690 miles in an electric car with a 18 months old :)

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A few months ago we finally took delivery of our 75D Tesla Model X. To say this is the most expensive, complicated, luxurious, and largest car we’ve owned would be an understatement. The car it replaced (a Nissan Leaf) was nearly 1 ton lighter, half a meter smaller, and multiple folds cheaper. However with a growing family, some hard saving, and my own interest in all things new in tech the Tesla is the car I’ve been looking forwards to owning for a long time!!


Two of the key questions I always get asked about EVs is range and charging. We did take our old Leaf on a 300 mile round trip from Cardiff to Leicester, but a combination of limited range (80-90 miles) and not that quick charging meant that one trip was enough to put me off using the Leaf for long distance drives for the whole time we owned it. So although the original 24kWh Leaf was/is a great commuter car, using one as a family wagon on long trips really isn’t enjoyable – Current 30kWh Leaf and the new 40kWh should change that though.


So what better to try and see what a difference the Tesla makes to the range/charging experience than road trip with the family??


Rather than just do a simple trip from Leicester to Cardiff, we decided to go a tour heading up north via Liverpool, than Lake District, Edinburgh, than back down to Leeds, before finally coming back to Leicester.

After plugging in the destinations to Google maps the total trip time came out to 673 miles, equating to nearly 14hrs of driving!!



Having previously done some big drives in the past including a 2000 mile blast across Europe it wasn’t the distance that bothered me, more how our 18 months old daughter would cope sitting in a car seat for that long!!! I even thought about cancelling the whole thing but when the departure day came we went for it.

Outward leg: Leicester to Edinburgh, via Liverpool – 356 miles, 7hr+

We left Leicester fully charged, and arrived in Warrington Supercharger for lunch. For those who don’t know Tesla have a series of rapid chargers (Superchargers) along the UK M-way network. These chargers provide a stupid amount of electricity, it takes a Tesla Supercharger about 1 minute to deliver the same amount of electricity a normal 3 pin plug can deliver in 1 hr!!


Unlike other EV chargers the Tesla chargers are much more reliable, have multiple chargers at each site, and can only be used by Tesla cars. So the chance of arriving at a Supercharger and not been able to charge is rare.




By the time we finished lunch the car was 100% charged and it meant when we didn’t need to do any kind of charging overnight when visiting friends in Liverpool.


The next day was the longer drive up to Edinburgh, up the M6. The scenery was beautiful, and we stopped for lunch just north of Carlie where there was another service station with 4 Tesla Chargers. Again by the time we finished lunch the car was at 100% charge, so we headed up to Edinburgh. This was when we were really thankful for having a massive car, our daughter hand been sat in the car seat for nearly 5 hrs that day and we needed everything thing possible to keep her entertained. The roads were amazing when we turned off the M-way!!



Anyone whos been to Edinburgh knows how hard city parking is we had some underground parking which was great, and given the traffic in town elected not to move the car for the next few days. It also meant we didn’t have anyway to charge the car, but with 40% charge left in the battery I wasn’t worried.



Return leg: Edinburgh to Leicester, via Leeds – 318 miles, 6h 30 min.

For the return leg we split the trip into two again for our daughter. First stop was just as Abington for breakfast/break. The car arrived with 10% charge but after 30 minutes was back up to 75%. This was enough to get us to Tebay with ease. When we arrived at Tebay it was time for lunch and gave much daughter a chance to run around before the drive to Leeds via the A roads, the car had once again got to 100% charge before we were ready to go. The scenery was lovely, but I was glad to pull into the hotel in Leeds, 2hrs spent navigating twisty Yorkshire A roads does knacker you out!!





Finally after spending a lovely night in Leeds, we headed up back home. Again I didn’t bother looking for a charger in Leeds, as I knew the car had enough range for the last leg. So finally after nearly 690 miles we were home!!.


The car performed perfectly, we didn’t need to stop any where any longer than we wanted to, didn’t need to bother looking for charging points in hotels/friends house, didn't need to slow down to 50mph tailgating a lorry. We simply drove it as would our previous cars.

So anyone whos still not sure how EVs can cope on a long family trip.....as long as you have a 200 miles range EV, with associated reliable charging network it simply isnt an issue.

Oh I forgot the average temp for our trip was around 5 degrees, and we never needed to turn any heating/light off to make it to the next stop. After this trip I can confidently say EVs really are a viable option for most, all that remains to be solved is get the price lower and more reliable M-way charging .

We are planning our summer road trip already!!

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^ We had an overnight between Warrington and Carlise. I was more worried about blocking a charger with a fully charged car whilst finishing food than having to wait for a charge to complete.

Charging from 10-80% is really quick, the last 10% is what takes time. We got to Warrington with 22% charge because we didn't leave home with 100%. Within 15 mintues the charger had added 30%. I also found the phone App always overestimated time needed to complete the charge, especially when charging to 100%.

Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 18th November 18:08

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croyde said:

Nice write up OP.

What I don't understand that for the price, of which I could never spend on a car, the Teslas are all pretty ugly.

Proportions are all wrong. And I can't bear touchscreens in a car. Had one in my last car and I think it's a bloody stupid idea.

Also all that money would get you a nice car and fuel for years. Possibly the lifetime of the car and no money wasted on motorway services meals

Petrol engines have come on in leaps and bounds in terms of performance and economy.

Even my 5.0 litre V8 2016 Mustang would get 400 to a small tank if driven sensibly on a motorway.

Yes that's right. Over 37 mpg.

My previous car was a 335i, tuned to about 380bhp at the wheels, motorway runs saw near 40mpg, combustion engines have come a long way since the Ford Model T.

The Tesla is by far the most expensive car we have ever owned, prior to switching over to EVs I had a XJR Supersport or F10 M5 on the short list, both would have cost less to buy than the Tesla and prettier, I fully understand that.

BUT I'm one for trying new things, life is short and money we earn is there to be used on things we enjoy. As soon as I drove my first EV (a Nissan Leaf) I knew all future cars would have to be EVs. Let's face it most of us on this forum don't have running costs of cars as our main focus, if we did than everyone would be driving Dacias .

As a self confessed car addict, I've wasted/spent far too much £££ on cars over the years, for me I don't see cars as simply cost per mile or £200/month to get from A to B. A car has to make me smile but at the same time it has to be good enough for all the family duties (such as taking everyone to Scotland). In the ideal world I would have a weekend toy, rather than a 2.5ton 6 seater SUV, but in the real world most of us have so little time free the thought of been able to disappear from the family for hours at the weekend for a blast in a 2 seater convertible is about as realistic as Trump brining peace to the Middle East!!! So the decision to go for the Tesla was a comprise between something that I would enjoy driving but also sensible for the growing family.

I love our Tesla more than any of my previous cars, no car is perfect, but this things isn't far off. I really couldn't careless about some of the rubbish I've seen posted/said about EVs. As far am concerned I've now done 11K miles since March with no change at all in my driving style/speed/range compared to my old combustion cars. As prices of longer range EVs fall, I hope more people will be able to discover there is life after the combustion engine, and it isn't half bad

• Not address on Google maps is not my home address, just a random drop point in Google. No idea who lives there or if they have an EV.

• WTF is all the stuff about LPG??!!! Didn't even know there are still LPG cars on the road.

Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 10th December 14:32

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SimonYorkshire said:

It goes without saying that Gangzoom would be unlikely to just so happen to have parked beside a Tesla supercharger during 110000 miles of ice driving, and for same reasons he would be unlikely to have taken all the same routes in an ice car - The Tesla EV will have dictated his routes and where / when / for how long he stopped.

Can you please stop posting BS...Please just stop it.

In case you haven't got a kid, or forgotten, any long distance trip in a 18 months old involves plenty of planning, I had no worries about charging it was my daughter who dictated how long/when the stop were. Infact at all the stop the car had finished charging long before we were ready to leave.

As for the route from Leicester to Scotland, unless you know a quicker up, going up the A50/M6/A74 is pretty much the only sane way. We could have gone up the M1/A1 as well but visiting friends in Liverpool dictated the route.

We have now planned a trip to either South France this summer in the Tesla. Yes we will be stopping enroute, yes we will be charging when stopped. But please just stop posting the same old rubbish. I estimate we will hit 20K in our Tesla by next year this time. For us, EVs work perfectly already as the main family car, it's as simple as that .

EVs are the future, I have to say at Blenhiem palace car show this year the EVs fitted in well with the all the classics on show.....and yes we went to Blenhiem palace in our EV, shock horror we didn't stop not because I didn't pass any EV chargers enroute but because trip was short enough for our daughter to sleep through each way (about 90 minutes each way).

Edited by gangzoom on Monday 11th December 18:17

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SimonYorkshire said:

so I think I won't spend £75k on one of the few EVs that could make that trip.

And nor should you, spending £75k on ANY car is pretty much financial suicide regardless of what powers it. But am a sucker for tech and love cars, so why the hell not? I certainly didnt buy the Tesla to save money.

Price is the single biggest thing holding back EVs. At 200 miles range coupled with a reliable/decent rapid charge network for our use there there is essenitally no compromise even on long distance trips.

I can only speak from my own experience, and regardless of what you might think all I can say is come 2019/20 my wife will also be trading in her car for an EV (probably Model 3) and I cannot wait. We certainly aren't shifting fully to EVs to make our lives harder on purpose,



Over the next few years as prices of 200 mile range EVs will fall, and we'll see just how many families are ready to make the switch like we have.

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Lord.Vader said:

does the car feedback to Tesla / share information with them, etc?

The car sends stupid amounts of data back to Tesla, someone measured the data it uploads back to Tesla via home WiFi and i believe your looking at Gigabytes of data dump back to Tesla every few days.

When I had my crash earlier in the year Tesla was on the phone to me checking I was ok before the police arrived at the scene!! So clearly the car is sending live data back to Tesla all the time.

I believe the car also stores all the video from the 8 cameras thats on it and the autopilot software is always in 'shadow' mode - trying to compare your driving to how it would do.

You can turn all this off if your the tin hat type.

Edited by gangzoom on Tuesday 12th December 15:13

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Blaster72 said:

Like millions of others, I live in a flat, hence no where to charge at home.

That does need to be sorted but its all doable, especially if you have an assigned parking space. Getting a 16/32amp socket installed 10 meters outside the house is not rocket science.

Apparently houses in the 1970s had no central heating and Victorian builds had no room for flushing toilets.

I suspect in 2050 we'll look back at all this worry regarding charging and wonder what all the fuss is about.

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TobyLerone said:

I can EASILY drive 250 miles in under 4 hrs - a journey I complete frequently.

You must be living in a different country to me!!

Trip to see the inlaws along the M42/M6/M5/M4, left early to try and avoid the traffic, still took nearly 4 hrs to cover 150 miles (no charging stops).

Traffic just about everywhere, and we were lucky not be caught up in any accidents/closures/diversions. I couldn't wait to jump out of the car by the end, amazingly my daughter was fine!!! At least it a sign she'll be fine for the trip to Europe we have planned in the summer.

[gangzoom]

^Zoe is a great little car, our in laws have one. Next to our X it looks tiny!



Had there been a option to get a used X when we bought we would have gone for it. With used S85s now starting to be available at sub £45k from Tesla which also means a 4 year 50k warranty its a decent saving over buying new.

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ash73 said:

but how much did the car cost about £80-90K? For that you could buy a luxury ICE car, hire a chauffeur for a year and sit in the back and read the paper, and be there in half the time!

Our X cost almost the same as a diesel Q7 (£71K versus £69K), difference been it costs me £5 fill the tank compared to £50? (no idea how much a Q7 costs to refuel). As for sitting in the back and reading the paper, you have to be joking right? with a 18 months old next to you.

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SimonYorkshire said:

Do new batteries for old EVs come at new EV prices? Battery lease for an old EV come at new EV prices? If so, how will that effect second hand value and how much of that £80k initial value has been lost - and how much petrol / LPG could that sum have bought? If new tech and cheaper batteries come out

Good thing you haven't bought an EV than??

I find your concern about EVs odd as you have nothing invested in EVs where as I've been driving them since 2015, all funded for with my own cold hard cash.

How about people like me who are trying all this new tech worry about those things

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The Mad Monk said:

Hmm.

Not quite.

FFS, if people want to argue about emissions claims etc do it on a different thread.

How many times have I mentioned 'zero emission' as my movitation for getting an EV? I think your find its zero .

I cannot stop driving our EV because ita a BETTER driving experience, I thought people on this forum would understand that more than most??

I've done 12K in the Tesla since March last year, previously my annual mileage was just 8k. When ever possible I now take the scenic route, and I thought I never say that when driving a 2.5 ton 6 seater SUV!!!

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rscott said:

Not a particularly sensible point though. Most people considering purchasing a new EV would probably also have evaluated a new ICE vehicle as an alternative option, not a £1k barge.

Similarly someone looking to spend £60k on a new ICE BMW is highly unlikely to be comparing it to a £1k 20 year old BMW.

Actually my other chocie of car would have been one of these...



Or this



So I find any comparisons with a E46 or talk of saving the planet to be quite comical!!

Incidentally I have no interest in either anymore .

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RacerMike said:

Lot of sticks in the mud on this thread. Really great original post, and having worked to develop an EV over the past 14 months, I'm actually pretty convinced. Being single and without a family, I'm still currently sticking with my impractical and thirsty road car, but, if and when I need a second car with more space, I'm now strongly considering an EV. I really like them, and they're no where near as impractical as some on this thread would have you believe. I also just don't see the point anymore in cars like the Panamera, M5 or S Class. Next years Porsche Misson E will absolutely blow them out of the water. It'll be faster, handle better, be more refined and be as useable as any of the conventional cars.

The thing a lot of people completely miss is the fact that, if you stop for said coffee break, you don't actually have to charge it to 100%! Put it this way, in the time it takes to stop and have a coffee and a wee, you'll have spent at least 10-15 mins at a service station. From genuine experience, on a 90kWh battery charging at the lower 50kWh rate (when a Supercharger is 130kWh), you get around 1% per minute of charging. So, if you were doing a 300 mile journey, you're 10-15min pit stop would see about 10-15% battery capacity added which equates to about 40 miles or so in that time. Considering that a 90kWh EV has a solid 250+mile range, this should be enough to complete your trip. And the reality is, it's barely any imposition at all to leave it plugged in for another 5 mins and get another 10-20 miles! The inconvenience even now (at the relative cusp of mainstream EVs) is minute for a significant proportion of road users....

Edited by RacerMike on Thursday 1st February 11:48

90kWh EV developed over the last 14 months....wouldnt have to be a Jaggg .

Got one eye on the EV XJ, Jag could leap frog the German brands over the next fews years with the early adoption of EVs.