New S5 Trophy member

[stevedee]

In case you didn't know, there are public Tesla chargers at Banbury if you are ever between Oxford and Birmingham again....somewhat cheaper than Gridserve....

Having now completed our 500+ miles round trip, I now appreciate the following points;
- route planning apps, showing where & when to stop to charge, are useless to us. We don't travel like that, probably because we are both in our 70s. We typically stop after 2 - 2.5 hours when our bladders say 'enough!'
- you have to move away from the petrol/diesel/LPG mentality of 'filling the car up' when you refuel on a long-range trip. Because of the shape of the charging curve, & speed of whatever charger you are using, just recharge to (say) 60/70/80% & then move on.
- yes, public charging can appear expensive, but for us it only represents a very small percentage of our annual running costs, because over 95% of our journeys are short range, and therefore < 3p/mile.

We found charging to be easy on this trip, except at Cherwell services. I don't know what was going on there (maybe there had been some kind of event at Silverstone) but the carpark was heaving with cars & motor homes. Not only was it impossible to get onto a charger, but we couldn't have parked in a regular parking space unless prepared to target other users that we thought might be leaving soon.
Anyway, we found a nice Waitrose further down the A34, sat & drank our 'flat whites' for 10mins, used our Electroverse card for the first time & got back on the road.

I think someone here mentioned supporting the plug in order for it to comm with the charger. The plugs & cables are very heavy on the more powerful chargers, but they fit nice & tight to the car's socket, so not seen that problem. Maybe the socket 'wears' over time.

 

[emmrecs]

- route planning apps, showing where & when to stop to charge, are useless to us. We don't travel like that, probably because we are both in our 70s.

Got to disagree with this! We're both in our 70s also but I find those route planning apps, especially ZapMap, along with Electroverse and Tesla, invaluable for planning where to stop and charge! And yes, to empty our bladders also!

 

[stevedee]

Got to disagree with this! We're both in our 70s also but...

That's great, well done!

Our 'apps plan' for this trip wanted us to drive for over 3hrs to the first stop. I tried adding a waypoint in Electroverse plan hoping it would find a charger near the waypoint, but it didn't. I asked the question on this forum, but didn't get any sensible answers. If you know how to find chargers based on timed breaks, please let me know.

We do use the maps (e.g. Zapmap) to find chargers as we go, we just haven't found the 'planner' useful ...so far.

 

[Ruislip Resident]

On my weeks trip away over Christmas to Abergavenny, Wales from London. I started on 100%. Put in 21.23 kWh at Celtic Manor Resort ( Newport) Tesla open to all on the way there and 38.90 kWh on the way back, all via the Tesla app as v3 with no contactless ( well at least not on the chargepoint). 3 hours free parking so no parking fees to pay. Arrived home with 20%. Whilst there I also put in 37.4 kWh at an Osprey Charger at the Lamb and Anchor pub in Abergavenny ( were 3 chargers which all did chademo also) on Boxing day morning, no parking fees. It was only 10 minutes away and whist I dont particularly like paying 87p per kWh, it being an Osprey Kempower unit, you know its going to work. I used a Zap pay card, although it also took contactless. On describing my seamless experience in the Daily Fail discussion pages I was accused of lying like a typical EVangalist!. The accuser simple could not accept you could easily do anything other than local journeys.

 

[MGS5CJB]

Sounds to have gone very smoothly and the charger info most useful

 

[Data]

On my weeks trip away over Christmas to Abergavenny, Wales from London. I started on 100%. Put in 21.23 kWh at Celtic Manor Resort ( Newport) Tesla open to all on the way there and 38.90 kWh on the way back, all via the Tesla app as v3 with no contactless ( well at least not on the chargepoint). 3 hours free parking so no parking fees to pay. Arrived home with 20%. Whilst there I also put in 37.4 kWh at an Osprey Charger at the Lamb and Anchor pub in Abergavenny ( were 3 chargers which all did chademo also) on Boxing day morning, no parking fees. It was only 10 minutes away and whist I dont particularly like paying 87p per kWh, it being an Osprey Kempower unit, you know its going to work. I used a Zap pay card, although it also took contactless. On describing my seamless experience in the Daily Fail discussion pages I was accused of lying like a typical EVangalist!. The accuser simple could not accept you could easily do anything other than local journeys.

As EV drivers I'm afraid we have to accept some ICE car drivers are total tossers, totally ignorant people with an anti EV agenda!!

 

[Ian Key]

As EV drivers I'm afraid we have to accept some ICE car drivers are total tossers,

Unfortunately I don't think that statement is exclusive to ICE drivers but there is less chance of a tosser being an EV driver as EVs are quieter and easier to drive so we remain calm in the knowledge we can take the ICE tosser at the next traffic light Grand Prix

 

[Hugo A Go Go]

My tip would be pick your charging stops carefully. There are certain charging networks that are reliable, and others that don’t have such a good reputation.

For me I always look for the big players - Ionity, MFG, Osprey, Fastned, Arnold Clark, Instavolt (expensive), Gridserve and Tesla. These are always well maintained and easy to use and have never let me down.

If using a route planner such as ABRP, then set a filter to only plan a stop at locations with a minimum of 6 chargers. That way you stand a decent chance of not turning up and all the chargers are in use.

 

[stevedee]

...I was accused of lying like a typical EVangalist!. The accuser simple could not accept you could easily do anything other than local journeys.

That's good!

I tell any ICE owner that asks, that EVs are rubbish!

...because the faster they sell EVs, the quicker & higher our tax liability will increase.

Let's just keep it a secret between ourselves.

 

[TimothyN]

I wonder what it feels like to own a petrol station.

 

[MGS5CJB]

Thought I would update our first long range adventure. Well things started off fine with an overnight charge to 90% with the Granny charger.Then when I came to put the suitcases in the boot it just wouldn’t lock despite previously testing with the same but empty cases. After much cursing I eventually took the parcel shelf out and re stacked the cases and this worked. We then set off from Lincolnshire around 11 am. The car ran well and we decided to stop for a brunch break at the BP pulse station near Warwick we were down from 90% to around 42% and decided to make this a charge stop. Unfortunately charger not working. So we looked again on Zap app and it showed chargers available at the holiday inn/ McDonald’s which are next to each other just as you head into Warwick.No joy several charges but all in use and two waiting. We looked again and headed for Lidl by this time it’s was around 3 pm. We found a rapid charger that wasn’t in use and we’re all set to use via our Lidl plus app. We tried to get it to work several times following the process but it wouldn’t charge. Not only that but we could get the charger out of the cars charge point. So it’s Sunday and Lidl shuts at 4 pm and you get 90 mins free parking . In desperation I rang MG assistance explaining the position . They said the would have somebody with me within the our but their technical assistance team may ring in the meantime. Thought I would give it a go using my app instead of the wife’s and the car started charging. By this time we were frozen and got into the car which now let us in. We rang MG assist and they said it may be okay now but to ring if we had any further concerns. While waiting I check our accounts and noted that on one it showed 4 lots of £40 were pending and on the other one lot of £40. We contacted Lidl and expressed our concerns.They were quite reassuring and hopefully the pending amounts will not go through. We also broached the position re the parking as by now we were over 90 mins and there is the prospect of a 90 fine. On checking my account the £40 pre spend had changed to an actual of £21.40 for the 90% charge.
All was okay the car completed at 90% and we were on our way again just after 5 pm. We arrived at our hotel in Southampton at 7.15pm. This has been quite an experience into the world of EV’s. The car behaved well and I am begging to really like it but I hope things will get more straightforward for the future. We will be heading back next Saturday breaking our journey in the Cotswolds so fingers crossed for a more straightforward return trip.

Following our return journey from Southampton to Lincolnshire today I am pleased to report a much smoother trip. Which is more than I can say for our New Years Cruise which was most enjoyable but a very stormy return passage. The first positive was that we had fixed to have the car fully charged when we collected it from the car park. We had a smooth trip to Northampton where we stopped at the GRIDSERVE charger at a Road Chef not far from Silverstone. At this point we had gone from 100 to around 46% in the freezing cold weather. We topped her up to 90% and thankfully all went to plan with the charger releasing as it should. We arrived home
after travelling 227 miles with 33% remaining and consumption of 3.4 miles per
Kilowatt hour. Trip home was mainly motorway miles in very cold temperatures with the heater in use and occasional use of both the heated seats and steering wheel which are a great edition at this time year. We enjoyed the drive despite the conditions and are beginning to get attached to the S5
All the best to Everyone for safe travels good health and a Happy 2026.