I'm just back from a 1,000+ mile trip round France. What a hassle free pleasure it was to charge the car.
I charged it 9 times in total and only saw 3 individual chargers that weren't working. Most of the locations I visited were on autoroutes or main roads and had at least 6 150kw or higher chargers. Never once did I see more than 3 cars at any one time charging and several times I was the only one. I mainly paid using my Shell charging card or credit card. I won't use the Renault Mobilize card as twice there was an unacceptable premium on top of the 59 cents or 50p typical cost per kWh.
I had a couple of issues at Ionity chargers (they may have been "user" error!) where I had to call Ionity who were in both cases quick to respond, extremely helpful and stayed on the line until I had moved the car to another charger and started a successful charge. I must have used chargers from a least 5 different providers.
I stayed in a tiny village that - unsurprisingly - didn't have a charger but there were 5 22 kWh chargers in other small villages within a 15 km radius. Amazing.
I averaged 3.3 mpkWh or around 200 miles for a full charge which was the result of generally doing 110 to 130 kph on the autoroutes.
If only charging in the UK was always that straightforward and hassle free.........
Charging in France
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natelittle
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2023 8:12 am
Great to know! I'm off to France this weekend so I'm glad to hear the charging experience is good. Hopefully the same goes for Belgium and Netherlands!
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natelittle
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2023 8:12 am
I'm happy to report that charging over in the mainland is just as good as described!
The Netherlands being the best place I have visited for EVs for sure. Lots of chargers dotted all over the country, there was a car park with 40 22kW chargers!!
And pretty much all of them priced below 35p/kWh. The entire trip was made better by Octopus energy electroverse though. It made it was easier to find and pay for charging. Would highly recommend getting the app
The Netherlands being the best place I have visited for EVs for sure. Lots of chargers dotted all over the country, there was a car park with 40 22kW chargers!!
And pretty much all of them priced below 35p/kWh. The entire trip was made better by Octopus energy electroverse though. It made it was easier to find and pay for charging. Would highly recommend getting the app
Agreed, charging in Central and Western Europe is a breeze. I personally feel that Ionity-hopping is the best way. Ionity seem spread almost perfectly along major routes, especially in Germany. Great example how Europe can accomplish things when she puts her mind to it.
One thing that I am very uncomfortable with are charge speeds. I've seldom seen anything above 100kWh, and it only lasts for a short time and dips towards 50kWh.
And it's mostly not charging network problem, but Renault bug. I constantly see KIAs charging at 150kWh, as I slowly suck power at 55kWh.
Anybody experienced this?
One thing that I am very uncomfortable with are charge speeds. I've seldom seen anything above 100kWh, and it only lasts for a short time and dips towards 50kWh.
And it's mostly not charging network problem, but Renault bug. I constantly see KIAs charging at 150kWh, as I slowly suck power at 55kWh.
Anybody experienced this?
