[Malcolm Hedges]

Worth checking out the electric felix blog and following him on Twitter

electricfelix

Travel guides to Europe by EV. Cheaper fast charging in Europe. Personal advice for EV roadtrips. Electric roadtrips in Europe. Cheaper charging at Ionity. Guides to Europe using electric vehicles.

www.electricfelix.com

 

[Malcolm Hedges]

Bravo, although I'm glad I took the boring option for that route (and beyond to Genoa) in the Tesla. I see Ionity are digging in Aosta now though, which is a helpful link with Bonneville when heading south

 

[Malcolm Hedges]

In a similar vein to the model 3 I had not very exciting trip back from the office in Canary Wharf in March and I've been at home ever since !

Apart from those 2 trips to Italy in June and September Efficient EV, fast charging, lots of locations .... problem solved let's hope the rest of the industry copy and paste (to be fair Ionity are on the right, if be expensive track)

 

[Malcolm Hedges]

Bit of a faff but try charge map and then look into the details of a charger (pick some random ones on route) the cards they take .. I found plug surfing covered my needs (as a back up) and no need to pay £xx down for a card etc (might have changed now) ... there is quite often some overlap between "providers" so the Shell app / new motion card might also work ... issue with apps and chargers is network coverage through so always worth having an RFID as back up.

It does all take a load of planning, you can go off autoroute and pick up some cheap/free charging at Aldi (or Lidl, I still get the 2 confused) ... eurotunnel folkestone is down so maybe use the Instavolt for a quick top up before getting on the chunnel ?

VW We Charge might offer a deal for our Seat friend ? Not sure if Kia/Hyundai have announced deals now they are part of the network. Outside of the Tesla network it's still looking a little complicated, overnight stop with charge might also help

 

[Malcolm Hedges]

I did a quick route plan with ABRP, Calais to Marseille, 1st using Ionity 2nd excluding Ionity. 1 hour 20 minutes longer not using Ionity. Personally I'd plan to use them and swallow the cost or just not bother. If you are going with family you really don't want to turn this into the "do you remember when Dad made us drive down to France in the Niro" family story , let alone the aggro at the time.

Your going to have to (as you are) do a lot of research here, I'd check out electric felix's blog as the info does update, certainly check plugs surfing / charge map / shell / total websites to see what chargers on your route outside of Ionity you could use with what cards, befriend someone with a first edition we charge card and get some free charging (?) ..

Without wanting to sound like a smart ar$e this is why we bough the Tesla, every year we travel down to the sister in laws in Italy at least once, quite often twice. I wanted to do it in an EV and Tesla are the only people who at the time made that route (Genoa) and many more possible without having to worry endlessly. Compared to ICE it's actually easier as we've had many a problem in Italy with unmanned petrol stations not taking UK credit/debit cards. It's very frustrating that the other manufacturers haven't got their act together on this and even worse with Ionity that with a patchy network half built they then turn the screw on price

 

[Malcolm Hedges]

Hi Sue

No, we're boring and keep going on the same route ! I do keep saying every year "we really should take our time one year and see a bit of France. My wife's Mum and Dad were Italian, her sister always wanted to live in Italy, my wife and her older brother (far) less so. 21 years ago she got a job in Genoa working for Costa Crucierre, she has family down the coast in Chiavari and up near Parma so it worked quite nicely. She now works in Geneva and has the multi pass for the Monte Blanc so we end up using those as they are a lot cheaper and hence get stuck on the same route. I'm all for going "the twisty way" but my wife is not so keen on my "enthusiastic" driving style (when in Rome, etc)

No ski flap in the Model 3 (blinking annoying) although you can get a tow bar which I guess you could plug a rack onto. Obviously they want you to go lifestyle and get the model Y . Lots of Enel X, Duferco and BeCharge in Aosta now and they are allegedly building an Ionity down there as well. Blinking expensive though.

My wife's Mum is from Borgo val di Taro and a lot of the family used to do the San Bernandino Route if they were going directly there, believe it is cheaper on motorway tolls that way as well but for Genoa ABRP quite often routes you via Frejus. Personally I think the MB route is prettier

 

[Malcolm Hedges]

No on the 2 year malarky I'm afraid. Sister in law has never been stopped for a Covid test. Dead quiet when we went through at 4 pm ish on Saturday though, first in the queue and straight through ...

Non Tesla chargers at chunnel we're out of order, frustrating as it's ideal to top up while you're waiting to be called ... we went from 68% SOC to 94% (LR M3) while killing time. I have heard of some ferries providing a charge on their boats so maybe that is a better option (not keen on ferries personally)

 

[Malcolm Hedges]

Have you tried looking at the coverage on the Shell app ? That might work for you. Plugsurfing is a £10, I've used it twice in 3 trips and I could have used the Shell app/card on those chargers for nothing