old fisherman
Standard Member
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2025
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- 43
- Reaction score
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- Location (town/city + country)
- UK
- Driving
- MG4 (2022-2025)
Road Trip to Holland
So, I’ve got a Trophy and the wife and I have longed to go to Keukenhof in Holland. For those that are not familiar with it, it is one of the premier garden shows in Holland. World famous for daffodils and tulips the world over (highly recommended). We’ve been before a few years ago, but not in an EV, so something a little different.
As you might expect, I did my due diligence, but as always, there is always something that can go wrong (or more).
So, it’s 140 miles to Dover (ferry not tunnel). We’re using Irish Ferries (used to use P&O, but since their major staff changes and subsequent use we don’t recommend them).
We started from home with 100% battery, so plenty of charge to get to Dover with range to spare (which we did).
The plan was to drive to Dunkirk, recharge to 100% and push on to the hotel in Holland (Hotel de Koningshof). We arrived at the charging station (140 kW), it was in a Carrefour car park, which was very convenient. Big problem. How to pay. Got a debit card, don’t all chargers take debit cards by default? No they do not. Starting to panic, I remember I have an Electroverse card (never used it before, I got it because it was free, and applied for it when I downloaded the app, before I got the car). I had registered my debit card with them, so they had all my details.
Anyway, magically, it worked, what a lifesaver. One cup of coffee, and loo break, charged to 100%, and we’re off to Holland. 3 and a bit hours later, we arrive, but not without incident. Just passing Rotterdam, and a few “bumps” the car starts to make regular “dongs” (for want of a better term) On the dash appears a small yellow coffee cup symbol in the top left hand side. Starting to panic (it must mean something, right? but what?) Co pilot (wife) looks up on Google, and it turns out, I’ve been driving over 3 hrs (3hrs 12 mins) to be precise, and the car is telling me to take a break. Not easy when on a motorway, and nowhere to pull over (and can’t seem to cancel the alarm).
Half an hour later, we arrive at the hotel, with miles to spare. The good news is, there is a charger, very close to the hotel (within 50 yds). It’s a 7 kW charger, that needs the use of a type 2 cable, no problem, got it in the boot. Plug all in, but how to pay? No debit card, but the Electroverse card worked again, talk about lucky. The only thing to be aware of, they charge 1 cent per minute, if you leave your car plugged in after being 100% charged. Thank goodness for the MG app.
Only 9 miles to Keukenhoff the next day, had a wonderful day, and a great meal on the beach in the evening.
We had planned to go to Amsterdam to next day, but the hotel manager recommended we try Liden. Having slept on it, we did. Got the bus outside the hotel (electric) and we had a great day out (no driving worries, no parking worries). Lovely canal trip.
Drove back to Dunkirk (charged up again, had a lovely meal too) arrived at Calais with time to spare. Spent a couple of hours on the dockside. Drove through the Dartford tunnel, no problems at all (never done that before).
Arrived home safe and sound.
Observations.
The roads from Calais to destination were excellent. Not a single pothole. Not even a sign of a pothole being repaired (and I was looking) It was a pleasure to drive on the roads.
Lane discipline was very good, no lane hogging, this was so evident, once we returned to the UK, on the M25. The M25 was awful.
Charge cards. If travelling abroad, make sure you have some RFID charge card (I think most work) but would most welcome debate on this matter. Do all RFID cards work? I don’t know.
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