Taking iX 40 to France for holidays
Discussion
Having gone full fat EV earlier this year, we decided to use the iX for a 2 week trip to France. Just got back and while its all fresh in my memory here are the good, bad and the ugly (it is a iX after all!)
Good - fabulous car to spend time in. Possibly the most comfortable motor we've ever had, much better than the Range Rover Sport it replaced. Loads of room for 3 on board, plus 2 labradors and all the luggage. Infotainment largely worked seamlessly. You meet some nice people at the charging stations, all of whom want to chat about where the charging stations are and how to access the juice! Ionity seem to provide the most reliable and well positioned chargers that on the whole worked.
Bad - range, range and range. Ours managed about 200-210 miles in real world driving (including cruising at 70-75 on the autoroutes in 30+ degrees of heat). In France, there were no easily accessible chargers between Reims and the Eurotunnel. This led to severe range anxiety. Oddly going in the opposite direction, there were 2 separate Ionity stations over this stretch of road. In order to get at them when you're on the opposite carriageway, a long trip to the junctions above and below the charging station was required. In rural France, there were a number of 22kw-40kw chargers but most needed a RFID card - which we didn't have. Note - get a card from Chargemap which will apparently work on these.
Ugly - apart from the car's looks, which I have to say is growing on me, the suggested charging stations on the car's sat nav and on sites such as ABRP were often a work of fiction and did on one occasion nearly led us to 0% charge - surely the dread of all EV drivers.
All in all however, we'll be doing it again armed with a RFID card, numerous apps (ps avoid Freshmile - its crap), the sanef dongle (to let you through the tolls) and a flexiplus ticket for the eurotunnel.
Good - fabulous car to spend time in. Possibly the most comfortable motor we've ever had, much better than the Range Rover Sport it replaced. Loads of room for 3 on board, plus 2 labradors and all the luggage. Infotainment largely worked seamlessly. You meet some nice people at the charging stations, all of whom want to chat about where the charging stations are and how to access the juice! Ionity seem to provide the most reliable and well positioned chargers that on the whole worked.
Bad - range, range and range. Ours managed about 200-210 miles in real world driving (including cruising at 70-75 on the autoroutes in 30+ degrees of heat). In France, there were no easily accessible chargers between Reims and the Eurotunnel. This led to severe range anxiety. Oddly going in the opposite direction, there were 2 separate Ionity stations over this stretch of road. In order to get at them when you're on the opposite carriageway, a long trip to the junctions above and below the charging station was required. In rural France, there were a number of 22kw-40kw chargers but most needed a RFID card - which we didn't have. Note - get a card from Chargemap which will apparently work on these.
Ugly - apart from the car's looks, which I have to say is growing on me, the suggested charging stations on the car's sat nav and on sites such as ABRP were often a work of fiction and did on one occasion nearly led us to 0% charge - surely the dread of all EV drivers.
All in all however, we'll be doing it again armed with a RFID card, numerous apps (ps avoid Freshmile - its crap), the sanef dongle (to let you through the tolls) and a flexiplus ticket for the eurotunnel.
thats a good read.
I've got a trip to Normandy planned for September - a weekend away to do a bit of WW2 sight-seeing.
the charge points seem to be sufficient along the route we're planning to take from calais - plus you have free 50kw chargers at the EuroTunnel ports on both sides.
I managed to order myself a ChargeMap card so i should be ok on that side. Looking forward to taking my MG ZS on the road abroad!
I've got a trip to Normandy planned for September - a weekend away to do a bit of WW2 sight-seeing.
the charge points seem to be sufficient along the route we're planning to take from calais - plus you have free 50kw chargers at the EuroTunnel ports on both sides.
I managed to order myself a ChargeMap card so i should be ok on that side. Looking forward to taking my MG ZS on the road abroad!
malcolm-coqci said:
Bad - range, range and range. Ours managed about 200-210 miles in real world driving (including cruising at 70-75 on the autoroutes in 30+ degrees of heat).
It's a large, 2500KG SUV with a relatively small 71kW useable battery. 200+ miles of range based on your usage is pretty impressive so not sure what you expected TBH OP?Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff