Charging across Europe

[EVsince2016]

Aye but add on 400from me to the tunnel. But I’m still considering the whole trip.

Yes, I guess 400 miles in the UK is like 600+ in France / Spain etc! I can get to central France or into Germany quicker than the central Scotland.

 

[Archev]

Yes, I guess 400 miles in the UK is like 600+ in France / Spain etc! I can get to central France or into Germany quicker than the central Scotland.

Yeah it smacks of backtracking a wee bit.
There used to be a ferry to the continent from Rosyth on the opposite bank of the river Forth from me. There’s still boats from Newcastle and Hull I believe. The whole thing is just a pipe dream and was only contemplated a couple of days ago. So I’m just past the “yeah I could just do it” stage and actually contemplating the “how could that be accomplished” phase.
Don’t concern yourselves dear friends, they’re coming to take me out for a little walk later

 

[Gomev]

Yeah it smacks of backtracking a wee bit.
There used to be a ferry to the continent from Rosyth on the opposite bank of the river Forth from me. There’s still boats from Newcastle and Hull I believe. The whole thing is just a pipe dream and was only contemplated a couple of days ago. So I’m just past the “yeah I could just do it” stage and actually contemplating the “how could that be accomplished” phase.
Don’t concern yourselves dear friends, they’re coming to take me out for a little walk later

Yes ferries still go Newcastle to Amsterdam or Hull to Zeebrugge or Rotterdam and then you can go on from there. Much easier than driving all that way south just to drive all the way north again.

 

[rjhfandclf]

Well; just completed the downward trip on our regular biannual drive down to SW France, with some ever-improving stats, I think. Nowhere near as exciting as EVsince2016, but I am finding the three-days continuous driving tiring nowadays, so aim to fine-tune everything to max efficiency and ease. As usual, the door-to-door driving is around 750 miles – this time 745 m. We aim for a ca 11:00 Shuttle and arrive two days later mid-pm, hopefully to warm dry weather. This Autumn, it was tipping it down in the Pas-de-Calais (it always seems to for us!) and only around 20C most of the way down – so not the best for EVs.

We have our ‘comfort’ and eating breaks pretty well mapped-out now, so can often head for extra intermittent breaks at the chargers I prefer for price and speed rather than necessity – so some are not always immediately adjacent to our route, albeit by no more than a mile or two. This means that even our favourite smallest IECharge sites are seldom occupied at all. I have so far never, ever, waited for a charger in my life!

We only need four stops during the whole journey, but this time, my one added aim was to delete the ‘T’-name from my charging list if possible. Their prices have risen a bit this year and some of the more expensive slots have changed to my disadvantage (usually the p.m. times). I previously used four T-S/Cs – north of Le Mans and south of Poitiers going down, then Poitiers again plus Châtellerault and a Calais Shuttle top-up going home. This time, on Electroverse (the only non-operator app I ever use), I managed to find an Engie Vianeo in a B&B Group hotel carpark (just 100yds from T-S/C!) for 35p/kWh against T’s 38p … success #1!

I was then forced to ditch T at Poitiers (where they now boast an incredible 40 v4 chargers – although I’ve never seen more than 3 or 4 cars there!) due to the access road being dug-up (they must have been as delighted as I was!) But fast chargers nearby were getting scarcer along the N10, till I discovered a brand-new block of Alterna Énergie chargers (Electroverse again) on the wonderfully impressive Centre Routier at Payré (where I used to buy very cheap diesel in olden days!) and you have to negotiate dozens upon dozens of neatly parked HGVs to get around. Unfortunately, the experience of Alterna was not good, as out of their three pairs of 360kWh chargers neither I nor a French Peugeot could get more than one pair to ‘fire-up’ the charge – and so wasted ½-an-hour more. As he found the ‘goer’ first, it was me who had to park badly to reach the same-side flap! Luckily no-one else turned up. The price was just 36p against T’s p.m. price of 44p … so success #2!

With my other two stops being IECharge at 21p/kWh (all year), my average price paid for the 237kW used for whole trip was just 28p/kWh – including the 42kW home refill to 100% courtesy of a standard EDF ‘grannie’ at 17.5p/kWh. NB the £/euro exchange rate has also been poor at this time.

The SOC didn’t drop below 15%, from which I find that the MG4 ER’s 77kW battery usually starts charging at around 135/140kWh and doesn’t slow to much below 40kWh till around 85-90% - which I aim for in around a 45 minutes’ break. This gave me a longest (motorway) leg of 184 miles @ avge 70 mph and 3.17 m/kWh, and a best cross-country consumption of 4.2 m/kWh. A précis of the trip ...

Hope not too boring (E&OE)!

 

[EVsince2016]

Well; just completed the downward trip on our regular biannual drive down to SW France, with some ever-improving stats, I think. Nowhere near as exciting as EVsince2016, but I am finding the three-days continuous driving tiring nowadays, so aim to fine-tune everything to max efficiency and ease. As usual, the door-to-door driving is around 750 miles – this time 745 m. We aim for a ca 11:00 Shuttle and arrive two days later mid-pm, hopefully to warm dry weather. This Autumn, it was tipping it down in the Pas-de-Calais (it always seems to for us!) and only around 20C most of the way down – so not the best for EVs.

We have our ‘comfort’ and eating breaks pretty well mapped-out now, so can often head for extra intermittent breaks at the chargers I prefer for price and speed rather than necessity – so some are not always immediately adjacent to our route, albeit by no more than a mile or two. This means that even our favourite smallest IECharge sites are seldom occupied at all. I have so far never, ever, waited for a charger in my life!

We only need four stops during the whole journey, but this time, my one added aim was to delete the ‘T’-name from my charging list if possible. Their prices have risen a bit this year and some of the more expensive slots have changed to my disadvantage (usually the p.m. times). I previously used four T-S/Cs – north of Le Mans and south of Poitiers going down, then Poitiers again plus Châtellerault and a Calais Shuttle top-up going home. This time, on Electroverse (the only non-operator app I ever use), I managed to find an Engie Vianeo in a B&B Group hotel carpark (just 100yds from T-S/C!) for 35p/kWh against T’s 38p … success #1!

I was then forced to ditch T at Poitiers (where they now boast an incredible 40 v4 chargers – although I’ve never seen more than 3 or 4 cars there!) due to the access road being dug-up (they must have been as delighted as I was!) But fast chargers nearby were getting scarcer along the N10, till I discovered a brand-new block of Alterna Énergie chargers (Electroverse again) on the wonderfully impressive Centre Routier at Payré (where I used to buy very cheap diesel in olden days!) and you have to negotiate dozens upon dozens of neatly parked HGVs to get around. Unfortunately, the experience of Alterna was not good, as out of their three pairs of 360kWh chargers neither I nor a French Peugeot could get more than one pair to ‘fire-up’ the charge – and so wasted ½-an-hour more. As he found the ‘goer’ first, it was me who had to park badly to reach the same-side flap! Luckily no-one else turned up. The price was just 36p against T’s p.m. price of 44p … so success #2!

View attachment 39976

With my other two stops being IECharge at 21p/kWh (all year), my average price paid for the 237kW used for whole trip was just 28p/kWh – including the 42kW home refill to 100% courtesy of a standard EDF ‘grannie’ at 17.5p/kWh. NB the £/euro exchange rate has also been poor at this time.

The SOC didn’t drop below 15%, from which I find that the MG4 ER’s 77kW battery usually starts charging at around 135/140kWh and doesn’t slow to much below 40kWh till around 85-90% - which I aim for in around a 45 minutes’ break. This gave me a longest (motorway) leg of 184 miles @ avge 70 mph and 3.17 m/kWh, and a best cross-country consumption of 4.2 m/kWh. A précis of the trip ...

View attachment 39977

Hope not too boring (E&OE)!

That is a masterpiece of planning & driving! Wow!!

Your route is similar to mine, but you were a bit more adventurous in your stops!

Brilliant.

 

[rjhfandclf]

That is a masterpiece of planning & driving! Wow!!

Your route is similar to mine, but you were a bit more adventurous in your stops!

Brilliant.

Thanks ... but scarcely a masterpiece of implementation; nearly went pear-shaped - twice! And in a few weeks' time, I need to try to find alternatives to avoid the T-S/Cs' p.m. premium rates going home. Such is life!

PS the eagle-eyed may have noticed the error in the Engie and Alterna rates on the grid. Mea culpa - now edited post-Electroverse invoice.

 

[EVsince2016]

Thanks ... but scarcely a masterpiece of implementation; nearly went pear-shaped - twice! And in a few weeks' time, I need to try to find alternatives to avoid the T-S/Cs' p.m. premium rates going home. Such is life!

PS the eagle-eyed may have noticed the error in the Engie and Alterna rates on the grid. Mea culpa - now edited post-Electroverse invoice.

I equally have had to change rates post invoice as what I ended up being charged differed from what I was given at the time of charging, all downward thankfully.

Try out a Zunder on your return, they are my personal favourites! You need their app ideally though.

 

[rjhfandclf]

Try out a Zunder on your return, they are my personal favourites! You need their app ideally though.

I do look at Zunder, after your previous recommendations, but there aren't any in quite the right place for me yet. I did stumble on one once at an aire south of Le Mans, but it was a comfort break following a T-fill at Le Mans, so not needed.

 

[EVsince2016]

My 2026 trips are now mostly booked.

New areas of France & neighbours.

 

[rjhfandclf]

My 2026 trips are now mostly booked.

New areas of France & neighbours.

Crikey! Not sure I can manage to organise myself quite that far ahead these days! Still; sounds really nice, and so easy off the autoroutes these days ... enjoy. [From a lovely warm and sunny SW France .... at least for another two weeks, then back to reality, sadly!]

 

[EVsince2016]

Crikey! Not sure I can manage to organise myself quite that far ahead these days! Still; sounds really nice, and so easy off the autoroutes these days ... enjoy. [From a lovely warm and sunny SW France .... at least for another two weeks, then back to reality, sadly!]

I book 11 months in advance, except Norway for 2018, I needed 18 month advance to secure what I wanted. I had a booking timetable for Norway!!

 

[rjhfandclf]

Just a brief update – of little great value these days, regrettably, as we are now pretty well fine-tuned for our biannual trips to SW France, over broadly the same route. This time though, the focus was on speed, convenience and efficiency, coupled with price – plus a personal desire to avoid Tesla S/Cs wherever possible. But it also perhaps endorses the point that one can be consistent in managing usage and costs with an EV, whatever the journey – but particularly on the Continent.

So, on our return route, we covered almost exactly the same 736 miles of driving door to door, and similarly at an overall price of £68.34 – i.e. the same rough average of 28p/kWh and 9p/mile. The actual price increase home of around £3 was largely due to adverse exchange rate declines over the six weeks out and back, as we actually used 10 kWh more coming home (quite a lot colder than early September!). But there were in fact both actual further small savings and one small increase made in charging costs per kWh:

IECharge was still only 21p (as all year)

Engie at Le Mans had lost its special offer so was up to 37p (from 35p)

Found a new Izivia at McDonalds in Châtellerault at 26p (to replace Tesla @ 47p (p.m. rate)) ... double success!

Thus, the only Tesla S/C used on the whole trip (both ways) was the 20% back-up splash-n-dash at the Coquelles Calais Shuttle on the way home – at 41p … so the most expensive of all!

The downside is, regrettably, that I’m finding the journey – albeit spread over three days and two enjoyable hotel stops – rather harder to manage these days. The simple solution is not to grow old! Hey-ho.

 

[EVsince2016]

Just a brief update – of little great value these days, regrettably, as we are now pretty well fine-tuned for our biannual trips to SW France, over broadly the same route. This time though, the focus was on speed, convenience and efficiency, coupled with price – plus a personal desire to avoid Tesla S/Cs wherever possible. But it also perhaps endorses the point that one can be consistent in managing usage and costs with an EV, whatever the journey – but particularly on the Continent.

So, on our return route, we covered almost exactly the same 736 miles of driving door to door, and similarly at an overall price of £68.34 – i.e. the same rough average of 28p/kWh and 9p/mile. The actual price increase home of around £3 was largely due to adverse exchange rate declines over the six weeks out and back, as we actually used 10 kWh more coming home (quite a lot colder than early September!). But there were in fact both actual further small savings and one small increase made in charging costs per kWh:

IECharge was still only 21p (as all year)

Engie at Le Mans had lost its special offer so was up to 37p (from 35p)

Found a new Izivia at McDonalds in Châtellerault at 26p (to replace Tesla @ 47p (p.m. rate)) ... double success!

Thus, the only Tesla S/C used on the whole trip (both ways) was the 20% back-up splash-n-dash at the Coquelles Calais Shuttle on the way home – at 41p … so the most expensive of all!

The downside is, regrettably, that I’m finding the journey – albeit spread over three days and two enjoyable hotel stops – rather harder to manage these days. The simple solution is not to grow old! Hey-ho.

Hi, yes its of great value. You are showing change over time, new charging ideas and how to optimise your trip. Most people half your age are scared to do that trip in a legacy car let alone an EV.

 

[rjhfandclf]

Hi, yes its of great value. You are showing change over time, new charging ideas and how to optimise your trip. Most people half your age are scared to do that trip in a legacy car let alone an EV.

Interesting that you say that, so I will add one further ‘tuppence-worth’ of hopefully objective comment:

I’m still a relative newbie regarding EV driving per se, only just coming up to the car’s second service. I always felt that it would be difficult to match my old Mercedes 220 CDI Sport auto estate for practical and effortless comfort on longish Continental journeys – and, admittedly, I only ever needed one fuel top-up in 750 miles en-route … but you still need other stops too, regardless!

I bought the MG4 ER as a relatively inexpensive ‘experiment’ broadly to gain max range for price-tag, to see how I got on and, apart from the usual widely-heralded annoyances and ‘pre-flight re-settings’ needed for the brand and model, I find myself remarkably content with the overall results. Broadly, the old Merc would still win out on general comfort, visibility, and of course space, but loses out on ease of driving and performance, and costs (excluding depreciation). A couple of simple eye-openers to me though for my own particular main usage have been:

The idea of one-pedal driving took me months even to consider, but once tried and tested, and despite some niggles, I am seldom without it. I am also very impressed with the Continental lead over the UK as far as charging availability and costs are concerned. There really is work to be done over here, but hopefully things are moving in the right direction.

So, as things stand, I will probably keep the car for its full four-year contract and, at present, I am pretty certain that I would never need to buy another ICE. Not sure about France in 2026 ... need to wait and see, perhaps.

 

[EVsince2016]

I was thinking, how far could I reasonably and safely drive my MG5.

North is easy, Nordkapp in Norway. Plenty of chargers, super easy.

What about West? Well, it's Latrabjarg in Iceland, accessible by ferry from Denmark. OK if you are up for 3 nights on a ferry in the North Atlantic

Then south is Guerguerat in Western Sahara now formally part of Morocco. Not sure about chargers down there or anything, maybe a bit of a push still to go much beyond the Morocco border. Morocco is reasonably safe and has enough chargers to make the trip possible.

And finally east. Turkey is easy with plenty of charging infrastructure; Georgia is doable and fairly safe. Potentially you could go further but I think charging runs out,

Who would try one or more of these trips?

 

[Gomev]

I was thinking, how far could I reasonably and safely drive my MG5.



Then south is Guerguerat in Western Sahara now formally part of Morocco. Not sure about chargers down there or anything, maybe a bit of a push still to go much beyond the Morocco border. Morocco is reasonably safe and has enough chargers to make the trip possible.

View attachment 41956

And finally east. Turkey is easy with plenty of charging infrastructure; Georgia is doable and fairly safe. Potentially you could go further but I think charging runs out,

Who would try one or more of these trips?

I was in Agadir, Morocco in October and saw 2 chargers outside a hotel. They looked to be guarded by staff as both times I passed there was a staff member hovering around them, so I suspect no ICEing there!
Looking on Google maps there are some around but not many and not sure I'd fancy going much further south than Casablanca just over 200 miles south of Tangiers.
Main roads we went on were good but quite barren, it's a bit deserty out there to say the least.

 

[EVsince2016]

This is the charging map for Morocco. It does show where you could realistically get.

They're also on Electromaps but not Electroverse.

Furthest south charger is almost within reach of Western Sahara!

 

[siteguru]

I was in Agadir,

??