You CAN road trip an SE SR

[siteguru]

Todhills has Open to all Tesla and also Gridserve.

 

[Rolfe]

On my way again, tickets for Parsifal on the 19th and Saul on the 20th. I've been rooting around ABRP to see if it has any better ideas about where to charge. I'm again staying with friends in Portslade, so aim to arrive there with enough charge to drive the 16 miles to Glyndebourne (and its PodPoint destination chargers) the following day. I've set that at 20% for safety, although 15% would do it.

Here, first, is the itinerary I used last year when the weather was favourable, as it is this time too.

Arrival time is eight minutes past seven. The main issue is the long charging time to get up to 100% at Forton. I remember staying there for quite a while last time because as well as getting lunch I had something to sort out regarding my dinner booking for the following evening, but I don't think I had to go to 100%. (I have told ABRP that the battery is now on 93% SoH, so that might be it.) As I recall it, I got to Solihull without any alarms. Solihull is a bit boring for 39 minutes, nothing to do but look at Teslas.

Cobham is an excellent place to stop for an evening meal, except that I'm only supposed to stay there for 17 minutes. Also it's often busy at that time. My thought is that if I'm well up to time I can always wait a bit longer and eat, possibly stopping the charge on the car, whereas if there have been delays I can choose to crack on.

Here is the itinerary I have used several times in bad/winter weather.

Five minutes longer. Tebay is a nice lunch stop, Trentham Gardens is a nice afternoon coffee stop, but going all the way to 95% at Cherwell Valley taking nearly an hour seems a bit excessive. (It wouldn't be if the food there was as good as it is at Cobham, but it isn't.) Last time I had to leave that service station without enough charge to get to my destination because the chargers were seriously problematic (they were busy doubling the numbers at the time) and make an extra quick stop at Cobham, which was busy, and so it goes...

So anyway, I thought I would see what ABRP made of it without me trying to dictate anything.

Slightly quicker than the other two options, although not by much. It's going for an all-Tesla journey, which would definitely be cheaper, and possibly more so if I bought a month's Tesla membership.

The quick, early stop at Todhills is so short I could just stay with the car. The Preston stop is good for lunch, but I'd have to eat quickly because it's only 36 minutes. Then the route wants to take me through the centre of Birmingham rather than on the M6 Toll which is the way I'd usually go. Another 35 minutes there, OK for a coffee. Finally only 22 minutes when I'd want my evening meal, at a hotel beside Heathrow which is noted as paid-for parking.

What would you do? Me, I suspect I'll just bear all these chargers in mind (and a few more that I know about in reasonable locations, and see how it goes on the day.

 

[Tig170]

View attachment 37400

Slightly quicker than the other two options, although not by much. It's going for an all-Tesla journey, which would definitely be cheaper, and possibly more so if I bought a month's Tesla membership.

The quick, early stop at Todhills is so short I could just stay with the car. The Preston stop is good for lunch, but I'd have to eat quickly because it's only 36 minutes. Then the route wants to take me through the centre of Birmingham rather than on the M6 Toll which is the way I'd usually go. Another 35 minutes there, OK for a coffee. Finally only 22 minutes when I'd want my evening meal, at a hotel beside Heathrow which is noted as paid-for parking.

What would you do? Me, I suspect I'll just bear all these chargers in mind (and a few more that I know about in reasonable locations, and see how it goes on the day.

... I've just done this route in recent months, these Tesla ones are highly recommended, albeit I'd avoid the heathrow one, as its an extra £6 for parking. One that I've used around london recently was Luton, Dover (register for parking), Filmwell - the only problem I've ever had with Tesla was at Uxbridge shopping centre. Well worth getting a subscription for a month - you can sign up at your 1st stop, and then cancel it once filled up, as it lasts the whole month once activated (I wouldn't bother with the M6 Toll, as the old M6 is reasonably free flowing at most times of the day. )

 

[Rolfe]

I've used the one at Uxbridge, which is in a multi-storey car park I had trouble navigating, and there wasn't much decent food nearby. Although ABRP says it's also paid-for parking, as far as I remember I didn't have to pay - the number plate recognition seemed to filter out people who had been on the chargers. £6 seems a bit steep just to charge the car!

 

[QLeo]

On my way again, tickets for Parsifal on the 19th and Saul on the 20th. I've been rooting around ABRP to see if it has any better ideas about where to charge. I'm again staying with friends in Portslade, so aim to arrive there with enough charge to drive the 16 miles to Glyndebourne (and its PodPoint destination chargers) the following day. I've set that at 20% for safety, although 15% would do it.

Here, first, is the itinerary I used last year when the weather was favourable, as it is this time too.

View attachment 37398

Arrival time is eight minutes past seven. The main issue is the long charging time to get up to 100% at Forton. I remember staying there for quite a while last time because as well as getting lunch I had something to sort out regarding my dinner booking for the following evening, but I don't think I had to go to 100%. (I have told ABRP that the battery is now on 93% SoH, so that might be it.) As I recall it, I got to Solihull without any alarms. Solihull is a bit boring for 39 minutes, nothing to do but look at Teslas.

Cobham is an excellent place to stop for an evening meal, except that I'm only supposed to stay there for 17 minutes. Also it's often busy at that time. My thought is that if I'm well up to time I can always wait a bit longer and eat, possibly stopping the charge on the car, whereas if there have been delays I can choose to crack on.

Here is the itinerary I have used several times in bad/winter weather.

View attachment 37399

Five minutes longer. Tebay is a nice lunch stop, Trentham Gardens is a nice afternoon coffee stop, but going all the way to 95% at Cherwell Valley taking nearly an hour seems a bit excessive. (It wouldn't be if the food there was as good as it is at Cobham, but it isn't.) Last time I had to leave that service station without enough charge to get to my destination because the chargers were seriously problematic (they were busy doubling the numbers at the time) and make an extra quick stop at Cobham, which was busy, and so it goes...

So anyway, I thought I would see what ABRP made of it without me trying to dictate anything.

View attachment 37400

Slightly quicker than the other two options, although not by much. It's going for an all-Tesla journey, which would definitely be cheaper, and possibly more so if I bought a month's Tesla membership.

The quick, early stop at Todhills is so short I could just stay with the car. The Preston stop is good for lunch, but I'd have to eat quickly because it's only 36 minutes. Then the route wants to take me through the centre of Birmingham rather than on the M6 Toll which is the way I'd usually go. Another 35 minutes there, OK for a coffee. Finally only 22 minutes when I'd want my evening meal, at a hotel beside Heathrow which is noted as paid-for parking.

What would you do? Me, I suspect I'll just bear all these chargers in mind (and a few more that I know about in reasonable locations, and see how it goes on the day.

Be interesting to follow this as we may have to do an almost-full- length-of-the-island trip this winter. The Scotland leg is old hat, if you pardon the mixed metaphors, but we can learn from you on the southern Britain leg.

 

[Rolfe]

You have the advantage of the LR though, with not just the range but also the charging speed. I can certainly let you know about nice places to stop, though!

What has struck me though is that I'm either moaning that the stops are too short for a meal, or occasionally that they're long in a place where the food isn't great. But mostly I'm looking at 40 minute stops. In the LR, does the car ever take long enough for you to eat? Don't you get to the point where your stops are longer simply because you have to queue up for and eat the food?

I seem to remember that when I bought the car over two years ago I wasn't that fussed about the slower charging speed because all the chargers seemed to be 50 kW anyway. Now look.

 

[Tig170]

I've used the one at Uxbridge, which is in a multi-storey car park I had trouble navigating, and there wasn't much decent food nearby. Although ABRP says it's also paid-for parking, as far as I remember I didn't have to pay - the number plate recognition seemed to filter out people who had been on the chargers. £6 seems a bit steep just to charge the car!

Uxbridge is around £2.50 for parking, but it may be free for the 1st 1/2 hr. LHR Tesla (in a hotel) is £6, so we use evpoint, UB3 1LL through electroverse

 

[QLeo]

You have the advantage of the LR though, with not just the range but also the charging speed. I can certainly let you know about nice places to stop, though!

What has struck me though is that I'm either moaning that the stops are too short for a meal, or occasionally that they're long in a place where the food isn't great. But mostly I'm looking at 40 minute stops. In the LR, does the car ever take long enough for you to eat? Don't you get to the point where your stops are longer simply because you have to queue up for and eat the food?

I seem to remember that when I bought the car over two years ago I wasn't that fussed about the slower charging speed because all the chargers seemed to be 50 kw anyway. Now look.

About the only "rule" we have when charging is to do something, rather than just sit in the car waiting. We were at the Tesla chargers in Inverness a while back, and a carload of folk were next door, I think 5 adults. All except one were asleep. And this with the centre of Inverness literally 3 minutes walk from the chargers.

 

[Rolfe]

Uxbridge is around £2.50 for parking, but it may be free for the 1st 1/2 hr. LHR Tesla (in a hotel) is £6, so we use evpoint, UB3 1LL through electroverse

It was quite a while ago that I used the Uxbridge supercharger so maybe they changed it? SR here, not going to be stopping for less than half an hour as a rule.

About the only "rule" we have when charging is to do something, rather than just sit in the car waiting. We were at the Tesla chargers in Inverness a while back, and a carload of folk were next door, I think 5 adults. All except one were asleep. And this with the centre of Inverness literally 3 minutes walk from the chargers.

Maybe they were really tired? I got as far as the bus station and a snack bar there!

 

[Tight Git]

Uxbridge parking is £2.00 and it's paid on exit and done by ANPR. I've used it 4 times now and on 2 occasions only got a max rate of 35kW on my SR which makes it painfully slow plus it's very busy - I won't be going back there!

If doing Tesla I would think Trentham then Banbury (avoiding Birmingham) would be better, you should reach your destination from Banbury.

 

[Rolfe]

That's good advice. As is the advice to wait until I'm actually at a supercharger to buy the Tesla membership. I'll have an idea by then whether it's likely to be worth it in terms of number of Tesla charges I envisage.

I'm realising that if I want to do the ABRP recommended itinerary I have to commit myself to it early by stopping at Todhills. I suspect, given the more problematic Tesla sites further south, I'll decide not to, but just to carry on and see how far I can go on the M6 before I have to stop. Forton is likely to be the limit.

I made it to Forton in May last year, thinking, it will be easier in August when it's warmer. (I think I was on about 7%.) Then in August I set course for Forton with about 30 miles range in hand, and by the time I had made it to Carlisle that was all gone and things were getting worse. Cold (my tyre pressure warning pinged!), a strong gusty headwind over the Southern Uplands, and intermittent heavy rain showers. Forton was quite clearly not a thing that was going to happen to me that day. I finally managed to enunciate "Tebay southbound" clearly enough for the car to hear it, and got there on 7%. That was when I figured out the Tebay-Trentham Gardens-Cherwell Valley itinerary I've used a couple of times and it has worked.

But the weather forecast for next week is absolutely magnificent. I could wish I was following @Archev into the Highlands, but hey, expensive opera tickets booked in February. So the car's range really should be up to it. It was showing 204 miles when charged to full after a not-terribly fast cross-country trip earlier in the week.

I'm realising that Gridserves don't take Electroverse cards, which I thought they did. That's a bit of a bummer.

 

[Tight Git]

That's good advice. As is the advice to wait until I'm actually at a supercharger to buy the Tesla membership. I'll have an idea by then whether it's likely to be worth it in terms of number of Tesla charges I envisage.

I'm realising that if I want to do the ABRP recommended itinerary I have to commit myself to it early by stopping at Todhills. I suspect, given the more problematic Tesla sites further south, I'll decide not to, but just to carry on and see how far I can go on the M6 before I have to stop. Forton is likely to be the limit.

I made it to Forton in May last year, thinking, it will be easier in August when it's warmer. (I think I was on about 7%.) Then in August I set course for Forton with about 30 miles range in hand, and by the time I had made it to Carlisle that was all gone and things were getting worse. Cold (my tyre pressure warning pinged!), a strong gusty headwind over the Southern Uplands, and intermittent heavy rain showers. Forton was quite clearly not a thing that was going to happen to me that day. I finally managed to enunciate "Tebay southbound" clearly enough for the car to hear it, and got there on 7%. That was when I figured out the Tebay-Trentham Gardens-Cherwell Valley itinerary I've used a couple of times and it has worked.

But the weather forecast for next week is absolutely magnificent. I could wish I was following @Archev into the Highlands, but hey, expensive opera tickets booked in February. So the car's range really should be up to it. It was showing 204 miles when charged to full after a not-terribly fast cross-country trip earlier in the week.

I'm realising that Gridserves don't take Electroverse cards, which I thought they did. That's a bit of a bummer.

Have you checked the new pricing on the Tesla subscription? If you use the Chargefinder app you can filter out Tesla open to all chargers and also see pricing for members and non-members.

 

[Archev]

That's good advice. As is the advice to wait until I'm actually at a supercharger to buy the Tesla membership. I'll have an idea by then whether it's likely to be worth it in terms of number of Tesla charges I envisage.

I'm realising that if I want to do the ABRP recommended itinerary I have to commit myself to it early by stopping at Todhills. I suspect, given the more problematic Tesla sites further south, I'll decide not to, but just to carry on and see how far I can go on the M6 before I have to stop. Forton is likely to be the limit.

I made it to Forton in May last year, thinking, it will be easier in August when it's warmer. (I think I was on about 7%.) Then in August I set course for Forton with about 30 miles range in hand, and by the time I had made it to Carlisle that was all gone and things were getting worse. Cold (my tyre pressure warning pinged!), a strong gusty headwind over the Southern Uplands, and intermittent heavy rain showers. Forton was quite clearly not a thing that was going to happen to me that day. I finally managed to enunciate "Tebay southbound" clearly enough for the car to hear it, and got there on 7%. That was when I figured out the Tebay-Trentham Gardens-Cherwell Valley itinerary I've used a couple of times and it has worked.

But the weather forecast for next week is absolutely magnificent. I could wish I was following @Archev into the Highlands, but hey, expensive opera tickets booked in February. So the car's range really should be up to it. It was showing 204 miles when charged to full after a not-terribly fast cross-country trip earlier in the week.

I'm realising that Gridserves don't take Electroverse cards, which I thought they did. That's a bit of a bummer.

Yes a bee buzzing in my bonnet about a trip to somewhere. Definitely going the Applecross to catch up with my Daughter but I can’t remember when she’s going ( meeting up with her tomorrow in Doune for lunch so I’ll find out )

 

[Anon70]

When I travel south from just outside Edinburgh I use the A1 and the Tesla chargers at Adderstone and Harrogate. There are also Tesla locations in Durham, Annesley and Banbury if you don't mind some off motorway driving which helps with range and gives a more scenic route. By my calculations the cost of the Tesla membership pays for itself after about 3 charging sessions in any month (depending how much you charge up). In the XPower in the best charging state, between 10% and 60% you can add 100 - 150 miles of range in 15-20 minutes

 

[siteguru]

About the only "rule" we have when charging is to do something, rather than just sit in the car waiting. We were at the Tesla chargers in Inverness a while back, and a carload of folk were next door, I think 5 adults. All except one were asleep. And this with the centre of Inverness literally 3 minutes walk from the chargers.

There are only 6x V2 superchargers in Inverness (in the car park) ... 2 of them (3A and 3B) were out of action when we stopped there last month on our way to Ullapool, so we had to use the CPS charger a few yards away.

 

[Rolfe]

When I travel south from just outside Edinburgh I use the A1 and the Tesla chargers at Adderstone and Harrogate. There are also Tesla locations in Durham, Annesley and Banbury if you don't mind some off motorway driving which helps with range and gives a more scenic route. By my calculations the cost of the Tesla membership pays for itself after about 3 charging sessions in any month (depending how much you charge up). In the XPower in the best charging state, between 10% and 60% you can add 100 - 150 miles of range in 15-20 minutes

I'm already almost 20 miles down the A702, so the M74/M6 route is a no-brainer for me.

 

[Rolfe]

I've just realised something. I was getting suspicious about the way ABRP was selecting only Tesla chargers, so I checked. At some point I must have told the thing to prefer Tesla chargers and not cancelled it. Having now cancelled that, it has got the journey time down to 8 hours 39 minutes.

I have some reservations about this. Gridserve are expensive and not included in Electroverse, which is a pain. I have heard some say that BP Pulse are unreliable, or that they don't play well with the MG4. I'm also not sure about Shell Recharge either. It's tempting to give it a go and see if I can actually do it in that time, but not if I'm going to struggle with some of the chargers.

 

[MGCamb]

I've just realised something. I was getting suspicious about the way ABRP was selecting only Tesla chargers, so I checked. At some point I must have told the thing to prefer Tesla chargers and not cancelled it. Having now cancelled that, it has got the journey time down to 8 hours 39 minutes.

View attachment 37432

I have some reservations about this. Gridserve are expensive and not included in Electroverse, which is a pain. I have heard some say that BP Pulse are unreliable, or that they don't play well with the MG4. I'm also not sure about Shell Recharge either. It's tempting to give it a go and see if I can actually do it in that time, but not if I'm going to struggle with some of the chargers.

There is a shed load of more than 20 minutes of grief in that, never mind the cost.

 

[Rolfe]

Care to expand on that?

 

[MGCamb]

Care to expand on that?

On retiral I delivered demonstrator cars across the UK which meant that I have most apps on my phone, most over 4 years old. Unless used regularly you tend to find they need updated, credit cards updated etc. They all tend to have their quirks with sequencing. Tesla on the other hand tend to be straightforward and reliable, our flap on the correct side for connectivity and with their monthly pass at least 30p per kWh cheaper. Far less stress all round.