Experience from my first long drive

[navneeth1986]

Hi Guys,

Just thought of sharing with you my experience of my first long drive in my ZS EV SR. Admittedly I did not plan this properly.

I had 75% battery when I set out from Bristol to Reading. When I reached Reading, it was on 10%. Yes, it drains real quick on the motorway, even with KERS on 3, and AC off(weather was okay-ish yesterday). The problem was a lot of charging points I planned to use were out of order. Luckily I got 1 usable one and managed to charge it. Also, another point, with a lot of EVs out there, the motor services charging points are always occupied, especially in summer when people are out and about. Needed to wait for least 45 minutes to get a free one.

On my way back, I tried to take the foot off the accelerator frequently, with KERS, it did help and a little bit to re-charge. But don't think you would see any difference.

Long trips need to be properly planned and risk accessed. I am hoping they increase the number of charging pods moving forward.

Lesson learnt:
1 . Always charge to 100% before going for a long trip.
2. If the charging points are occupied, wait and get it done, instead of moving to the next one(services). what if the next one is out of order.
3. Some charging points had just the pods, without the cable, worth having a spare type 2 cable.
4. when running low on battery, stay on the left-most lane, and take the foot off the accelerator more frequently. Little help with KERS.

 

[pjmuk]

You would actually be better on KERs 1 on motorway trips, if you slow down you have to use power to speed up, and the power gained in slowing down is far less due to inefficiency! It's best to sort of float along looking ahead and trying to avoid slowing down and speeding up.

 

[Gadget Geek]

I try to avoid motorway services and look for chargers just off a junction. Instavolt and Osprey seem to have sussed this and put some chargers at nice pubs, hotels and leisure centres within a mile or two of a junction.

 

[navneeth1986]

when using ZAP-MAP, what is the best way to filter and finding the best charge points?

 

[Mihir]

Long trips does need a bit of proper planning. Like I had mentioned in the my posts earlier, you are better off looking for a charging point just off the motorway like a Tesco extra etc than taking your chances at the services. Also as many members have mentioned in other posts, try staying around 62-63mph speed than going at 70mph. I think over time and experiences we just get used to these things and we would be more aware of all of this.

 

[navneeth1986]

Long trips does need a bit of proper planning. Like I had mentioned in the my posts earlier, you are better off looking for a charging point just off the motorway like a Tesco extra etc than taking your chances at the services. Also as many members have mentioned in other posts, try staying around 62-63mph speed than going at 70mph. I think over time and experiences we just get used to these things and we would be more aware of all of this.

Yes, agreed.

 

[Mihir]

when using ZAP-MAP, what is the best way to filter and finding the best charge points?

That button in red should help you filter the charging points. Also use the Routes tab to plan your journeys better.

 

[navneeth1986]

View attachment 7191

That button in red should help you filter the charging points. Also use the Routes tab to plan your journeys better.

Yes, from next time. I will look for super market charging point, instead of motor way stations.

 

[Gadget Geek]

You can also filter payment types if you prefer to use contactless debit/credit cards. My favourite networks are Instavolt and Osprey as they are very reliable.

 

[bwanamdevu]

I try to avoid motorway services and look for chargers just off a junction. Instavolt and Osprey seem to have sussed this and put some chargers at nice pubs, hotels and leisure centres within a mile or two of a junction.

This is the right approach to take! Quite a few chargers available usually just a short distance from a junction, often with a better choice of food that’s cheaper as well! When I was driving an ICE in the 90s and 00s I used a website on the laptop, that gave petrol stations very close to the junctions. The same sort of idea as we can do with Zap-Map now for EVs.

 

[sha66ir]

What was the distance covered from Bristol to Reading?
What was the average miles/kwh?
And was it mostly motorway?

 

[bwanamdevu]

What was the distance covered from Bristol to Reading?
What was the average miles/kwh?
And was it mostly motorway?

Its about 77 miles and most of it is M4! So roughly 160 miles round trip.

 

[JCFlippen]

Yes, agreed.

What chargers did you aim for? Instavolt ?

 

[navneeth1986]

What chargers did you aim for? Instavolt ?

No, Just the chargers in the service station. cant remember the name now.

 

[navneeth1986]

Its about 77 miles and most of it is M4! So roughly 160 miles round trip.

The charge went from 75% to 10% just one way

 

[Nibloprice]

The more you use the car, the more you will get to have favourite charge companies. The M4 in particular is absolutely terrible for chargers. The old ecotricity chargers at the services are always a no no for me. And the upgraded ones with gridserve, while usually working OK, are always busy as they only install 1 or 2 in each place. As others have said, a short trip off the motorway often provides you much better options.

As much as I hate to promote them, McDonalds are putting loads of Instavolt chargers in their car parks which are always great, and there are usually at least 2/3 of them.

 

[bwanamdevu]

The more you use the car, the more you will get to have favourite charge companies. The M4 in particular is absolutely terrible for chargers. The old ecotricity chargers at the services are always a no no for me. And the upgraded ones with gridserve, while usually working OK, are always busy as they only install 1 or 2 in each place. As others have said, a short trip off the motorway often provides you much better options.

As much as I hate to promote them, McDonalds are putting loads of Instavolt chargers in their car parks which are always great, and there are usually at least 2/3 of them.

I agree with the bit about McDonalds. I hate the stuff they peddle but they are putting in chargers! Nearby in Lincoln, they have just installed a new set of two chargers with four connectors. They are situated in the retail park where Sainsburys is - a supermarket that is particularly laggard when it comes to putting chargers in!

 

[Slipstream]

Hi Guys,

Just thought of sharing with you my experience of my first long drive in my ZS EV SR. Admittedly I did not plan this properly.

I had 75% battery when I set out from Bristol to Reading. When I reached Reading, it was on 10%. Yes, it drains real quick on the motorway, even with KERS on 3, and AC off(weather was okay-ish yesterday). The problem was a lot of charging points I planned to use were out of order. Luckily I got 1 usable one and managed to charge it. Also, another point, with a lot of EVs out there, the motor services charging points are always occupied, especially in summer when people are out and about. Needed to wait for least 45 minutes to get a free one.

On my way back, I tried to take the foot off the accelerator frequently, with KERS, it did help and a little bit to re-charge. But don't think you would see any difference.

Long trips need to be properly planned and risk accessed. I am hoping they increase the number of charging pods moving forward.

Lesson learnt:
1 . Always charge to 100% before going for a long trip.
2. If the charging points are occupied, wait and get it done, instead of moving to the next one(services). what if the next one is out of order.
3. Some charging points had just the pods, without the cable, worth having a spare type 2 cable.
4. when running low on battery, stay on the left-most lane, and take the foot off the accelerator more frequently. Little help with KERS.

OK to charge to 100% on your home charger. But on public chargers takes ages to get from 80% to 100%. So best to move on at 80%. Specially if there's a queue. Good etiquette.

 

[MG273]

I think your mindset about KERS is slightly off....
The idea is to use it to slow you down when you really need to slow down in order to avoid using the friction brakes, which is a 100% waste of energy. Slowing down with KERS is better than slowing down with friction brakes but its still not more efficient than maintaining your speed or decelerating via coasting.
The most energy efficient way to drive is to accelerate and decelerate as slowly as possible when required and avoid all forms of braking and to carry as much momentum as possible. Clearly that's not possible on the road and there are situations where you are forced to slow down more than you can via the rolling resistance (coasting).
So basically try to keep your driving smooth, avoid heavy acceleration and deceleration, use KERS when you need to slow down and don't cruise too fast on motorways (I tend to stick to 65mph).