon and back.
The journey back from Swindon in the dark was pretty awful with very high winds and biblical rain. The worst I have driven in; so heavy that even with the fastest speed wipers, it was genuinely difficult to see ahead. A/C on maximum to keep the windscreen from misting.
And loads of heavy lorries driving far too fast all chucking up vast amounts of spray.

Yet despite all of that, the car always felt surefooted to drive and performed faultlessly all day getting me and my family back home safe and sound.

The same could not be said about a number of others because we counted at least 5 parked on the hard shoulder, 2 will breakdown vans in attendance.

So to say thank you, I gave it a well deserved clean this morning.

 

[Tight Git]

My SE SR is one year old today and I've racked up 20,000 miles.

Regularly do a 250 mile journey then return the next day and it doesn't bother me at all now. Zap Map have done a survey of rapid charging networks and it does seem to match the thoughts I have on the ones I have used - avoid Geniepoint and BP and try and choose sites with a good number of chargers so you don't have to queue if possible. I've always found Osprey and Ionity reliable and have used a couple of Chargepoints recently without any issues.

You will enjoy your car!

 

[dsr]

My SE SR is one year old today and I've racked up 20,000 miles.

Regularly do a 250 mile journey then return the next day and it doesn't bother me at all now. Zap Map have done a survey of rapid charging networks and it does seem to match the thoughts I have on the ones I have used - avoid Geniepoint and BP and try and choose sites with a good number of chargers so you don't have to queue if possible. I've always found Osprey and Ionity reliable and have used a couple of Chargepoints recently without any issues.

You will enjoy your car!

Doubly thank you