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First long trip - charging philosophy

1.6K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  EBZ  
#1 ·
So , hopefully i collect my 30kWh Tekna this Saturday - it's a commuting tool in the main, but mid March i am flying out of the country for 10 days on holiday, from Birmingham airport.

This being the first decent journey, and not one i want to be flat bedded on, could someone check over my logic..

From home direct to the airport is 94 miles, so within range of my LEAF (theres about 10 miles of 50mph roadworks on the route and i'm happy at 65mph on the motorway).

I believe there are rapid chargers along the route as follows..

Strensham Services northbound (ie on way to airport) @ 67 miles - Ecotricity
Webbs of Wychbold @ 70 miles - ChargeYourCar ?
Hopwood Services @ 79 miles - Ecotricity

I also believe there may be rapid chargers (Ecotricity) at B'ham airport as well, but that might be cutting it fine if they are out of service on the day

My thoughts were to give it a rapid top up at Hopwood on route to the airport - in theory I should be ca 35% on arrival at Hopwood, a quick 30 minutes should get me back to 80% or a tad more. That should mean i arrive at the airport with over 70% charge, park up and leave it 10 days. I'll be getting back to the car at around 7am for the journey home.

Clearly there won't be enough charge to get me back home (94 miles), so a blast at Webbs of Wychbold (with Strensham as a fallback) looks OK to my eyes

Anyone disagree or have other thoughts?

ChargeYourCar now covered by another app/company ??


I'm not bothered by the costs - ÂŁ12/ÂŁ18 for Ecotricity for 190 miles is fine for peace of mind/convenience


Thanks in advance
 
#2 ·
Worth noting the Webbs one (and Abbey Stadium in Redditch) are limited to about half power. I found out to my cost one lunch hour. They are now shown as lower power on the Polar website due to me having time on my hands to harange them:). Hopwood has two chargers so good, but they are by the main entrance so bad for ICE'ing.

Richard
 
#4 ·
My only caution would be 94 miles within the range of a 30kWh leaf. Some on here will be very happy to travel 100+ miles on a full charge but from my experience 80 miles would be the max I would do on a motorway before a charge. Every driver is different though and I am also risk adverse so tend to be extra cautious on range.

I am doing a 92 mile trip to York from home shortly and plan to stop after 25 miles for a 30 min 7kWh charge just to be safe....so thats me mr Cautious! lol

J
 
#7 ·
The webbs one is still good even if it is limited to half power. I didn't actually notice the other day but I guess I got lost in the garden centre for an hour!
It all depends what time of day you're doing it - the M5->M6 and the M5->M42 and M42->airport and the M6...ah, to be honest, pretty much everywhere around the motorways in birmingham can be a total nightmare if you do it between 7-9am or 4-7pm on a weekday. You say saturday - should be FINE. But check also that there isn't some stupid caravan event on at the NEC! Note that webbs might not actually be open, the charger is only available during opening hours.

Note that there are slow chargers at resorts world - pod point - near the airport if you truly get stuck.

Personally I'd go with your plan of using hopwood park or go round the other way on the m5 and use frankley if its looking out of order.
 
#9 ·
I reckon Hopwood is your best bet on both legs. It has two chargers, so you're not relying on a single unit (which may be broken or in use when you arrive). I advise that you make sure you are registered and familiar with the Ecotricity app in advance of your journey. You need to set up your "Eco ID" and payment details before using the app.

Also - stick to 60mph maximum for the first few long journeys. Experienced EV drivers know how much margin for error their car can give, and are accustomed to pushing up to 70mph and beyond when they know the battery can last. But on your first few long journeys, stick to 60mph or less, never let the battery level drop below 15%, and don't rely on the overly optimistic range indicator on the dashboard (if it says you have 40 miles range left, you probably have 40km, even driving sensibly).
 
#13 ·
Hello Percymon,

Indeed it only shows rapid chargers for the moment. I am working on to show you more, but that is taking some time.
What kind of chargers are you looking for? Type 2 43kW? JEVS? CCS? Anything else?
I would like to know that, so I keep that in my mind with this tool. :)
 
#12 ·
My only caution would be 94 miles within the range of a 30kWh leaf. Some on here will be very happy to travel 100+ miles on a full charge but from my experience 80 miles would be the max I would do on a motorway before a charge. Every driver is different though and I am also risk adverse so tend to be extra cautious on range.

I am doing a 92 mile trip to York from home shortly and plan to stop after 25 miles for a 30 min 7kWh charge just to be safe....so thats me mr Cautious! lol

J
Agree with this - I quite often do journeys over 100 miles but would aim to top up at 80, especially after motorway running as I am not too keen on trundling along at 60 for too long!