Charging points on journey from Oxfordshire to North Essex Coast and back in MG5

I am planning my first over 250 mile journey in my MG5 and am looking for reliable charging locations en route. Pre EV I would have gone M40, M25,A127, but realise we may have to vary the route to fit with reliable charging locations. I would prefer to use Instavolt or possibly Osprey chargers. There seem to be several BP Pulse chargers near Chelmsford. Have any MG5 owner had problems paying by credit card at these? I have downloaded zapmap. Where would be a good place to stop bearing in mind I have nowhere to granny charge where I am staying on the coast?

 

[maskull]

I've used a debit card on BP Pulse ...once . No problem . I have taken up membership with BP Pulse so I've used their card ever since ..also without issues .
I may add it wasn't the Chelmsford stations but I would have thought they'd be OK too

 

[Gomev]

Not sure where in Oxfordshire you are starting from or where you are going but it's well in range of the car one way, so treat yourself to a visit to the Braintree Gridserve Electric Forecourt. Just north of Chelmsford, detour off and back onto the A12, while you are in the area.

Electric Forecourt®, Edison Wy., Great Notley, Braintree CM77 7AP

 

[Grandadgeorgec]

I am planning my first over 250 mile journey in my MG5 and am looking for reliable charging locations en route. Pre EV I would have gone M40, M25,A127, but realise we may have to vary the route to fit with reliable charging locations. I would prefer to use Instavolt or possibly Osprey chargers. There seem to be several BP Pulse chargers near Chelmsford. Have any MG5 owner had problems paying by credit card at these? I have downloaded zapmap. Where would be a good place to stop bearing in mind I have nowhere to granny charge where I am staying on the coast?

A127/A128 junction. New Osprey

 

[Another oldie]

Thank you to both of you for your suggestions. I'd forgotten it is the A12 rather than the A127 that goes to Chelmsford. I had wondered about going up the M11 and then along the A414 which meant I could either go to the charging points at Ascona Bassett, North Weald or the council charging point at Chipping Ongar. I wonder if anyone has experience of these charging points.

 

[Another oldie]

A127/A128 junction. New Osprey

Thanks for this suggestion

 

[Grandadgeorgec]

Thank you to both of you for your suggestions. I'd forgotten it is the A12 rather than the A127 that goes to Chelmsford. I had wondered about going up the M11 and then along the A414 which meant I could either go to the charging points at Ascona Bassett, North Weald or the council charging point at Chipping Ongar. I wonder if anyone has experience of these charging points.

Could always do A127, stop at Osprey, then down to A130 and up to A12 at Chelmsford?

 

[Another oldie]

I ended up taking the A127 and stopping at the Osprey chargers. At the third attempt after a couple of phonecalls I managed to get one to operate. Thanks again for the suggestions.

 

[Gomev]

I ended up taking the A127 and stopping at the Osprey chargers. At the third attempt after a couple of phonecalls I managed to get one to operate. Thanks again for the suggestions.

If you need any charge for the journey back, I'd recommend the Gridserve at Braintree for one very good reason. They have people on site wandering around making sure that drivers are OK with connecting up and starting/ending the charge.

 

[3sheds]

Definitely gridserve Braintree is good. Also South mimms services if it fits with your journey? Unfortunately the rapid chargers on the M11 in Essex never seem to work in my experience.

 

[Another oldie]

We just managed to get back to near Oxford without needing to use a charger en route. The recommendations for both Braintree and South Mimms are appreciated. We actually stopped at South Mimms for a coffee and I wondered if the Gridserve chargers there were reliable.

 

[3sheds]

We just managed to get back to near Oxford without needing to use a charger en route. The recommendations for both Braintree and South Mimms are appreciated. We actually stopped at South Mimms for a coffee and I wondered if the Gridserve chargers there were reliable.

I've usually found them reliable but sometimes full up. There are other chargers at South Mimms installed by Apple Green I think, one of which gave my MG5 a fault. I had to turn off the car for 10mins and then turn back on and then it worked again.

 

[Gomev]

We just managed to get back to near Oxford without needing to use a charger en route. The recommendations for both Braintree and South Mimms are appreciated. We actually stopped at South Mimms for a coffee and I wondered if the Gridserve chargers there were reliable.

Glad you got back from your first long trip and hope you enjoyed the travelling. I'm guessing that was a journey of about 140-150 miles each way. That should give you confidence for the future in that you know you achieved that without hopefully any range anxiety, and you can take that forward to when you think about future journeys.
If on a longer journey and starting from 100% around 150-180 miles is where I would be looking for chargers for onward travel.

 

[Kevster]

I am planning my first over 250 mile journey in my MG5 and am looking for reliable charging locations en route. Pre EV I would have gone M40, M25,A127, but realise we may have to vary the route to fit with reliable charging locations. I would prefer to use Instavolt or possibly Osprey chargers. There seem to be several BP Pulse chargers near Chelmsford. Have any MG5 owner had problems paying by credit card at these? I have downloaded zapmap. Where would be a good place to stop bearing in mind I have nowhere to granny charge where I am staying on the coast?

Braintree Gridserve Electric Forecourt is very close to Chelmsford lots of chargers and a very nice set of shiops with Costas etc. check it out.

GRIDSERVE | Braintree

Established in 2020, it’s the first EV charging station of its kind in Europe, designed to demonstrate that the future of road transport can be cleaner, cheaper, smarter and fundamentally better.

www.gridserve.com