Charging across Europe

[EVsince2016]

Well, my trip is completed. 2665 miles in the UK, Spain, Portugal & Gibraltar at 3.8 m/kw and many chargers!

Spectacular roads, extreme heat at up to 43C and a huge adventure! I think the heat reduced the range somewhat. I found that there's a max temp as well as a low temp on the climate control, well at 40+ outside we set the climate control at max, c 28C to minimise the difference inside & out so we didn't get hit so hard.

report to follow!

 

[EVsince2016]

This years trip was via the Plymouth to Santander ferry to Spain, Portugal & Gibraltar.

We headed west via the A303 this year leaving early as it was a peak summer traffic day. Good job we did as there were 2 hour plus delays via the M5. Exeter services were full with a wait according to the app so we went to an Osprey charger at a pub just north of the services near the A30 junction. I anyway had a voucher for Osprey from the fully charged live show and that saved me quite a bit. I was hoping that the pub would be open, but it was closed opening late. After plugging in and leaving I went to review the site only to find that there were very aggressive parking restrictions preventing you from leaving site & requiring you to register at the pub. Oops and not good enough. There were no signs at the charger for this or noted on the app or Zapmap. This really isn't good enough. Anyways, 30.46 kw added for £8.26 at 50kwh and no fine received.

To get to Plymouth we went via Dartmoor, a really spooky place in the cold mist but time for lunch at a remote pub before heading to the ferry and off to Santander!

 

[EVsince2016]

The journey south from Santander is one to enjoy, once out of the city traffic and onto the A67. Ready for the climb we stopped of at a Zunder charger and added 20kw. Zunder is now available on Electroverse too now but I didn't try that as the plug & charge option is so easy, As the ferry had arrived late in the day we decided to stay in the northern mountains in a small hotel for the night. They said that they had a 7kw charger, what they meant was there was a public one 900m away! It was a PRVE twin unit. I tried all sorts to get it to work, the electromaps token, my various RFID cards but none worked. Finally I got it activated with the electromaps app. Took me 10 mins! We then went for a walk & back to the hotel. I later collected my car with a full charge ready for the next day.

The climb south on the A67 peaks at over 1000m so for a while I was getting just over 1 mile per kwh before reaching the high plains. We did 135 milers to another modern Zunder unit near Zamora, again plug & charge. These consistently charge above 85kw and this year I did get one peak at 96 kw. Really nice restaurant for brunch but in no time 33kw had been added and it was time to go. The problem with such fast charging, it's ready too quickly and you get a higher charge than you need. After here, the roads became more rural and remote but the car loved the roads, so easy to drive. As soon as we crossed the border into Portugal we headed for the first place to eat, a nice traditional restaurant. Food was as much steak as you can eat, so I had beef steak, pork chop & belly, plus heaps of chips, rice & salad. To drink a huge jug of wine and water. The bill was 9 euros each, beat that! Our final destination was Braganca, a remote city with old world charm, a castle and no tourists. Great old world restaurant too, it felt like the 1950's there, outstanding service and food.

 

[EVsince2016]

Heading south from Braganca are very remote areas, mountainous motorways so a good charge was required before leaving. A convenient Lidl charger was nearby so I charged up the night before. A simple 50kw unit activated by the Miio app or card, so simple, so easy. I added 34kw to get me up to 97% for £13 whist relaxing at a nearby cafe getting used to 80 cents for a tea / coffee and 1 euro for a toastie!

The trip south had few chargers and huge gaps, but being Portugal they all work and are simple to use.

The first was a CESPA unit 145 miles away again on Miio, very easy and simple to use with 35 kw added over a cuppa & bite to eat. Portuguese cafes do a huge range of high quality freshly cooked meals, even at a simple remote petrol station / services making UK motorway services seem dire at best. We arrived at Evora, an ancient city 156 miles later without the need to charge en-route. With such long gaps between chargers we were able to stop at some interesting places for breaks including a mountain top castle & walled village. Fascinating place with great views and of course a few cafes.

The stay didn't have anywhere to charge so we used a local GALP unit in a nearby public car park, a free car park for the city without any threatening signs as seen in Exeter.

Whilst there we also did a trip to Elvas. This city has 2600 years of history, most of it there to see and significant links to Great Britain throughout history. We have over 950 years of military & trade agreements with Portugal, the longest in the world. This is a city to visit if you have interests in military fortifications, or the long history of time. This area make the Welsh or Scottish borders castles & battles seem tame! So many ancient structures, churches that became a mosque then a church again, city walls from the Moors, Romans and later. What a place!

 

[EVsince2016]

With a 90% charge from GALP, it was time to head south through the remote Alentejo region of Portugal into Spain with temperatures rising. Such a spectacular place to traverse.

118 miles into the trip was the first rapid charger provided by Iberdrola, an Iberian electricity supplier. There were 3 units under a canopy in a side car park to a large off motorway services. On arrival the chargers were blocked by an EV6 with a crowd being shown how it works. Once ushered out of the way, it was a simple plug in using my electromaps token for 33 kw to be added. As it was lunchtime the restaurant was packed, so we instead used the shop for food & drinks.

As a bonus, look what was charging when I returned from lunch! The owner was a very happy chappy.

Heading south via Seville temperatures were rising until we hit 43C. The aircon was having to work hard.

As the journey south was very hot & remote we again topped up at another Iberdrola unit south of Seville. No pictures here as staying outside at 43C isn't my idea of fun! Only 1 of 2 units were working again activated by my electromaps token. The roar of fans on the car & charger for cooling were loud! The car never seemed 'cool' in that intense heat.

Luckily as we headed further south and up into the mountains towards the coast, temperatures dropped and the stay had a swimming pool & aircon too.

The destination had an outside EU socket requiring an adapter and a 10m lead to connect my granny charger too. Slow, but adequate given the total lack of public charging in the area.

 

[EVsince2016]

After exploring the southern Sierras, we headed south to visit Tarifa, the southern tip of Europe before staying in a hotel with free chargers. I asked if I needed to book & they laughed, "nobody uses them"! It was a general theme in Spain, no EVs, few chargers and a general anti-EV / renewable attitude. We sometimes travelled all day with no EV sighted.

Whilst there we visited Gibraltar. I couldn't find a single charger in the whole place! Just a few hotel Tesla only chargers. Spain really hates this area, a highly polluting oil refinery & docks adjacent to Gibraltar and intentional delays at the border. The roads & driving is really awful.

What surprised me was that there are ferries to Morocco every 15-30 mins, full of people & cars and goods, yet no "boat people". Plenty of legal crossing, no illegal trafficking, it was actually easier to cross the Moroccan frontier than the Gibraltar one. I was going to cross but fog cancelled my planned crossing.

Why such a difference? maybe Spain has a much better international relationship than the UK?

 

[EVsince2016]

After a week without needing public charging, we began our trip north back to Portugal.

With the charging desert, we found a WENEA charger off the motorway west of Seville, the only one in Seville that was operational & accessible. Imagine that, such a big city, one working rapid and few destination chargers! Having had so many trouble with WENEA and its app before I used the Miio app and it worked great. I had to wait a bit because 2x Fiat 500e were plugged in on a promotional trip, cameras everywhere. The petrol station / cafe owner guarded and personally managed these chargers, helping everyone and managing them. He said since they were installed business was booming!

After here it was again into remote Spain then Portugal. Portugal is so much easier with every small town having several chargers. The small remote town of Serpa has 3 rapids, we used the Lidl charger whilst getting some supplies. Their Lidls make our M&S / Waitrose look down market with the variety & choice available, fresh fish & meats, crazy to see the difference! Once topped up we popped around the corner to plug into a destination charger and have lunch.

Our overnight destination had a row of destination chargers in the village square. It was a village of 2500 souls. It had 4 banks, 2 supermarkets, a butcher, indoor fresh food market, medical centre, library, many cafes, restaurants, 2 hotels etc. My village is the same size. It has just 1 pub.

 

[EVsince2016]

Travelling to the North of Portugal was on the motorway, so no need for planning. There are signs every 10 kms listing the next 3 chargers, at 2km and at the entrance. On entry there's signs to the chargers too, which are clearly lit in green under a canopy

Despite this, I was unlucky at my first chosen charger 141 miles in, Miio has lost comms with the station both card & app. A kind Portuguese EV driver without asking tapped his card to activate my charge, I had to force cash into his hand!

I did another top up trouble free on a second charger to reach my destination which had a row of fast chargers. The owner had doubled the number of chargers, but not the power so each were now 3.6kw instead of 7.2kw. He is sorting out the power upgrade! I was fine though as I had plenty of time to charge and a week of little travel.

 

[EVsince2016]

My trip home is a well trodden path for me and the 3rd EV return.

I did my usual stop on Powerdot in Chaves on Miio. Apparently plug & charge enabled but I didn't have time to set it up. It's only 100 miles into my trip but due to the 1000m climb via many ups & downs, I need it.

The next stage into Spain goes above 1500m, so another early charge and a good cafe for morning snacks. These are old 50kw Easychargers now Zunder but when I arrived there was some action! A gang of workers were preparing a new unit to drop onto the new pad in between them and a higher powered plug & charge unit too. These older units still require the app or RFID to activate.

To avoid the Palencia charging trouble spot I tried out a new set of Zunder units next, again early but very quick, just time enough to use the facilities as Paddington would say.

After here it's the long drive across the high plains, deserted and often used to film Westerns or Mexican locations. Run down villages with mud structures abound amidst a thriving farming area.

Our next Zunder units were also the old Easycharger ones. Sadly one was broken & the other slow. I had to use the 22kw T2 until the 50kw unit became free to give me enough charge to get over the 1000m+ summit of the A67 north and to a modern Zunder plug & play unit. before going to the ferry.

Back in blighty, I was able to use the new Osprey hub at Salmons Leap. Nice little farm shop with a cafe. It claimed to be the best farm shop in the UK, it wasn't. As nice as it is, its a cafe selling a few local product.

Really nice slim units though! Only issue was I couldn't use the app as I couldn't find my charger on it anywhere so hence I used my Electroverse card instead.

Overall a great trip with minimal charging issues.

Maybe next I'll do the figures?

 

[EVsince2016]

So, got my final charging bill, yes it took a while

Total of 2666 miles at a cost of £259.61 for 712 kW.
Average of 36p/kWh, so just under 10p/mile.

3.74 m/kw added, trip meter stated 3.8 m/kW but energy used but in reality closer to 3.9 m/kW

Most expensive: -

1 - Osprey UK = 75p
2 - WENEA Spain = 65p
3 - Repsol Spain 63p

Cheapest: -
1 - hotels Spain / Portugal = FREE
2 - 7kW PRVE unit = 17p
3 - Lidl Portugal = 28p
4 - Zunder Spain - 38p (and the fastest with plug & charge too)

Best Charging experience - Zunder by far

Next trip(s) booked and new challenges - news to follow!

 

[EVsince2016]

My next trip is going to be a winter trip, yes travelling in Europe in freezing temperatures!

3 days and 1365 miles each way. It works out cheaper than flying even without the cost of car hire!

I have had to adjust my route to avoid some roads subject to poor weather and will be replacing my worn out front tyres with Michelin Cross Climate tyres before I go. My original tyres have lasted 20k at the front but the rear ones have plenty of life in them.

More news to follow!

 

[Roldorf]

Changing your tyres especially with all weather tyres should be done as a full set and not just the front tyres.

 

[Ruislip Resident]

Has anybody completely switched to Michelin Cross Climates and if so, have they affected range ie reduced it. I liked having them on my previous ( diesel ) car.

 

[Archev]

Has anybody completely switched to Michelin Cross Climates and if so, have they affected range ie reduced it. I liked having them on my previous ( diesel ) car.

I also had them on three previous Citroen diesel’s, two Berlingos and my late wife’s C3, and found them superb- slightly better mileage and vastly better handling. Thinking if I ever wear the tyres out on the MG5 I’ll have another set ( unless the Xpower four by four dream machine wins over of course

 

[EVsince2016]

Changing your tyres especially with all weather tyres should be done as a full set and not just the front tyres.

I am reaching the same conclusion!

Better sell my back tyres then!

 

[EVsince2016]

Changing your tyres especially with all weather tyres should be done as a full set and not just the front tyres.

Cleverly and the tyre garage advised that the Cross Climates are close enough not to need to replace all 4 tyres. I was advised to replace the rears earlier than usual just to be safe before any wet / winter motorway driving. OK at good tread depth, not at lower, so no waiting for 2mm

 

[Robf]

Has anybody completely switched to Michelin Cross Climates and if so, have they affected range ie reduced it. I liked having them on my previous ( diesel ) car.

I have just changed my ZS EV (all tyres) to continental all season contact 2's (michelin will be similar) and whilst not finding any noticible difference in range, the difference in driveability (from original tyres) is astonishing. I would recommend change to any ZS owners.

 

[EVsince2016]

For my winter trip across Europe I shall be trialling Zap-Map in France.

It's up against stiff opposition, so lets see how it does!

 

[EVsince2016]

I'm soon off on my next long trip, a winter trip. Anyone else planning a winter getEVway?

 

[Ruislip Resident]

Yep. Forest of Dean for Christmas (23rd to 27th incl) Only 120 miles though. And the property rental owners are letting me charge ( 'granny' as they have no 7kw point ) for £20 (total, not per day). Then going to Stockport on the 28th to 29th incl, to see my folks. That's 189 miles so I may need a short top up on route, that being weather dependent. I charge at theirs with a 'granny' and pay them for the juice, for the return trip.