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Electric car holiday

Waiting for my car to charge up before heading home. My first holiday using an electric car. For my everyday use this thing is great. I work mostly at home or commute via train. I go out several evenings with a few miles. All brilliant. Especially being at home the solar panels I got fitted mean I can charge it basically for nothing.

But holiday. In in Norfolk on the coast. Drive up ok. Finding a charging point wasn't too difficult but expensive. I charged when I got here and now before going home. Cost probably a bit less than if I'd had a petrol car.

But it's the time. Like now check out early drive to the charge and wait.

If I'd gone further say up to Yorkshire or Lake District I'd be having to charge mid way possibly. Additional cost and time.

I'm wondering if I ever do that I'd rent a car maybe just so not the worries about it and minute to fill up and continue.
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My wife & I went on vacation to Norway last month and our trip included about 7 nights with a rented electric car. We used an app called 'Elton' to find charging locations, and Elton could sometimes scan a QR code on the charger and start charging and pay.

Most hotels we stayed at had a charger on site or nearby. Two of our days were long enough that we needed to charge in the middle, and we were able to find fast chargers near Thon centers or similar, small malls that had bakery cafes. So we could usually combine lunch with fast charging.

There was definitely some range anxiety as we were newbies, but all in all things worked out well. I don't know if other countries have as good a charging infrastructure as Norway, but it certainly worked well there.
KatyO83 · 41-45, F
@ElwoodBlues Norway is probably best set up in world for electric cars.
@KatyO83 I understand the Netherlands is a great place for EVs as well.

Norway is a more interesting case though because it's over 1000 miles long; so there are some significant drives there.
GoFish ·
that's why i like having a hybrid car lol
Neoerectus · M
When I went to rural southern France (from the States), I tried out an EV rental. The Air BnB host let me charge at night, so it was very doable in daily excursions. They let me do it for free, but I would have paid for that convenience. It was a three week stay.

Rapid chargers were harder to find the couple times I had to charge commercially due to the rural nature.
I think it’s getting easier to charge electric car nowadays. There’s a lot of super Tesla chargers around Europe and non Tesla ones.
PatientlyWaiting25 · 46-50, F
Do you have CHAdeMo or CCS? I have a Nissan leaf which is CHAdeMo but I have just splashed out on purchasing a Converter so I can also use CCS chargers and they are much faster. Whilst traveling to or from holiday, I don't mind stopping to have a cup of tea and something to eat whilst my car charges. I think it's just a case of planning ahead to know where you can charge. I've never had any problems.
KatyO83 · 41-45, F
@PatientlyWaiting25 it's a CCS
KatyO83 · 41-45, F
@PatientlyWaiting25 no problem as via CCS they charge quickly compared to at home. But I just get nervous about it. Next holiday I'll try to go further
MrAverage1965 · 61-69, M
I can't imagine I would ever chose electric over a good old internal combustion engine.

I am not sure that electric is quite as green and they make out after the production and disposal of batteries..
KatyO83 · 41-45, F
@xbandoleerx I had a hybrid mini. Was ok, definitely good mpg. My bf has that now. I then had a Kia stonic and the infamous Jag F type which I only had cos I inherited it. Sold that and pexd the stonic for this Hyundai kona.
xbandoleerx · 61-69, M
@KatyO83 ladies are rich here 😁
ninalanyon · 70-79, TVIP
@MrAverage1965 The batteries can be repurposed for stationary storage once the range drops and they are recyclable.
Like2play · M
I do 1500 miles on my Tesla all the time. Extra charging take about 1 .5 hours total. No big deal at all.
KatyO83 · 41-45, F
@Like2play 1500 🤣🤣🤣.

Do you only drive down hill
Like2play · M
@KatyO83 ya, both ways.
ninalanyon · 70-79, TVIP
Try to find a Tesla charger that is open to other makes, they are usually a lot cheaper. And they are cheaper still if you install the Tesla app and pay via that. Unfortunately East Anglia is not well served by Tesla.
kwood1 · 61-69, M
It's good to stop for half an hour or so on a long drive to swig a cup of coffee which is good for a top up of the batteries, so don't be discouraged from doing longer journeys. Most motorway services have plenty of chargers these days.Hope you enjoyed Norfolk's lovely beaches 😎
xbandoleerx · 61-69, M
But with petrol engine car there are other expenditures like oil & filter as well as ofcourse fuel.
Maybe you can focus on making a sound mathematical formula to work out which of the two types is better per kilometer for in my view electric is cheaper than ICE equipped car
KatyO83 · 41-45, F
@xbandoleerx guy at the garage was going to show me that but I told him I'm sure it's right. It's the convenience on long journeys for me that is still my biggest concern
One day it will only take 10 minutes to charge up the EV but we are not there yet. Long journeys will be a challenge. The big kicker is if you run out of power there is no recourse but to get towed.
I am surprised to hear you say it cost nearly as much as gas to repower your EV. Sounds like you were being ripped off big time or completely miscalculated it. It should only cost 10% of gas prices for EV recharging.

 
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