I do no planning for charging stops at all.

If i do stop and there is a charger there, i plug it in until i am leaving.

 

Only public charging is on long trips and yes it will simply be when we want to stop so coffee and loo breaks and lunch. However if we were to be on a touring holiday then yes if there are chargers at a tourist destination stop we would use them.

 

Makes sense. I guess it depends a lot on whether you treat it like a normal drive with just a top-up if available, or whether you plan a bit more if it’s a longer touring holiday.

I’m somewhere in the middle — I don’t micro-plan, but I do try to pick stops where there’s at least a half-decent walk or coffee spot nearby. Much of my long trips are often away from motorways

 

At the beginning I was planning, now...just jump in the car and drive. Usually the car prompt you to start "looking" for a charger and start suggestions if you are too low.
As other already pointed out, I just plug in if I stop for a reason.

 

I guess I have been much the same, my first EV was not the best experience, the in car navigation was abysmal regarding charging and ZapMap and ABRP was my go to guides for every trip. The latest car takes care of everything on main routes, still not the best on other Networks in rural areas

 

Lol! Sold the Leaf24 a while back as with the best will in the world it was not possible to get that car to the new regular destination.

But yeah, if you have a big battery and near the beaten path then I wouldn’t bother planning either.

 

I think like most older guys, my main concern is where the next wc is.

 

 

Generally use ABRP - pick a network, Tesla or Ionity and see how that works.
If once on route I have to divert due to traffic, I then make it up as i go along.

Car suggested chargers are not the cheapest.

 

Car suggested chargers are not the cheapest.

Advantage of a subscription card I know it is the same price at every one that my car suggests ie those in the Mercedes charge network and having an RFID card makes the process easy too. And I get all the charge data and cost in the car app sometimes just a couple of minutes after completing the charge.

 

On a long trip I plan where we are going to stop, although doing so now is a quick job. It needs to have plenty of chargers but also, if I'm with the family, food outlets my kids approve of, a coffee outlet my wife and I approve of, and toilets. So I don't like to just wing it. Although there are relatively few bigger hubs around without any facilities at all.
I also geekily like to see if I can get the max charge rate from my car even when I don't need it, so I tend to aim to stop below 10%.

 

Love this 👌 Totally agree — family stops are never just about the car, it’s food/coffee/toilets too. Planning stops becomes second nature, and I admit I also geek out on seeing the highest charge rate ⚡😂.

 

in no particular order;

checking if the charger has an overstay fine in case I have to rush back
check if its a Tesla thats its not the old style that dont reach my car or not a Tesla only one
its got to be a decent speed. no stupid supermarket slow chargers please
I'll usually stop around lunchtime so preferably a Costa, cafe, or somewhere to get a bite to eat
is it too far off my planned route. can I compromise.

 

Really like this list 👌 — overstay fines, speed, and food options all make a difference. My next car won’t be a Tesla, so those compatibility points (old style stalls, Tesla-only sites) are exactly the kind of details I need to consider too.

 

I'm in the ABRP and Zapmap preplanning group. Or I was.

Last long trip to Scotland was planned for a coffee break at Tebay Northbound. A glance at Zapmap showed no serious rapids so no charging planned.

Unfortunately we arrived at lunchtime on the last Friday of the school holiday. So overcrowded that you could barely get in the door. Decided to have lunch . Took ages.

When leaving and using an enlarged Zapmap I discovered that there's a huge ultra rapid charger hub who's symbol hides behind the symbol for the few old slower chargers on a smaller scale view of the map. The hub itself hides behind the services building. So we have to stop again for a proper charge later.

I let the VW sat nav choose the charging stop. It guided me to the public Tesla charger hub at the Radstone hotel in Larkhall. Peaceful and calm, half the price. Very civilised specially if you have your own sandwiches and tea.

Should have left it all to the car in the first place?

 

Really interesting to read, I can certainly relate. My first EV was an ID.3 and I had some awful charging experiences with planning/apps. My Tesla has been much better overall, but in rural areas (like the Highlands) I’ve had the same challenges, which is what led to my original question. My next car won’t be a Tesla, so planning is very much back on my mind.

 

I discovered from this forum I've been doing it wrong all my life.

Farm shops and similar a mile or two from a junction are so much better than grim motorway services.

 

Love this and totally agree, I’ve found some of my best stops by pulling into farm shops or little cafés just off the main road. So much better than the usual service stations, and it makes the journey feel more like part of the trip instead of just getting from A to B. The Tesla does make it harder to achieve this for norma motorway trips

 

Did you plan when you had a FF car? There are now more rapid charging locations than petrol stations ! Then there is thousands of destination chargers which will prove to be increasingly important. When every destination including houses have charging.

 

Yes I certainly did. Three children and a dog more than I have to deal with now made the quality of the eating drinking and exercising most important. Never gave a thought to availability of fuel. All trunk roads Colchester to Stonehaven.

Now in the empty bits of Scotland you did need to consider things like closing time and the Sabbath if you needed petrol. A different ball game entirely.

 

For a long journey on a new route I still plan as there are still a significant minority of MSAs that just have the 2 legacy Gridserves so best avoided. (see this map I did a while back that might be a bit out of date ). Also the zapmap comments are still worth checking as there are one or two MSAs with a hub that's just too small eg. Beaconsfield. Though other blackspots have been expanded.

Sorry Westmorland Services fans. I always avoid Tebay and Gloucester now between about 10.30 and 3. These are rammed. Even if you can get a charger, the queues for the grub can be massive!

A former member of here, Snax, has done a good map of charging hubs (evtour.info). I will use this to pick charging hubs on an unfamiliar route, some of which are the 'just of the motorway in a nice spot' type places, or cheaper (eg Sainsbury's Fastcharge - much cheaper than Gridserve).

If travelling in the evening Instavolt and Osprey (if you're Electroverse and Octopus Intelligent Go) have significant discounts, so I might use ZapMap to find mini 'Pub' or 'Burger' hubs of 2/4 chargers where these CPOs specialise.

Once you know the routes it's easy though. Eg the M25/M11/A1 route to the North East - I know there are good hubs at every decent sized service area now, so planning isn't needed, just pull in when you need.

 

That’s a great breakdown, totally agree on avoiding the 2-charger MSAs — I’ve been caught out there before and it’s not fun (plus mostly unhealthy food). I used to drive an ID.3 and planning was a headache, but in my Tesla things got much easier. My next car won’t be a Tesla though, so I’m back to thinking carefully about where to stop. Love the tip about evtour.info and checking Zapmap comments — so many people don’t realise how valuable those community updates can be.

 

Not really EV-specific, but check 12V battery booster (and charge it), spare key-fob + spare battery, tyre pump, tyre-seal gunk and locking wheel-nut.

 

Easy to forget the 12V booster and spare fob batteries until you need them! I always carry a tyre pump, saved me only the other day to limp with tyre company, thankfully wasn’t far away. Solid advice

 

Travel for work in my Y only use tesla chargers needs more thought in cornwall, Wales and East coast but never a problem, i did 100 k in my model 3 used to use fastned chargers in Newcastle but that was only because they were right next to where i was going never had a problem elsewhere

 

100k in a Model 3 — that’s impressive. Agree that Tesla’s network makes life easy. I’ve had the same thought about Cornwall/Wales/East coast — still needs more coverage, even my local charger on South Coast when I had a charging from home issue was and still is appalling. When I was in my VW I had a few rough charging trips, Tesla’s been better, but my next car won’t be a Tesla and although it has better range it is still those rural location where only a handful of chargers are available, so planning those areas is definitely on my mind

 

I choose comfort breaks and charge whilst there within the 'sweet spot' area of the charging curve to get maximum power - and then on to the next charger at a comfort break. Pointless hanging around doing a full 100% recharge! Usually charge up before going into a city, and try to use public transport whilst there.

 

I take a spare England flag folded up in the spare wheel well - just in case there’s a Reform Govt whilst I’m out. If I’m going transnational I might also pack a saltaire and Y Ddraig Goch just to cover my bases.

you can never be too careful nowadays…

 

Too late - I replaced my green flash with a saltire.

 

Biggest worry when on a trip is doubting if we shut the windows and locked the front door.