Taking the EV to France
Discussion
Looking at driving to the dordogne area later in July, and having never done non uk travel in the car before, and just wondering what the charging network is like in France.
The reality is it's about 650 miles to where I'm heading from London, so will need to stop probably 3 times enroute. Ideally at the high power chargers, ie 150kw+, so stops are no.more than 30 minutes each.
Should it be relatively hassle free or am I going to regret taking the EV ?
The reality is it's about 650 miles to where I'm heading from London, so will need to stop probably 3 times enroute. Ideally at the high power chargers, ie 150kw+, so stops are no.more than 30 minutes each.
Should it be relatively hassle free or am I going to regret taking the EV ?
I reckon you'd be pushing it. You could probably get down there on Ionity fast charging with a bit of detouring and faffing about but I wouldn't want to do it unless I knew I was staying in a place which would allow me to charge whenever needed for local travel.
Do you have the Audi card which gives Ionity discount?
Do you have the Audi card which gives Ionity discount?
Which EV have you got? For the drive down If its a Tesla no issues the Supercharger network makes it very easy. Otherwise use Ionity, which apparently is very good in Europe now?
France has LOADs of 22KW AC chargers at nearly every other public car park. They are also mainly free to use but some have a 2hr payment blocks (I think), so you need a car that can pull AC at a decent rate to avoid a big bill- like a Zoe, who would have guessed the French would ensure they deliver a charging setup for the Zoe
.
Get a few charging apps and cards, I used ChargeMap, but Newmotion might be worth getting?
Also ensure you have destinations charging, anything well do, even a normal socket.
When we went a few years a
combination of destination charging and rapid AC (Our Tesla could charge at 17.5KW on AC) meant our car had a HIGHER average SOC than when at home, so no worries when you get to your destination
.
France has LOADs of 22KW AC chargers at nearly every other public car park. They are also mainly free to use but some have a 2hr payment blocks (I think), so you need a car that can pull AC at a decent rate to avoid a big bill- like a Zoe, who would have guessed the French would ensure they deliver a charging setup for the Zoe
.Get a few charging apps and cards, I used ChargeMap, but Newmotion might be worth getting?
Also ensure you have destinations charging, anything well do, even a normal socket.
When we went a few years a
combination of destination charging and rapid AC (Our Tesla could charge at 17.5KW on AC) meant our car had a HIGHER average SOC than when at home, so no worries when you get to your destination
.Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 4th July 05:46
Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 4th July 05:47
Interesting one....once people start to suggest multiple cards or apps, I realise the only car for me long distance is NOT our Kona EV!
Those chargepoints really need to be a simple as a petrol station: insert credit card, fill up, move on. Still a way off yet, I feel.
Fella on the Kona forum did do a trip through France (admittedly over 18 months back)....but the journey becomes the trip. Okay if that is what you want....
Another one more recently in a thread here, which again (to me) highlights how bloody awkward this still is!
Today, I’d only feel comfortable doing this in a Tesla.....or my Volvo ICE
Those chargepoints really need to be a simple as a petrol station: insert credit card, fill up, move on. Still a way off yet, I feel.
Fella on the Kona forum did do a trip through France (admittedly over 18 months back)....but the journey becomes the trip. Okay if that is what you want....
Another one more recently in a thread here, which again (to me) highlights how bloody awkward this still is!
Today, I’d only feel comfortable doing this in a Tesla.....or my Volvo ICE
i'm in the alps a lot. here, locals tend to have small suvs and often avoid new cars anyway. that could well describe a lot of France. also, it's a much bigger country and so 250km range may put even more people off than uk. i see Tesla chargers in good numbers, the others are single or pairs by public services and normally unused. may not always work as my friend discovered. I'd bring a Tesla, nothing else right now.
Aire de la Baie de Somme (just north of Abbeville) has a stack of both Ionity and Tesla stations, plus has recently been updated and is pretty nice - it's one of our usual stops en route to the Dordogne (admittedly for petrol and Starbucks!).
Most of the major Aires seem to be pretty well supported for charging stations.
Most of the major Aires seem to be pretty well supported for charging stations.
SWoll said:
gangzoom said:
Which EV have you got?
Audi ETron 55 according to his profile.I can charge in Calais at the eurostar terminal, so its then I suppose its finding somewhere just north of Paris to charge again, and then again between Paris & Dordogne. That should do it, as will be able to charge the car at the place I'm ultimately bound (albeit at a very poor rate, although I don't intend doing much travelling around once there - just fancy getting out to somewhere warm with a pool for a while with the family).
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