[Robert McAdam]

I must be nuts but we are heading to Scotland (from Newcastle) next week. I did not buy the Leaf for long journeys! Wife thinks we should give it a go. Potential saving of £40-50 that swung it for her. Hey ho and away we will go God help us if St Boswell's is down!

 

[Robert McAdam]

I have done north of Aberdeen to south coast of England and back once, and north of Aberdeen to just north of Birmingham and back once. Each time was in my C-Zero (shorter range than Leaf, but also has CHAdeMO) and I have to say that although not as easy as doing it in an ICE it is quite manageable.

That sounded like quite an Adventure Matt! Yeah we should be ok or I wouldn't even be considering this. Thanks for that Flipper we wont be using Hexham , we will use rapids at Alnwick/Haggerston/St Boswell's/Ikea Edinburgh/Glasgow

 

[Robert McAdam]

As long as time is no issue then you should have no problems. Enjoy the trip. I am planning a roadtrip from Essex to Glasgow at some point likely via Stoke-On-Trent as we can stay there overnight. Looking at the Ecotricity Map then the A1 and A66 may be better than M6 although we'll go M6 if in Stoke. I know there are plans for rapids at Penrith and Carlisle which will make that leg easier. Anyone have any updates on them yet?

Have a look here http://rapidchargenetwork.com/drivers.php

 

[Robert McAdam]

Yes well charging is a major issue ATM with some areas charging silly amounts, others providing it free. The only reliable charge point I know is at my house, once I am out of range of it then I am in the lap of the gods

 

[Robert McAdam]

There is a new triple-charger in Coldstream, but not yet on CYC map so you may not want to take the gamble in case it is not yet working. It is supposed to be at "92 High St Coldstream, Scottish Borders TD12, UK". If you have the charge and time to do so, it might be worth going via there to check it out. If it really is operational it should make the trip easier.

Cheers Matt I will have a look

 

[Robert McAdam]

And Washington south would not start for me yesterday. The adventure awaits!

 

[Robert McAdam]

We're doing the same trip at the end of July. Well actually Colchester to Edinburgh, but it's the bits north of York that have been concerning me. Especially as I noticed yesterday that Hexham was down. I'm a bit happier now that I've seen @flipper 's message. Hopefully Hexham will be sorted by the time we go. Or maybe the coastal route is a better bet.

Please can you let me know how you get on. Good luck.

Yeah I will put it in this thread. Matt I might turn up at your house, cable in hand

 

[Robert McAdam]

Maybe not then

 

[Robert McAdam]

Last minute jitters last night and we nearly decided to take the ICE ( with its 600+ miles range) However we stuck firm! So hey ho and off we go with Eevie

 

[Robert McAdam]

Uneventful. 2 of us ( well my wife thinks there is 2 1/2 of us because I am 17 stone, cheeky cow! We got a full charge at Haggerston and decided to go straight to Edinburgh via Coldstream. Matt the new rapid is live, it was blue but would not recognise my CYC , ecotricity or polar cards, it said 'cards not recognized ' we did not bother to go to st boswells. Charged at Nissan Edinburgh and straight to my mums in Glasgow. All good

 

[Robert McAdam]

We're doing the same trip at the end of July. Well actually Colchester to Edinburgh, but it's the bits north of York that have been concerning me. Especially as I noticed yesterday that Hexham was down. I'm a bit happier now that I've seen @flipper 's message. Hopefully Hexham will be sorted by the time we go. Or maybe the coastal route is a better bet.

Please can you let me know how you get on. Good luck.

@Roger Bamforth We took the coastal route (A1) coming back, charged to 95% at Ikea and just cruised along at 61mph till Berwick upon Tweed. We could have easily made it to Haggerston but decided to have a bit lunch in Berwick. ( There is a cunningly concealed fast charge points at Berwick hospital which seems very reliable, just a bit hard to find. It's at the maternity entrance behind a large white breast screening van. Check Open Charge Map for more accuracy) Quite a pleasant drive that stretch of A1 coming down. Considerably less pleasant from Berwick to Alnwick ,single carriage with some real nutters overtaking at bends etc. Anyway, there are now rapids at Coldstream and Eyemouth though I could not get the Coldstream one to recognise my cards last week. Oh, and if you use the Haggerston Rapid, you will see a large brown rubbish bin in the charge bay. Thats deliberately there to discourage ICEing, you can yank it up to the right hand side of the rapid and drive in to charge. Please return the bin to it's position before you leave

 

[Robert McAdam]

Maybe if they read your post then they will Taxi drivers and driving instructors are certainly using the free leccy up my neck of the woods