[MarkyM]

Been over a year since visiting my parents and Mum now having chemo for the big C in the last week. As lockdown ending next week planning to travel from South Wales to London to visit.

Have previously done it in my i3 Rex and does the 185.5 mile journey door to door without any need to stop with ACC on at 68mph. Car has comfortably well over 200 mile range using electric (33kWh) and the Rex when needed.

Now have an e-208.(50kWh battery/45.5 KWh usable?) . Did a quick motorway test between junctions 32 to 36 on the M4 this weekend, showed consumption at around 3mi/kWh. (so around 135 total range at motorway speeds) So planning to drive at normal 69-70mph ACC and have a stop at around the 100-120 mile mark (eg anywhere between Membury -80 miles from Cardiff / to Reading 105 miles from Cardiff)

Are there any fast chargers on the M4 at that point? As not travelled that way for a year I am hoping there are loads of BP/Pulse/Instavolt/Shell fast chargers available, and would even consider a new and improved Ecotricity CCS charger.

Looked on ZapMap but the actual M4 seems to have a black hole of 100kW + CCS chargers along the middle of the M4!

Have used Instavolt at Winnersh but a short drive away from the M4 at J10. And only a 50kW charger. Now the e-208 can charge at faster speeds, looking for faster chargers on the M4 proper. Are the BP/Polar/Pulse ones ready at Reading yet?

 

[Intranicity]

Not quite where you're asking, but there are 4 Ionity 350kw chargers just off the Chippenham junction, or in Swindon there are several BP Pulse 175kw chargers just off the motorway, take the A419 road and follow signs towards the Hospital, they are at the BP station on the opposite side of the roundabout

 

[Mrklaw]

Windsor too far? Shell just off J6 has a couple of 175kwh just finished being installed but not live yet (very soon)

 

[drmcw]

150 kW CCS in Newbury at BP garage on A4. Charge Point- BPU0060 on BP Pulse?

 

[MarkyM]

Not quite where you're asking, but there are 4 Ionity 350kw chargers just off the Chippenham junction, or in Swindon there are several BP Pulse 175kw chargers just off the motorway, take the A419 road and follow signs towards the Hospital, they are at the BP station on the opposite side of the roundabout

Thanks. They may come in handy on way back to South Wales but Ionity are expensive and a bit unreliable from what I have read and watched on YouTube. Still if they have 4 there should be some redundancy! How far from the M4 are they? 2 mins, 5 mins? 10 mins?

 

[MarkyM]

Windsor too far? Shell just off J6 has a couple of 175kwh just finished being installed but not live yet (very soon)

I think a touch too far. May be squeaky bum time but at least that is before J4b/M25 which we take from the M4. Will look them up and calculate the mileages.

 

[MarkyM]

150 kW CCS in Newbury at BP garage on A4. Charge Point- BPU0060 on BP Pulse?

Just the one? Will see how far it is from home.

 

[MarkyM]

Thanks for the replies all. Will do some map searches to calculate distances/mileage.

 

[SoulGW]

My experience is never rely on a BP Pulse charger if you HAVE to charge.

Asda recently put in 2 post here in Bristol. Every single time I have tried to use I have had a problem, and then yesterday the app failed again, called them to reset the post and they said “I’m sorry, we can’t do anything here today, all our network is down again.”

“Again”? I said, “does this happen often”.

“Oh at least three or 4 times a week” he cheerfully replied. I avoid Pulse now like the plague - pod point however, never ever had an issue.

 

[Intranicity]

Thanks. They may come in handy on way back to South Wales but Ionity are expensive and a bit unreliable from what I have read and watched on YouTube. Still if they have 4 there should be some redundancy! How far from the M4 are they? 2 mins, 5 mins? 10 mins?

2 mins, come off at Chippenham junction, on the motorway roundabout take the signpost towards the truck stop, and its just down the road

 

[MarkyM]

Not quite where you're asking, but there are 4 Ionity 350kw chargers just off the Chippenham junction, or in Swindon there are several BP Pulse 175kw chargers just off the motorway, take the A419 road and follow signs towards the Hospital, they are at the BP station on the opposite side of the roundabout

Just checking out ZapMap and 2 out of the 4 are "out of service" for the last few days. Ionity are a bit of a joke company!

 

[drmcw]

Just the one? Will see how far it is from home.

Just the one they say is working

 

[MarkyM]

2 mins, come off at Chippenham junction, on the motorway roundabout take the signpost towards the truck stop, and its just down the road

Thanks. Potential stop.

 

[MarkyM]

Can't wait for GridServe/Ecotricity to get their act together. It is amazing what crap we EV drivers still have to put up with.
That is why the i3 rex is still so far ahead of its time. If I ever needed to stop for fuel (just of J12 of M4- Sainsbury's- as normal pricing of petrol) just 80m or so from the M4 slip road. And the proverbial "2 minutes" to refuel (80-90 mile extra range put in IF needed) and on my way again. 99% of the time of course I run it purely as an EV. Only on long journeys does it earn its keep.
Have noticed the huge bank of Tesla Superchargers at Membury Services. Wistfully. Can see them from the motorway!. That is the perfect distance from home or parents for a quick top up.

 

[chris-b]

I have an e-2008 (so same battery/motor) and have done a similar trip, starting from Cardiff, on a couple of occasions. Have made it to Holiday Inn High Wycombe, and Miller & Carter Beaconsfield, both 50kw BP machines - though I probably didn't have the heater on much.

 

[MarkyM]

I have an e-2008 (so same battery/motor) and have done a similar trip, starting from Cardiff, on a couple of occasions. Have made it to Holiday Inn High Wycombe, and Miller & Carter Beaconsfield, both 50kw BP machines - though I probably didn't have the heater on much.

Both on or around the M40 so quite a bit of detour away from the M4 (quicker route) for us and only 50kW chargers you say. Ok if I was desperate or heading that way but in our case, not ideal. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Ben Cole]

Interesting thread for me. I use the M4 every day in this section (one direction or the other).

My Kona does the trip without the need for enroute charging but it's useful to know these locations.

What I couldn't get over though was the price at the Chippenham fast charging station. 69p/kWh. That would result in atrocious cost per mile, even compared to ICE cars. Are they all like this?

(Sorry for the thread hijack)

 

[Bill N]

Thanks. They may come in handy on way back to South Wales but Ionity are expensive and a bit unreliable from what I have read and watched on YouTube. Still if they have 4 there should be some redundancy! How far from the M4 are they? 2 mins, 5 mins? 10 mins?

Ionity reliability seems to be much improved nowadays - I’ve used a few different sites quite often so far this year and only once encountered one unit that was on free vend and only delivering ~35kW. Just moved to another unit.

 

[Bill N]

WattsUp app is now pretty good for quickly seeing what charging options are along a given route, as it now has filters for multi-charger sites only and/or high power chargers only.

 

[DanP]

Interesting thread for me. I use the M4 every day in this section (one direction or the other).

My Kona does the trip without the need for enroute charging but it's useful to know these locations.

What I couldn't get over though was the price at the Chippenham fast charging station. 69p/kWh. That would result in atrocious cost per mile, even compared to ICE cars. Are they all like this?

(Sorry for the thread hijack)

Yes, that’s the standard price for Ionity.

You can get it cheaper if you’ve a car produced by one of the companies that invested in Ionity (eg VW) or a card such as Shell Recharge (tho’ they appear to have billed me the full amount when I charged at the Chippenham chargers mentioned, must query it).

PS The charger worked well for me, and despite appearing to be a truckers stop there are decent facilities on site (shop/cafe/bathroom).

PPS Ionity don’t take contactless and there is no app, you can pay via their website but have read about people having issues with that, hence I got the Shell card (free).