Yorkshire to Dordogne
Discussion
Heading off tonight in the E-Tron, down to the Dordogne which always makes for fun.
Last time ended up in a service station with little to zero range and chargers not working, so Audi Assist needing to be called to get us to another site to charge. That was 2 years ago (I think), so am hoping there are more fast chargers around now on the main roads, so hopefully the journey is a bit more chilled.
Fingers crossed
Last time ended up in a service station with little to zero range and chargers not working, so Audi Assist needing to be called to get us to another site to charge. That was 2 years ago (I think), so am hoping there are more fast chargers around now on the main roads, so hopefully the journey is a bit more chilled.
Fingers crossed
I’ve done Manchester to Lagos - Tesla - no problems apart from missing a turning in Bordeaux and ending up getting to the charger on the electrical equivalent of fumes. I tried to plan a back up network but it was just too difficult two years ago as a lot needed local phone numbers to get charge cards etc.
If you aim for Ionity or whatever ABRP advises and have the superchargers for backup I reckon you’ll be fine.
If you aim for Ionity or whatever ABRP advises and have the superchargers for backup I reckon you’ll be fine.
It went pretty much incident free to be honest.
I stuck with IONITY all the way and the only issues were a few charger either not working or restricted to 35kw. Plenty to chooses from though at each place so just moved to another and all good.
I generally get around 200 miles from a full charge, and it’s generally pressing on where possible. Think I was getting around 180 on the journey but the car had 5 people in it, was absolutely rammed with luggage, all the kids were using the usb chargers for their devices and the air con was on max all the way as the temperature outside was mid 30’s to early 40’s at times.
Probably circa 3 hours of charging in total, but on the basis I would have stopped for something to eat last night at the services, this morning for breakfast and then again for lunch it’s probably not that bad at all.
Would be nice it if the Etron did a genuine 300+ miles on a charge, but this one doesn’t. It being changed next year for the replacement etron so fingers crossed for more range from that, which seems to be banded around as a considerable uplift.
Think it I were doing the trip a few times a year though I’d get annoyed with the EV and likely buy a proper Range Rover (which was a consideration for a replacement for the current etron, but it’s hard to get away from the tax advantages as a company owner).
I stuck with IONITY all the way and the only issues were a few charger either not working or restricted to 35kw. Plenty to chooses from though at each place so just moved to another and all good.
I generally get around 200 miles from a full charge, and it’s generally pressing on where possible. Think I was getting around 180 on the journey but the car had 5 people in it, was absolutely rammed with luggage, all the kids were using the usb chargers for their devices and the air con was on max all the way as the temperature outside was mid 30’s to early 40’s at times.
Probably circa 3 hours of charging in total, but on the basis I would have stopped for something to eat last night at the services, this morning for breakfast and then again for lunch it’s probably not that bad at all.
Would be nice it if the Etron did a genuine 300+ miles on a charge, but this one doesn’t. It being changed next year for the replacement etron so fingers crossed for more range from that, which seems to be banded around as a considerable uplift.
Think it I were doing the trip a few times a year though I’d get annoyed with the EV and likely buy a proper Range Rover (which was a consideration for a replacement for the current etron, but it’s hard to get away from the tax advantages as a company owner).
Hobo said:
It went pretty much incident free to be honest.
I stuck with IONITY all the way and the only issues were a few charger either not working or restricted to 35kw. Plenty to chooses from though at each place so just moved to another and all good.
I generally get around 200 miles from a full charge, and it’s generally pressing on where possible. Think I was getting around 180 on the journey but the car had 5 people in it, was absolutely rammed with luggage, all the kids were using the usb chargers for their devices and the air con was on max all the way as the temperature outside was mid 30’s to early 40’s at times.
Probably circa 3 hours of charging in total, but on the basis I would have stopped for something to eat last night at the services, this morning for breakfast and then again for lunch it’s probably not that bad at all.
Would be nice it if the Etron did a genuine 300+ miles on a charge, but this one doesn’t. It being changed next year for the replacement etron so fingers crossed for more range from that, which seems to be banded around as a considerable uplift.
Think it I were doing the trip a few times a year though I’d get annoyed with the EV and likely buy a proper Range Rover (which was a consideration for a replacement for the current etron, but it’s hard to get away from the tax advantages as a company owner).
Interesting post as I’ve just returned from a very similar journey in an ICE car.I stuck with IONITY all the way and the only issues were a few charger either not working or restricted to 35kw. Plenty to chooses from though at each place so just moved to another and all good.
I generally get around 200 miles from a full charge, and it’s generally pressing on where possible. Think I was getting around 180 on the journey but the car had 5 people in it, was absolutely rammed with luggage, all the kids were using the usb chargers for their devices and the air con was on max all the way as the temperature outside was mid 30’s to early 40’s at times.
Probably circa 3 hours of charging in total, but on the basis I would have stopped for something to eat last night at the services, this morning for breakfast and then again for lunch it’s probably not that bad at all.
Would be nice it if the Etron did a genuine 300+ miles on a charge, but this one doesn’t. It being changed next year for the replacement etron so fingers crossed for more range from that, which seems to be banded around as a considerable uplift.
Think it I were doing the trip a few times a year though I’d get annoyed with the EV and likely buy a proper Range Rover (which was a consideration for a replacement for the current etron, but it’s hard to get away from the tax advantages as a company owner).
Staying at a villa in Lot, drove down 2 weeks ago and returned yesterday.
Drive down we did the same as you, stayed at a hotel 2/3rds if the way down and completed the rest of the journey the following day.
While the hotel and evening meal were nice, it felt like a waste of a day. We all (including a 4 and 7 year old) felt like we’d rather pushed on and just done the journey in a single (albeit long) day.
On the drive home we chose to leave a bit earlier than checkout allowed (7am vs 10am) and just drive home in a single day.
Did the journey home with just a few comfort stops, one of which included one for fuel and one of which was at the eurotunnel.
All done a petrol 3 series with a Roofbox. No idea about mpg, but easily done on less than 2 tanks of fuel, cruising at around 90mph.
Have to say I’d have been annoyed if I’d have wait somewhere to charge a battery.
Not sure about the challenges, but the ability to fast change for 35 mins on the Eurotunnel trains would be a game changer. Hit the tunnel on ‘fumes’ and leave with 200 miles in the ‘tank’
Edited by survivalist on Saturday 13th August 21:22
Eurotunnel wanted £800 return. Ferry was £200 return (flexible ticket with priority loading). If the difference had been nearer I’d have gone eurotunnel but for £600……
It’s a lot of travelling in 24 hours. We set off at 9.30pm last night and got to the house at 8pm this evening. It would still be a lot of travelling in an ICE car though.
Driving in France is relatively relaxed compared to the UK, however I think in the future I’ll probably look to overnight in Paris or somewhere on the way down and maybe London on the way back to break it up a bit, which to be fair is what we have done previously (albeit a few days in Paris).
It’s a lot of travelling in 24 hours. We set off at 9.30pm last night and got to the house at 8pm this evening. It would still be a lot of travelling in an ICE car though.
Driving in France is relatively relaxed compared to the UK, however I think in the future I’ll probably look to overnight in Paris or somewhere on the way down and maybe London on the way back to break it up a bit, which to be fair is what we have done previously (albeit a few days in Paris).
We have a hybrid XC90 and can get from South London to our house in the Dordogne on one tankful, cruising at 80-85 with four of us and all our luggage. That means we can comfortably do door to door in 13 hours with minimal comfort stops.
It would be a real pain and make the journey more than an easy days driving if you had to factor in 1-2 hours of charging
It would be a real pain and make the journey more than an easy days driving if you had to factor in 1-2 hours of charging
Edited by ClaphamGT3 on Saturday 13th August 22:23
We went from Yorkshire to Tuscany a couple of months ago in our id3.
France was great, apart from ionity charging per minute target than khw, I think that's changed now though.
I'd just like to warn anybody else that's doing a similar trip that there's no ionity northbound at Calais, and when we went all the rapid chargers were broken elsewhere
France was great, apart from ionity charging per minute target than khw, I think that's changed now though.
I'd just like to warn anybody else that's doing a similar trip that there's no ionity northbound at Calais, and when we went all the rapid chargers were broken elsewhere
survivalist said:
Interesting post as I’ve just returned from a very similar journey in an ICE car.
Staying at a villa in Lot, drove down 2 weeks ago and returned yesterday.
Drive down we did the same as you, stayed at a hotel 2/3rds if the way down and completed the rest of the journey the following day.
While the hotel and evening meal were nice, it felt like a waste of a day. We all (including a 4 and 7 year old) felt like we’d rather pushed on and just done the journey in a single (albeit long) day.
On the drive home we chose to leave a bit earlier than checkout allowed (7am vs 10am) and just drive home in a single day.
Did the journey home with just a few comfort stops, one of which included one for fuel and one of which was at the eurotunnel.
All done a petrol 3 series with a Roofbox. No idea about mpg, but easily done on less than 2 tanks of fuel, cruising at around 90mph.
Have to say I’d have been annoyed if I’d have wait somewhere to charge a battery.
Not sure about the challenges, but the ability to fast change for 35 mins on the Eurotunnel trains would be a game changer. Hit the tunnel on ‘fumes’ and leave with 200 miles in the ‘tank’
I wouldn’t even consider an overnight stop on the way to the Dordogne. Perhaps one stop at an aire north of Paris to swap drivers. Last time I did this was down to Meribel earlier this year. My observation was that there were a lot of Teslas going fairly sedately on the road, presumably optimising speed vs. charge time. We just did it at 90 the whole way on a single tank. Staying at a villa in Lot, drove down 2 weeks ago and returned yesterday.
Drive down we did the same as you, stayed at a hotel 2/3rds if the way down and completed the rest of the journey the following day.
While the hotel and evening meal were nice, it felt like a waste of a day. We all (including a 4 and 7 year old) felt like we’d rather pushed on and just done the journey in a single (albeit long) day.
On the drive home we chose to leave a bit earlier than checkout allowed (7am vs 10am) and just drive home in a single day.
Did the journey home with just a few comfort stops, one of which included one for fuel and one of which was at the eurotunnel.
All done a petrol 3 series with a Roofbox. No idea about mpg, but easily done on less than 2 tanks of fuel, cruising at around 90mph.
Have to say I’d have been annoyed if I’d have wait somewhere to charge a battery.
Not sure about the challenges, but the ability to fast change for 35 mins on the Eurotunnel trains would be a game changer. Hit the tunnel on ‘fumes’ and leave with 200 miles in the ‘tank’
Edited by survivalist on Saturday 13th August 21:22
rxe said:
survivalist said:
Interesting post as I’ve just returned from a very similar journey in an ICE car.
Staying at a villa in Lot, drove down 2 weeks ago and returned yesterday.
Drive down we did the same as you, stayed at a hotel 2/3rds if the way down and completed the rest of the journey the following day.
While the hotel and evening meal were nice, it felt like a waste of a day. We all (including a 4 and 7 year old) felt like we’d rather pushed on and just done the journey in a single (albeit long) day.
On the drive home we chose to leave a bit earlier than checkout allowed (7am vs 10am) and just drive home in a single day.
Did the journey home with just a few comfort stops, one of which included one for fuel and one of which was at the eurotunnel.
All done a petrol 3 series with a Roofbox. No idea about mpg, but easily done on less than 2 tanks of fuel, cruising at around 90mph.
Have to say I’d have been annoyed if I’d have wait somewhere to charge a battery.
Not sure about the challenges, but the ability to fast change for 35 mins on the Eurotunnel trains would be a game changer. Hit the tunnel on ‘fumes’ and leave with 200 miles in the ‘tank’
I wouldn’t even consider an overnight stop on the way to the Dordogne. Perhaps one stop at an aire north of Paris to swap drivers. Last time I did this was down to Meribel earlier this year. My observation was that there were a lot of Teslas going fairly sedately on the road, presumably optimising speed vs. charge time. We just did it at 90 the whole way on a single tank. Staying at a villa in Lot, drove down 2 weeks ago and returned yesterday.
Drive down we did the same as you, stayed at a hotel 2/3rds if the way down and completed the rest of the journey the following day.
While the hotel and evening meal were nice, it felt like a waste of a day. We all (including a 4 and 7 year old) felt like we’d rather pushed on and just done the journey in a single (albeit long) day.
On the drive home we chose to leave a bit earlier than checkout allowed (7am vs 10am) and just drive home in a single day.
Did the journey home with just a few comfort stops, one of which included one for fuel and one of which was at the eurotunnel.
All done a petrol 3 series with a Roofbox. No idea about mpg, but easily done on less than 2 tanks of fuel, cruising at around 90mph.
Have to say I’d have been annoyed if I’d have wait somewhere to charge a battery.
Not sure about the challenges, but the ability to fast change for 35 mins on the Eurotunnel trains would be a game changer. Hit the tunnel on ‘fumes’ and leave with 200 miles in the ‘tank’
Edited by survivalist on Saturday 13th August 21:22
They were good as gold on the way down and because we’d planned in a stop the hotel was already paid for and the villa at our destination wasn’t available until the following day we didn’t have much choice.
Did rge return in one journey and if we do it again it won’t include any overnight stops.
rxe said:
I wouldn’t even consider an overnight stop on the way to the Dordogne.
Having done Hook of Holland to Norway last month in our EV I would agree. We did ferry to Denmark in one day and could have easily covered another 100 miles or so before it got dark, but given it was impossible to get to Copenhagen in one day anyways a stop was fine. Google says Calais to Dordogne is similar driving time as getting to Denmark in a day.
As it happens I've just booked the accommodation in Lake Como for next year and looking at Goolge maps, its a 12hr drive with zero stops, so will break it up with overnight in Basel. Overnight ferry on the Friday school breaks up, and will be in Lake Como for 2pm check in on Sunday.
Not convinced using our petrol car would be any more covinent than the EV, plus with 'free fuel' for our EV and ability to ferry 6 people around in comfort once there makes it a no-brainer for us to use the EV.
2024/25 might do South France or Portugal in the EV
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