‘Chargemap’, ‘Plugshare’ & ‘Audi e-tron charging services’ (which allows the integration of CP locations into the car’s built in sat nav, enables activation of all chargers with one RFID card and offers one pricing tariff across Europe through a monthly subscription fee) have been the main applications I used to locate charge points every 100-150 miles (every 1.5-2 hours of driving) of my journey. Identifying car parks and hotels with charge points was key to charging my car during idle time (sightseeing or sleeping) saving time from extra stops on the motorway. I personally used apps like Parkopedia & Zenpark and websites like Booking & Airbnb that offer an electric car charge point filter.
The AA website provides essential advice for travelling abroad, the documentation required, and specific rules per country (mandatory kit & equipment to carry, tyre requirements, vignettes needed per country, dashboard sticker(s) required for low emission zones, speed limits), offering car & breakdown insurance for peace of mind when you travel abroad.
Q2: During the journey (charging units – are these universal, does one size fit all vehicles? Language barriers? Parking restrictions? Is there a charge?
Charging speed is critical, especially when you embark on such a long trip. HPCs (Higher Power Charge Points with charging power ranging from 100KW to 350KW) can offer a full charge within 15-45 minutes, depending on the battery left and charging speed of the car (my car can receive a maximum of 120 KW per hour).
On average I was spending 25-40 minutes on motorway located HPCs, time sufficient for a comfort break, coffee or lunch, and planning the rest of the journey.
The most regular HPC operators I came across during my journey were: Ionity, TotalEnergies, Allego, Enel-X, Be Charge.
All HPC charging stations have a cable attached with mostly a CCS connector. The UK, France & Switzerland offer a good network of HPCs. The network was not as great in Italy, with Greece offering no HPCs (except for 1-2 Tesla hubs). When no HPC was available, a rapid DC charger of 50KW would require around 1 hour for a full charge.
Easy or more problematic? The biggest challenges of the trip
Some of the main challenges of the trip were:
i) CPs being out of service, meaning I had to identify another location nearby losing time from sightseeing.
ii) CPs occupied by other hybrid or BEV cars, which added another 15-45 minutes to the charging session. Most HPC hubs offer a few chargers, minimising the risk of all being fully utilised at the same time.
iii) Public slow or fast chargers available in city centres or car parks requiring a separate application to be downloaded, which every time required a new registration by filling out personal and bank account details. In some car parks in Italy the app was only available in the Italian language.
iv) The location of the CP in the app not being accurate, adding some extra time to the journey.
Overall, having an Audi e-tron RFID card saved me a lot of time, as I could activate most of the available chargers using only one RFID card. It may not be the more cost-effective solution, as you may get better prices by using the respective charge point operator’s dedicated app, however ‘time is money’, especially when you do a road trip, with sightseeing being the main priority.
Awareness of drive range across countries: what to do if you fall short or charge points unavailable/not working While I reached 2-3 miles of remaining range on a couple of occasions, I was lucky enough not to completely run out of battery. In such cases I was aware there are breakdown companies that offer a short charge to enable you to reach the nearest charge point.
With the significant increase of BEV cars in Europe, the development of infrastructure needs to follow at the same pace. This road trip was a great experience overall! I hope to do it again in summer 2022, with higher ambient temperatures & longer hours of daylight.
LUBE MAGAZINE NO.168 APRIL 2022
35
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