Hi guys,
We got the ferry last week from Plymouth to Santander, from there we drove on to the Costa Blanca.
Due to a delay on the motorway in Devon somewhere due to animals on the road, we were stuck there for an hour. This meant that we weren't able to charge before we got on the ferry, we got in with about 45% battery.
When we came off the ferry in Santander, I used electromaps to find the nearest fast charger on the motorway. We get to a Repsol 50kwh charger, the electromaps fob or app doesn't work. I then realise that by default, electromaps brings up all the chargers in Spain, you can have to select on the app which ones work with their app and fob.
We tried to download the Repsol app and set that up, we couldn't register because the app wouldn't accept a UK phone number, it only accept phone numbers from about 6 countries which they operate in. So we decide to go to the next town where there are more chargers to give us more options.
We arrive at Bilbao where we hit rush hour traffic. We manage to find another Repsol charger that does work with electromaps. When we arrive there's a Mercedes sprinter ambulance charging, we have to wait 30 mins. When we plug in to the 50kwh, the max speed that we get is about 30kwh. It's only one charger, it's not shared.
At the hotel on the stop over, they had a 2 pin plug for us to plug the granny charger into. Overnight we managed to go from 30% - 80%. The hotel didn't tell us before hand that there is a cost for using this socket, they charged us €13.50. I paid this without question because they were an older couple running a B&B and they really took care of us, we were the only guests there. I did mention to them that we didn't get a full charge in the domestic socket, other hotels have a EV charger installed.
The hotel that we're staying at on the way back costs €2 per hour during the day and €1 during the night to use their charger.
On to the villa that we're staying at, we booked this before covid for 2020 when were planning on flying there. This year when we decided to drive, I asked the middle aged British woman who lives in Spain and manages the villa if it would be possible to charge on the socket here. She told me that electricity is very expensive here, I asked if I could use it as a back up if I can't use public chargers, she said yes.
On our arrival she told me not to use the villa as electricity is so expensive, I offered to pay extra for the electric. She then fed me a load of lies about how Spanish houses are not wired very well and that it could overload the circuit or start a fire. I told her that I could turn the amps down on the car so that it draws less power than fridge. She didn't understand it, she has preconceived ideas about electric cars and didn't want to listen to logic.
So we try to use the public charging network here in a small town. We go to one at the supermarket, it's managed by a company called Elec Charge, I try to download the app, I can't find it on the app store, I think it's a Spanish app and only shows if you have your language set to Spanish. I called the company, they tell me that their chargers also work on another app called Place to plug. The next day we go back and get it working.
Close by to our villa is a nice hotel and restaurant with a Tesla destination charger, I called up to book lunch and asked about the charger. Said told me that it's €20 to use the charger. I said that I'd only be there for a couple of hours and it's a slow charger. She was just on reception and didn't understand much about it.
For the next few days we try various chargers. We find that often the charger will say 22kwh, when we charge the max that we get is 11kwh. One day a charger is working, the next day we go there, it's out of order.
In a paid car park, there is a free Tesla destination charger, again that says 22kwh, only charges at 11kwh. These free chargers are used quite a lot by Spanish locals, most of the EV's that I've seen here are company owned. I don't think that many chargers are installed in peoples homes and businesses here.
The sum it up, the attitudes are 5 - 10 years behind the UK, the public charging network is tricky to use and unreliable. I don't see much of a shift happening here anytime soon, it will be several years. I'm sure things are better in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, the rest of the country will take time to catch up.
We got the ferry last week from Plymouth to Santander, from there we drove on to the Costa Blanca.
Due to a delay on the motorway in Devon somewhere due to animals on the road, we were stuck there for an hour. This meant that we weren't able to charge before we got on the ferry, we got in with about 45% battery.
When we came off the ferry in Santander, I used electromaps to find the nearest fast charger on the motorway. We get to a Repsol 50kwh charger, the electromaps fob or app doesn't work. I then realise that by default, electromaps brings up all the chargers in Spain, you can have to select on the app which ones work with their app and fob.
We tried to download the Repsol app and set that up, we couldn't register because the app wouldn't accept a UK phone number, it only accept phone numbers from about 6 countries which they operate in. So we decide to go to the next town where there are more chargers to give us more options.
We arrive at Bilbao where we hit rush hour traffic. We manage to find another Repsol charger that does work with electromaps. When we arrive there's a Mercedes sprinter ambulance charging, we have to wait 30 mins. When we plug in to the 50kwh, the max speed that we get is about 30kwh. It's only one charger, it's not shared.
At the hotel on the stop over, they had a 2 pin plug for us to plug the granny charger into. Overnight we managed to go from 30% - 80%. The hotel didn't tell us before hand that there is a cost for using this socket, they charged us €13.50. I paid this without question because they were an older couple running a B&B and they really took care of us, we were the only guests there. I did mention to them that we didn't get a full charge in the domestic socket, other hotels have a EV charger installed.
The hotel that we're staying at on the way back costs €2 per hour during the day and €1 during the night to use their charger.
On to the villa that we're staying at, we booked this before covid for 2020 when were planning on flying there. This year when we decided to drive, I asked the middle aged British woman who lives in Spain and manages the villa if it would be possible to charge on the socket here. She told me that electricity is very expensive here, I asked if I could use it as a back up if I can't use public chargers, she said yes.
On our arrival she told me not to use the villa as electricity is so expensive, I offered to pay extra for the electric. She then fed me a load of lies about how Spanish houses are not wired very well and that it could overload the circuit or start a fire. I told her that I could turn the amps down on the car so that it draws less power than fridge. She didn't understand it, she has preconceived ideas about electric cars and didn't want to listen to logic.
So we try to use the public charging network here in a small town. We go to one at the supermarket, it's managed by a company called Elec Charge, I try to download the app, I can't find it on the app store, I think it's a Spanish app and only shows if you have your language set to Spanish. I called the company, they tell me that their chargers also work on another app called Place to plug. The next day we go back and get it working.
Close by to our villa is a nice hotel and restaurant with a Tesla destination charger, I called up to book lunch and asked about the charger. Said told me that it's €20 to use the charger. I said that I'd only be there for a couple of hours and it's a slow charger. She was just on reception and didn't understand much about it.
For the next few days we try various chargers. We find that often the charger will say 22kwh, when we charge the max that we get is 11kwh. One day a charger is working, the next day we go there, it's out of order.
In a paid car park, there is a free Tesla destination charger, again that says 22kwh, only charges at 11kwh. These free chargers are used quite a lot by Spanish locals, most of the EV's that I've seen here are company owned. I don't think that many chargers are installed in peoples homes and businesses here.
The sum it up, the attitudes are 5 - 10 years behind the UK, the public charging network is tricky to use and unreliable. I don't see much of a shift happening here anytime soon, it will be several years. I'm sure things are better in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, the rest of the country will take time to catch up.
