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Thanks for the comments! We are doing our fourth trip to the south of France in January so will be interesting to see how we get on in the cold. What you might find on long journeys is that the battery heats up for the first charge, it then retains its heat to the subsequent charge. So actually on a multi-stop trip the overhead of charging the battery isn't quite as bad as you might imagine... I have certainly achieved max speeds in the UK despite the cold, as long as the battery is at the right temp.

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x Unfortunately I don't have battery preconditioning, a mistake I won't make again!! We've made this journey 3 times in the past during the winter so I know at times it will be a struggle. We'll be leaving home at -2C, it will get up to 7C in southern France but when we get into Spain it will drop to 0C and it could reach -5C. At those constant low temperatures, outside busy periods the charging units and cables get really cold and take a while to warm up!! 200 kms south of Madrid we'll hit 15C and everything will return to normal..

Thanks for the kind comments! We wanted to suggest an approach that anyone can do but combine it with something more geeky so hopefully there was something in it for everyone!

Thank you for the lovely feedback and thank you for being here 😊 my facial expressions showed it went over my head too and the domestic happened after the recording ended.....(joke).😂 I agree with you about the negative comments - I had it yesterday at work.....trying to promote the benefits (not just climate related) of going EV (to someone who has solar panels and a battery!!!) But I could not cut through the negative opinions people have gained from the mainstream media. All we can do is keep sharing our positive experiences of making the switch and it will take time.....it's great you're finding your way after the switch - it's a learning curve that we are still on. Happy to help/keep sharing experiences 😊

I do this sort of thing for a living so it's not so difficult if you know how.. :). I've not seen this myself but I suspect that what Google maps shows in car is the same data as what I retrieved, ie live status of the chargers. This is useful to know but not necessarily what you need - ie if I am planning to stop at midday tomorrow then I need to know how many chargers will be available THEN, not NOW! The live data is still very useful though as it allows you to skip a stop (if you have a Plan B of course) and it also allows you to see how busy a location is at a similar time to when you are planning your journey - so if you plan to stop on a Sunday lunch time next week, take a look at the live data THIS Sunday before you go as it will give you a good indication.

Hi Phil please see attached screen shots for Ionity Leeds. Looks much the same as Tesla info however yours is likely a lot more accurate. Martin

Thanks! I am not sure, I believe it will redirect you based on real time data if there are no chargers available, but if you are planning the route before setting off then it won't have a predictive model of how busy the charger is likely to be. The reason for this is that ABRP (or its servers) would have to have a data store of historic data to build these models, and this is unlikely to be something that CPOs would allow it (or anyone) to do.

Yeah exactly! It's also useful to know where the backup is if you have issues with the chargers or you just miss your turning. Also you may experience other problems, eg you get delayed in traffic and so want to stop earlier. This is of course something one of your passengers can do en route, you don't HAVE to pre-plan. On a very long journey (eg when we come back from the South of France) there is plenty of time for route planning as you're driving along...

Thanks Ali, glad you found it interesting! (I hadn't seen any of the content before recording, and I secretly found it interesting too.....) Thank you also for feedback about Cleevely EV and your experience with them; we just hope they'll come up North to Yorkshire.

​@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x They go up to Scotland ❤

Really pleased you enjoyed the spreadsheets and data!! Phil really enjoys pulling it all together and I'm a secret geek and find it quite interesting - I just don't have the patience to make it into a coherent story!

Very!! I miss having a normal key!

Ooh I did not know this! Thank you :)

Yes even in the one year we've had our EV, we have seen the network evolve and improve and it can only continue to get better!! Do you think since 2020 it's been an exponential improvement? It seems like we are quite similar in that we do regular routes and have preferred chargers along those routes. It's good to have a mix of at home, rapid and destination charging....we are quite partial to a Fastned but they aren't quite as widespread in the UK yet.

Thank you Gavin and hello to you down under!! We would love to do a Tesla road trip across Oz....the longer we've had the car, the more we appreciate it for sure. Check out some of our cross France road trip videos; and there will be more of those to come in 2025! Thanks again for the sub :)

Very much agree with you Ken about about the Tesla network, it is a very big advantage as a Tesla driver and like you have noticed, they are usually all in order and working! We'll be very keen to hear how you get on during your 4 month ski trip; I bet it will be easier than you think (and also very jealous!! Sounds like you're going to have a wonderful time) :)

No, it's the dream to have solar/battery/heat pump!!

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x Definitely the ultimate for anyone who loves a spreadsheet!

😂

Oh wow, very jealous Ali!! We loved the Twizy! Do you use it a lot in the UK?! How do you find the iPace? What about a Buzz....

@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x It is a farm vehicle, so mostly used close to the farm and on it. We did take it over the mountains to visit Steve & Jake @ EV Wales 😀. IPace is a wonderful car. We keep thinking about what we would replace it with, as don't usually keep cars this long - but nothing has persuaded us yet. If we get a van, we may go for a smaller car - going to see the Hyundai Inster soon, and hubby is tempted by a Mini. Yes, would love a Buzz, but don't think our budget will stretch to that

That’s so cool! Very difficult to part with a car if you’re happy with it and you’re not sure what to change it to….the Inster looks very interesting - there’s so many great EV’s coming on to the market, it’s amazing!

Yes, we concluded the same re price/spec of the BMW; kind of wish we'd tried the VW's. How did you find the MG4?

Glad you enjoyed! 4th EV is amazing, I bet you have seen so much change since your first one!! You're in for a treat on your drive to the Alps, we really hope it's a great trip - keep us posted!

Driving/charging Evs in France is significantly better than the 3 or 4 times I've taken our EV back to the UK. Where queueing for a charger seems to be the norm rather than a very rare exception. Remember France anywhere in January can be seriously cold ( never mind the Alps) so plan for more charging stops and longer charging stops as nothing works as well if it is really cold and hasn't been used for awhile. Don't forget it is compulsory there for winter tyres or snowchains

Thanks John! We did think it's going to take a little longer than usual so now you've confirmed we will definitely build that into the plan. I really hope one day the charging experience in England can be as nice as France....

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x Charging at only 50% of your expected rate is not uncommon especially if the actual charging unit hasn't been used for awhile and your battery is cold.

They do take a bit of getting used to don't they! We tried to look at a Cupra Born but when we walked into the dealership they ignored us so we made a quick retreat 🤣 really pleased you have no regrets; now you have your home charger (what a shame it took so long to get fitted!) it will enhance your experience even more :) We are definitely planning on more vids, we have 4 lined up ready to go including 2 more about our first year of ownership and a couple of UK charging ones.....

@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x will look forward to the other videos, I had read lots about the Cupra Born,so I'd virtually decided that's the one I wanted even before I went to the dealership , the dealer experience was faultless,best we have had, the Born is a terrific car, described as the " electric Golf Gti". We have had quite large SUV's for years so a smaller car for next years French holiday could be interesting ( our son is 6ft 2in at 14 ) like you we have been to France annually for quite a few years now, I hope having an EV does not add to the stress ,a stroppy " Kevin the teenager" is normally more than enough .

As long as you have Electroverse and have a plan with back ups (happy to help btw) you’ll only have Kevin moments to contend with 😉 we’ve found charging in France kind of adds to the holiday, it’s just a nice experience 🙂

Our first video was a destination charger - ruclips.net/video/oEw7ygzz5WA/видео.htmlsi=zmp3pmhcw7wlkIB5. We have found these quite useful but as with destination chargers in the UK I wouldn't rely on them. If there is one somewhere you're going anyway it can be worth trying a charge to save you a separate trip, we just use the Electroverse app to find them. it worked out quite well for us when we stayed somewhere quite out of the way (Saou - 30km east of Montelimar) as we parked up for a few hours while we went for a walk and explored and came back to about 40kWh added (or 65% on our car).

Other times we've successfully used destination charging is when we've stayed overnight at hotels both in the UK and France. These have tended to be 22/7kW chargers and have let us fill up while we've been sleeping all ready to set off the next day.

Thanks for sharing your experience. As it says in the video the difference does come down to the route and your driving preferences - with a petrol/diesel it's possible to drive for 3 hours, stop for 5 minutes and do a driver swap/comfort break, and carry on for another 3 hours. Plus as you say in an EV you're dependent on the location and availability of chargers which is better on some routes than others. Tesla chargers in particular can involve detours vs a quick stop and go at an Aire, this can add quite a bit to overall time - this is why we try to record the time from entering the slip road to charge started in our videos.

@ to many, these may seem trivialities and nuances but the reality of the same journey taking two or three hours longer because of leaving the autoroutes, arriving at the charger,charging,arriving back on the route again adds that much over stopping because you fancy a break or refuelling. Might be worth mentioning the forthcoming palarva over chargers having mandatory bank card rfid readers instead of the ongoing nonsense of memberships, subscription categories, rfids for every netwrok you’ll need, apps etc. vs Tesla not being required to have any of that and the possibility of Tesla refusing access to non Teslas and vice versa!

Be interested to know how you found the two different cars in terms of driving experience. I’ve definitely found EV to be a more calming driving (apart from range anxiety) than my old ICE cars I’ve had in the past.

@@johnw65uk Two different prospects. Teslas are designed for American roads. Mostly Straight with corners at junctions. Peugeots are designed for European roads which bend and curve a lot. So the model 3 feels like a skateboard by comparison to the Rifter. The Tesla eats up motorways and feels heavy on bendy local roads. The Rifter doesn’t hang about and drives like a modern turbo diesel….and has massive load space. The differences between a Model 3 (low seats mean climbing in and holding onto bodywork while rolling out of the seat) and a manual box Rifter (step in and out like an SUV), ride quality, seat height, quality of driving… is vast. The rifter is much softer to drive due to more compliant suspension, smaller tyres with higher side profile, better suspension, load carrying, is easily quieter inside than the model 3, has better all around visibility…. We have kept the model 3 because it has depreciated so much and costs so little to run, otherwise (mainly because Tesla owners are treated like stupid beta testers for an incomplete product, but also because Musk is a dangerous lunatic who has never had an original thought in his life but who can crash brand value like a bull in a china shop) we would have sold it long ago. I use both cars interchangeably. The peugeot feels more like an SUV to sit in as well as the higher all around view point. On longer journeys which require use of Autoroutes (we live in France) it has a 6th gear and apart from some inclines, rarely comes out of 6th. In terms of refuelling, the tesla is 99.9% charged at home but out on the road is a nightmare to recharge on local routes; nothing to do with the car and everything to do with crap infrastructure.

Thanks! Yeah we're not very good at following instructions, we find it annoying that all the chargers have different interfaces, a nice thing about using the Electroverse app is you just plug in and then it's the same steps whichever CPO you're using. We do use Tesla (see our other vids) but there are good reasons not to sometimes eg locations that require detours, poor amenities and no weather protection.

Plus sole Tesla charging is boring 😂(Sarah)

You mean the CritAir? We did wonder if it was right side when looking at the car, or right side when looking out from the car!! So it needs to be on the drivers side is what you're saying? Thank you!

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x , on the continent it’s on the right side . No thanks!

Yeah that sounds about right, it also depends on the efficiency of the EV of course. The weighted average price is what counts over the long term, we only added 15kWh (and we meant to add less) because it was just a quick top up to get us home. We usually stop at Tesla Grantham but it was busy and we didn't want to have to wait. We summarised what it all cost, how long it took etc in the next episode, our weighted average price paid in France was 40p/kWh.

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x I wasn’t having a go at you but price gouging or whatever you choose to call it, is a thing. Mr Llewellyn brushes it off. I live in rural SW France, own a Model 3 LR and 99% of my charging is at home and during off-peak (EV tariff) times. I also own a 50+ mpg Peugeot diesel and can achieve about the same cost-efficiency as the Tesla, and it goes over twice as far on a tank! Local charging networks in villages and towns are a guessing game over which network it will be and if I have their RFID or app (Could be any one of seven within 90minutes of home), if they accept Chargemap etc / what time it is and whether or not the charger is working/is blocked by someone who doesn’t know what chargers and EVs are/is blocked because it’s the nearest space to the shop/even exists! On longer trips we mainly use Superchargers but once we’re off the Autoroutes, it’s very much a case of ‘you’re on your own’. We haven’t noticed any UK reg non Teslas down here (Marciac), because they’re victims of Ionity price gouging on Autoroutes and range/charger anxiety off them and so don’t make it this far. I met someone from England a couple of years ago who had a Volvo EX30(I think) and who was in tears because she had to use local 3/7/11kW chargers via an app and it had taken her three days to make it down from Calais, instead of the usual one day in her other car. She had to spend hours at the 7kw charger in the village every few days. Very long way to go before the greed is removed from supplying electricity from a box in a car park.

It is really mind blowing!! So pleased you've enjoyed the series, we're happy you're here :)

He may feature in more videos.....we're glad you have found them helpful and that its given you confidence for your trip 😊 when next year do you travel? Would anything else be helpful? Yes I'm in the EV road trips across Europe and beyond and UK/France cross border EV drivers (and Women Drive Electric) and find them useful 😊

All questions welcome! I guess the things to consider for EV extras would be the CritAir sticker if going through big cities with low emissions zones (we can give more info if needed 😊) and your rfid cards: we find having Electroverse (plus app), Freshmile and Shell recharge is a useful set!

@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x thank you for your reply,we had critair stickers for all our petrol cars we have taken to France,so familiar with that, is there anything special for " Euro Tunnel " ? With a lot of people's opinions and comments " it will burst into flames in the Tunnel " those electric things should not be allowed through " I've heard both comments at the terminal.

@@andrewmalyon5699 No nothing special at the tunnel, except some EVs may have to go in the 'large' section due to low clearance, not sure if your car will be affected by that but the Tesla M3 is. The other thing is of course your AC charging cable, but that plus RFID cards and having the apps all set up is pretty much it I think. There is a Facebook group called UK/France Cross Border EV Drivers which has a really useful FAQ document that might be worth joining.

I would add about the Tunnel.....our strategy is to aim to arrive there with around 40-50%; you can charge there whilst waiting (there are Engie, and Tesla which are open to all) if your train is delayed/you arrive early.....if you are able to drive straight on then you have enough to get to a good charger on the other side of the tunnel :)

Thank you so much for the kind comments. This is exactly why we started the channel, just to share our experience and maybe help a few people along the way so glad you found it useful! Feel free to fire over questions and we'll do our best to answer, there are also lots of other really good RUclips channels to try eg Dave Takes It On and Mr EV.

Yes, it's a site with lots of charging capacity! Highly recommended :)

It's always the way! I agree though, it would be good to see Fastned in more locations-we have had good experiences in the UK and abroad with them.

Thanks for this! We will make the captions longer in duration :)

Thanks - we'll do a summary video after the next one but we generally figure on £220-250 for the Eurotunnel, £80-100 charging, £80-100 tolls, £30-50 for hotel overnight on the way down. So it's typically around £650. Renting a car for 2 weeks can easily be £400-500... We are lucky having family in Kent so can break the journey there.

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x thanks for the info. Works out quite reasonably. I guess if you make the journey part of the holiday and stay in a few places it would break things up. We flew 4 of us to Montpellier and a week hire car and worked out about £900 inc fuel. I avoided toll roads.

Most but not all, there's a list of those it doesn't work with here - support.fastned.nl/hc/en-gb/articles/115012747127-What-is-Autocharge

It was an excellent investment 😂 with the size of the E Leclerc your car would definitely have been charged in the time it would take to get around the place and stock up on goodies!

Yep! Or quiche....or other pastry goodness 😂

How long have you got!! Maybe we should do an episode dedicated to it.....(joking, that would not generate many views!)

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x well … considering I went for a non Tesla I’d imagine (clearly an assumption) the thinking may be the same. Hopefully the Tesla fans don’t get too aggy should you do it. Happy to share my ideas with you guys if needed 👍🏼

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x. Would definitely watch that. Tesla is one car I have never driven or even been a passenger in. I have always said that if I was still driving the motorways all week, I would have a Tesla. However, not heard good things about ride comfort, which is important to us.

Yes! Happy to hear.....I guess in a marriage there's give and take and the Tesla was Phil's dream so I relented 😂 I concede that from practical/charging/ranges point of view its a good car but it has so many negatives as a car vs being a computer on wheels.....

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x that makes sense - my concern was range & charging also but found it to be a non-issue; i did a couple of Tesla test drives along with 2x48hr test drives in a Polestar and hired one from Hertz (very cheap) for a week too. This convinced me that charging outside of the Tesla infrastructure was fine as I knew I’d only do 20% charging on the road. The need for a “proper” car with dials and buttons and not a computer on wheels won the day. Not at all keen on the way Tesla’s going as i find it too distracting / dangerous. With them gradually opening their charging stations and using ABRP (Enode enabled) Tesla’s USP is weakening - which I believe they’re happy with as they’re leading the charge for electric cars. Hope that makes sense?

So pleased it was helpful :) Charging in France is a breeze - have you watched @MrEV? He has useful French charging tips too and I think he's done some episodes in his Niro. You'll have a wonderful trip I am sure.

We knew from our last visit there that the speed at the Teslas was slower than we would ideally like so we opted for Engie! We have used Engie three times now, and a bit like Electra have been impressed. Shame neither are in the UK....

Yes it was the same place we filmed! We didn't see the superchargers but the car park was vast... Like many of these locations it's a great spot during the day but not so good at night when everything is closed.

I can see that would be a problem in these large car parks. They are quite well lit but a lot of "night people" hanging about.

Thanks for the info that's interesting, the solar canopy concept is great - generate electricity and provider shelter from rain and sun! We usually stop here on our way down and do a supermarket shop, unfortunately the car is usually finished charging before we have finished shopping so we have to rush out and move it to avoid overstay fees!

Aren't they great?! We've always enjoyed using them. Glad you had a good experience too! Where did you charge?

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x in Dieppe-Auchan. I used the website (very quick) and only then thought about downloading the app. Charges my Audi GT toute de suite!

Aren't they great?! Really glad you had such a good experience with them, we've had I think 5 top notch experiences with Electra now highly recommend and hope they come to the UK!

It's the first that we've owned but we have hired and test driven a number of others.

The Electra app tells you if your vehicle is compatible but they don't provide a list of which cars are compatible and which are not.

We try to make our videos authentic but we also figured there was a limit to that... :)

We are going back in January, hopefully we won't get another mistral at that time of year!!

Thanks for the comment! IECharge was one we were tempted to include but didn't quite fit into the route we were taking (I think there is one near Arras?). We do believe that price is only one consideration though - facilities on offer, shelter from sun/rain and personal safety also important but great to have choice and a range of options!!

@@ComeChargeWithUs-e8x With IE there won't be any shelter but equally there won't be any issue with personal safety as your only company are likely to be some inquisitive cows or horses. To keep the prices low they are normally in very rural localities, close to a convenient sub station. Then again I've never considered personal safety an issue in France or Spain where we normally live, though we don't use the A7 motorway often.

@@JohnCourtman I think during the day it's fine but at night for a woman alone at night perhaps a little more disconcerting? I do love the business model though, put the chargers where the grid already has capacity rather than trying to take the grid to services stations which were probably never designed with a 'good grid connection' as one of their criteria. I also like the approach of putting charging in the picnic Aires (as featured in the vid), something you can't do as easily with a petrol station.