Charging across Europe

sparrow said:
Off to L’lsle-sur-la-sorgue but taking a slow drive Reims/Dijon then a week south then back to Annecy/Reims and home wife fretting about charging but it looks like France has it covere.
Click to expand...
You'll be fine. France is better than the UK. There's been a big expansion in rapid charging, particularly at motorway services and at supermarkets.
 
Derek25 said:
You'll be fine. France is better than the UK. There's been a big expansion in rapid charging, particularly at motorway services and at supermarkets.
Click to expand...
Totally agree. I go to Dieppe, Normandy as my mum and sis live there. Its a small town but has loads of chargers specially in the supermarkets like Lidl.
 
I have to admit I'm nervous. I happily drove my ICE cars across northern Europe, because there's not a lot to sticking a petrol nozzle in a hole, and waving a credit card at the person behind the till. But chargers are tricksy beasts sometimes. What language shows up on the screen? What happens if you don't have the right card or app?
 
sparrow said:
Hi I am off to south France end of July I am going to use my octopus card and bonnet app do you think this will do? do I need any more cards?
Click to expand...
I would only consider Chargemap as an extra but Electroverse should cover it.

chargemap.com

Charging station map for electric cars | Chargemap

Find the best charging stations for your electric car wherever you are. Simplify your search with the filters: free stations, highest scores, connectors, power ratings etc.
chargemap.com chargemap.com

In France I only used Electroverse until met an old charger ex-Corri Door. In the end only my Electromaps token (good for Spain) would actually activate it.
 
Rolfe said:
I have to admit I'm nervous. I happily drove my ICE cars across northern Europe, because there's not a lot to sticking a petrol nozzle in a hole, and waving a credit card at the person behind the till. But chargers are tricksy beasts sometimes. What language shows up on the screen? What happens if you don't have the right card or app?
Click to expand...
All have an English option or at least step by step graphics to follow.

Only issue I usually get is doing things in the correct order or missing a step.

Close doors & power off
Open charger port ready
Follow instructions on charger
If you don't hear the port lock when it starts activation, lock the doors
watch, listen & wait for the charging to start and stabilise before you depart.


I find many quirks especially on older chargers. Examples: -

You have to lock car at specific point or charging fails
There's a step missed on the display, one I have top press a start button once everything is done to begin charge (not mentioned)
Some screens have faded so you need to guess what to do!
 
Rolfe said:
I have to admit I'm nervous. I happily drove my ICE cars across northern Europe, because there's not a lot to sticking a petrol nozzle in a hole, and waving a credit card at the person behind the till. But chargers are tricksy beasts sometimes. What language shows up on the screen? What happens if you don't have the right card or app?
Click to expand...
I don't speak much French. I can order a beer at least lol

As has been mentioned they normally have an English option. That said the instruction on the charger seem much clearer over there. Even though they are in French lol. They always have clear pictures showing you what to do. But generally they are all the same. Connect car, pay, charging starts.

I have been know to use google translate on my phone. Just point your camera at the instruction and then you have it all in English :)
 

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Thank you all for your input hopefully we will have a stress free break, I have always found people very helpful driving and when I rode around on my motorcycl.
 
slmorgan42 said:
I found some old photos I took. Lidl charger
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That's pretty clear. I can more or less read that.

I spoke to a guy with DK plates up who was using our village charge-point, and he said he drove quite regularly between Denmark and central Scotland and never had any trouble. Mind you, I don't know whether that car was a Tesla, I didn't pay attention.
 
Zunder in Spain - English

1689246191267.png


Powerdot Portugal

1689246279783.png


Easychargers in pics - lights also flash to tell you what to push

1689246334633.png


Iberdrola in Spanish & English

1689246423793.png


EDP with pics

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Iberdrola in English again

1689246592703.png
 
If you drive through Germany. don't bank on using Tesla chargers, there are only a handful that accept non-Tesla vehicles. Get a Shell Recharge card if you don`t already have one. You can charge with it at almost all charge point operators throughout Europe. They claim over 500,000 charging points.
See here for Shell Recharge coverage in Europe:-

Shell Recharge Locator: Find Rapid and Ultra-Rapid EV Chargers Near Me | Earn rewards when you refuel or recharge your vehicle | Shell UK

Don’t wait to charge. Use our live map to see available Shell Recharge points. Find rapid & ultra-rapid EV chargers at stations near you and power up fast!
shellrecharge.com shellrecharge.com
 
Roldorf said:
If you drive through Germany. don't bank on using Tesla chargers, there are only a handful that accept non-Tesla vehicles. Get a Shell Recharge card if you don`t already have one. You can charge with it at almost all charge point operators throughout Europe. They claim over 500,000 charging points.
See here for Shell Recharge coverage in Europe:-

Shell Recharge Locator: Find Rapid and Ultra-Rapid EV Chargers Near Me | Earn rewards when you refuel or recharge your vehicle | Shell UK

Don’t wait to charge. Use our live map to see available Shell Recharge points. Find rapid & ultra-rapid EV chargers at stations near you and power up fast!
shellrecharge.com shellrecharge.com
Click to expand...
Yes the old New Motion network is good in that area
 
Roldorf said:
If you drive through Germany. don't bank on using Tesla chargers, there are only a handful that accept non-Tesla vehicles. Get a Shell Recharge card if you don`t already have one. You can charge with it at almost all charge point operators throughout Europe. They claim over 500,000 charging points.
See here for Shell Recharge coverage in Europe:-

Shell Recharge Locator: Find Rapid and Ultra-Rapid EV Chargers Near Me | Earn rewards when you refuel or recharge your vehicle | Shell UK

Don’t wait to charge. Use our live map to see available Shell Recharge points. Find rapid & ultra-rapid EV chargers at stations near you and power up fast!
shellrecharge.com shellrecharge.com
Click to expand...

I've looked at a couple of cross-Europe routes in ABRP, just to get an idea of practicalities, and it seems quite keen on recommending Tesla chargers in Germany. It knows I have an MG4, so presumably it's picking the ones that will take the hoi polloi?
 
Rolfe said:
I've looked at a couple of cross-Europe routes in ABRP, just to get an idea of practicalities, and it seems quite keen on recommending Tesla chargers in Germany. It knows I have an MG4, so presumably it's picking the ones that will take the hoi polloi?
Click to expand...
Check the Tesla map and apply 'superchargers open to all'. You'll see it's a sea of red on all routes in Germany. It's nothing like the patchy UK openings.
 

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