The e goes on holiday to Wales

[iHansz]

Hi folks! As the Volvo* (see viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1538) is just short of delivery on time, we will still take the e on holiday to Wales (from the Netherlands). We will arrive by ferry in Harwich, then go around London from the north, first to Bath and then via the M4 to Wales. We will be staying at about three (south/south-west) places so we won't have to drive too far. Do you have any tips regarding (quick) charching? Because our e does not have the software update (yet?), we will not be able to charge at Tesla, but hopefully at Tesco's. Of course, I have already downloaded the apps ABRP and Zapmap. Thanks in advance.

Below you can clearly see the difference between the Volvo and e.


*P.S. If you think the e has some problems, I can fill this entire forum with what the Volvo has. Apparently it is quite complicated to develop a good BEV.

[MattHero]

I'm know you're way ahead of this, once you have Zapmap for planning, these days with Gridserve and Ionity at the big motorway services and Instavolt etc on the major A roads, you'll be fine without having to worry about thinking about Tesla.

[Deleted User 473]

If possible, try to ensure that you have mobile signal with 2 carriers.

Network signal can be poor in certain areas. If you have to sign up for an account in order to initiate a charge, then you might find yourself a bit stuck (as i did once, had to go for a bit of a wander around the car park to get some signal to sign up for an ionity account, and then wait to receive a 2 factor SMS to validate the account etc).

I try to shy away from public charging as much as possible - so I can't offer much more advice than that.

[hondaeboy]

Do you have any tips regarding (quick) charching? Because our e does not have the software update (yet?), we will not be able to charge at Tesla, but hopefully at Tesco's. Of course, I have already downloaded the apps ABRP and Zapmap.

The part from the Ferry up to Bath in England, you can most likely plan your route entirely using good old Dutch "Fastned". And if you have a Dutch Shell app, you can actually quite easily get around pretty easily. Other than that, I just made sure to request any and all (free) charge cards, like Vattenfall InCharge, ChargePoint, E-Flux, nextcharge, Grid, Chargemap, Plugshare, ANWB. I only ever use autocharge with Fastned, until I couldn't...and then I needed to swipe 5 cards that didn't work, until the 6th one that did. Especially with very new chargers, they might not be added to your charge card (yet). So it helps to have options.

Tesla chargers itself are not the actual issue. That's why there's a whole list of chargers that may give your cars charging issues. Let's hope the update will make this an issue of the past, but I think it will be another month before I can actually have it applied. Also try to have "Internet in the Car" active. If your phone doesn't have mobile coverage, at least your car might have. You can by access by the day, week, month or year.

If you're using Google Maps on Android Auto, make sure to activate the EV settings (in the Android Auto menu *in* the car!). Then plan your trip while turning on efficient EV routing. You can also find fast chargers on your specific route that way. If you limit your speed to trucks (which is 96 km/h in the UK, I believe), you should be able to crank out 160-200 km on a full charge (0-100%). I personally hate ABRP in the car. It's clunky, slow, fries your phone. I love it for planning ahead though, because you can play with things like maximum speeds, many short stops, few long stops, and you can actally use it to add all your charge cards and let it make a route that goes past all chargers that are supported by the ones that you have.

Do realise that the charger density in the UK is 6 (!!) times less than in the Netherlands. So even though your trip is certainly doable, don't hesitate to stop along the way to actually plan your next charging stops. Because if you miss one, you might be in trouble. What I do personally is plan the full route, and then plan a couple of charging stops ("on your route" option in Google Maps). For instance, let's say you plan 400 km trip, I would plan a charging stop at 200 km away, then 180 km, then 160 km, and maybe 140 km. That way you make sure your route actually goes towards your destination, while still going past actual charging stations. Depending on your range at each of the charging stops you can then decide to skip that particular stop, or drive to the next one. If you don't plan them, you might forget to plan and wait until you hear your 15% battery "ping" only to find out that there's no charge stations within 20-30 km.

[londiniumperson]

What a small world! Just last night, I was researching the feasibility of picking up some donated IT equipment for a charity I'm involved with here in the UK from a donor in Amersfoort, NL. It seemed like a possibility, but after looking at routes via Harwich and the Channel Tunnel, it doesn't seem financially viable.

Speaking of EVs and planning trips, while the reported list of problematic chargers might not be exhaustive (Tesla being a known case), I'd recommend avoiding BP Pulse if you can. In my experience, they tend to be unreliable. On the other hand, I've had no issues with the square InstaVolt chargers at Three Trees Farm Shop & Cafe near the M4 (used them a couple of times myself!).
Since you'll be on the M4, Three Trees could be a good rest stop, although charging and refreshments may not be the cheapest. The chargers are accessible 24/7, but the cafe has specific hours.

Another thing to keep in mind - rapid charging in the UK isn't always budget-friendly. Last week, a 250-mile round trip in my Honda cost me £33.

Hope this info helps with your trip planning!

[iHansz]

@MattHero, @EEEE, @hondaeboy, @londiniumperson, Thank you for all your tips. This will definitely help me. I really appreciate it.

[iHansz]

The holiday to Wales (and Bath) is over. It went surprisingly well. I was able to charge everywhere I wanted to (I deliberately avoided Tesla and BP due to potential error messages, as I hadn’t received the update yet). Often, I had to download an app and/or log in to a website and then enter my credit card details. Fortunately, my bank secures this with double authentication, and I had a good internet connection. That, and I don’t mean this in an unpleasant way, is not always the case with you in the UK. The Netherlands is, of course, small, and we have good 4 or 5G connections everywhere. I haven't had any problems on this forum with my (now ex) e. Luckily, because I was quite worried about that. The Volvo was delivered yesterday, so I will now stop using this forum.

[iHansz]

We also had sunshine though, but coincidentally, photos were all taken with clouds.