5 essential advices to peacefully go on holidays with your electric vehicle
18 June 2018 - 4 minutes to read
With the raise of vehicles autonomy and a mesh of charging stations which has been considerably expanded, more and more drivers are considering to go on holidays with their electric vehicle. Here are our advices for successful journeys!
1. Prefer rapid or accelerated charging stations
To reduce your travelling time, you have to limit the charging time of your electric vehicle. For this, prefer rapid or accelerated charging stations according to your vehicle capabilities.
As far as possible, avoid using rapid charging stations if your vehicle is not able to charge the maximum delivered power.
For example, with your ZOE which has not rapid charger or your Tesla, you will only be able to charge 22 kW on a Type 2 plug of a rapid charging station which deliver 43 kW. Then, you will obstruct a charging station which could be more useful to another driver and risk to have some surprises if tariffs are carried out on time spent.
To find rapid or accelerated charging stations along your itinerary, you can use the right filter on Chargemap website or the mobile app.
2. Check the procedures for access to charging stations
To arrive to an adapted charging station is good, to be able to charge is even better! For this, it is imperative to check the access schedules if this is not a public charging station.
Other important point to verify: allowed access facilities on the charging station. If a majority of public charging stations in France are compatible with the Chargemap Pass, there are other charging stations which require a specific badge or a subscription.
It is actually the case in foreign countries, where you will have to ensure to dispose of the adapted badge. Otherwise, it is often possible to start charging via your smartphone and an adapted internet connection.
An important point: if the charging can be launched via a surcharged text message, know that it is not working outside your home country! The better is to anticipate than to have to buy a SIM card in the country just to launch your charging…
Chargemap is currently activating charging networks outside France, the Chargemap Pass then remain your essential companion for your journey.
3. Prepare yourself for unexpected events
A successful long journey in electric vehicle is due to its preparation. It is necessary to anticipate as much as possible bad surprises (already occupied or out of order charging stations…).
For this, plan as much as possible stops on charging areas equipped with several stations. There are still too uncommon, but it allows to avoid risks. Do not hesitate to take a look to other available charging stations located near your charging leg.
Then again, the mobile app and Chargemap website will be essential to prepare your route.
Always plan to arrive with a battery level at least at 20% in order to ward every kind of charging difficulty off once you will be there.
4. Take care of your vehicle consumption
Avoid as much as possible everything which will modify the aerodynamism of your vehicle, and in particular roof boxes which can increase your consumption by 15 to 30% more on your route!
Even if the impact on autonomy is minor, be attentive to the weight of your vehicle with your luggages inside. A heavy vehicle is always consuming more.
Throughout your journey, if you feel a little bit short between two charging legs, you can choose to reduce your speed on highway to consume less. From 130 km/h to 110 km/h there is a considerable incidence on your vehicle consumption.
5. Choose an equipped place with charging stations
Once at your destination, there is no doubt that you will want to enjoy your electric vehicle there! For more comfort, focus on a guest house, an hotel or even a camping equipped with charging plugs.
Chargemap website allows you to filter by type of place to only find hotel and campings equipped. If you choose to stay in a camping, you will not have any trouble to find a plug in the majority of cases.
An adaptor “camping plug” can be necessary, you can still find some on the Automobile Propre store if you do not have one yet.
To conclude
With a little bit of preparation, it is now possible to go on holidays with your electric vehicle. It even allows to have breaks in nice places to charge and differently enjoy your trip.
If you choose an electric vehicle for your holidays, think about contributing on Chargemap to help other users by publishing pictures, comments and any useful information on charging stations!
You would have understood it, Chargemap and its community are on your side to optimise your holidays trips. If you have not done it yet, download for free the mobile app and order your Chargemap Pass!
And now in german language:
We plan to do that in the coming months 🙂
Here’s a better translation of this article:
5 tips for a relaxing holiday in your electric vehicle
Now that EVs are available with greater range, and with the network of public chargers expanding steadily, more and more drivers are thinking about going on holiday in their electric vehicle. Here are our tips for successful journeys.
1. Prefer fast chargers
For shorter overall journey times, you’ll want to minimise the time you spend charging. This means choosing the fastest charging stations that your EV can use. At the same time, you should avoid using rapid chargers that your EV can’t take advantage of. For example, if you have a Zoe without the rapid charging feature, or a Tesla, you’ll be unable to use the full output of a 43kW rapid AC charger. If you nevertheless plug in to one of these, you’ll get at most 22kW, and because you’ll need to charge for longer, you might prevent another driver from charging there. Not to mention the possibility of an unwelcome surprise where usage of these chargers is billed according to time spent rather than power consumed. Use the Chargemap website or app with the correct filter for your EV to find the most suitable charging points along your route.
2. Check what you’ll need in order to use your selected charge points.
It’s all very well to have identified a charger that your EV should be able to use, but you also have to make sure you are fully equipped to actually get a charge from it. Does the charger have restricted opening hours? Is it available to the general public? What cards or network memberships do you need to be able to initiate a charge? Most public chargers in France are usable with the Chargemap Pass, but there are others which require a specific card or subscription. Outwith France you’ll likely need a different card or subscription. Sometimes you can use an app or website to start a charge using your smartphone. Some charge points will let you initiate a charge by means of a premium rate SMS message, but beware that this may not work if your phone is roaming away from its home network. Careful preparation will let you avoid having to buy a local SIM card just to be able to charge your car. Chargemap is working on links to charging networks outside France, so your Chargemap Pass can become your essential travelling companion across Europe.
3. Prepare for the unexpected
A successful long journey in an EV depends on preparation. You have to anticipate surprises such as finding the charging station full, or out of order. Therefore you should prefer to aim for stations that have multiple chargers, which minimises this risk, even if these stations are still rather too uncommon. So be aware what other stations there are in the vicinity of your preferred charging location. Here the Chargemap website and app will be invaluable when choosing your route.
Always plan to reach your selected charging location with at least 20% charge remaining, in case you need to divert.
4. Pay attention to your energy consumption
Avoid anything which will increase the aerodynamic drag of your vehicle, in particular roof boxes, which can increase consumption by 15 – 30%. Although the impact of greater weight is less, it still pays to avoid excess luggage – a heavy vehicle will always use more energy.
If you feel you’re running short on your route you can save energy by reducing your speed. Slow down by 20km/h or 15mph and you’ll really notice the difference.
5. Choose a destination where you can charge
You’ll surely want to use your EV when you’ve reached your destination. Make things easier for yourself by choosing a hotel, guest house or campsite which is equipped for charging EVs. Chargemap’s website lets you easily find these hotels and campsites. Most campsites will have electric outlets, but you may need to have a suitable adapter. You can buy a “camping plug” through the Automobile Propre store – http://www.automobile-propre.com/boutique/9-adaptateurs
Finally
With a little preparation you can now easily go on holiday in your EV. You might even find you enjoy the charging stops in interesting places. If you do take your EV on holiday, consider helping your fellow EV drivers by posting pictures, comments and your own charging station tips on the Chargemap website. Chargemap and its community are on your side to make the most of your holiday trips. Download our free app and order your Chargemap Pass now!
It would be better if this had been translated into proper English. If the original was in French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese my wife could translate it for you at normal commercial rates.
PS We have just completed a 5000 km trip from SW England to Siena and back in our Tesla Model S. No trouble with Tesla Superchargers, but lots of problems with public charge points in Italy.
Pourquoi je vous reçois en anglais
Français en France merci
Guys. Great advice. But English translation was very poor leading to poor flow and even some guesswork. I offer content improvements. Please contact me in case I can help you in future. Thanks.
Ik kom net terug uit Noorwegen met een Nissan leaf maar ik constateer dat onze wereld er nog niet klaar voor is
in the fisrt paragraph you mention:
“For example, with your ZOE which has not rapid charger or your Tesla, you will only be able to charge 22 kW on a Type 2 plug of a rapid charging station which deliver 43 kW”
But the any Tesla can take advantage of 120kW+ charger….
Is this a mistake from the writor?
Best regards.
Marc
The English is also a bit shaky: ‘ensure to dispose of the adapted badge’ means: throw the badge away (but it in the bin). Why not keep it simple: ‘Make sure you have a compatible badge’. There are lots of ‘false friends’ in French, like ‘important number’ which in French often means ‘big number’, but in English it doesn’t.
Sorry, I’m being pedantic, it is actually quite clear what you mean, at least most of the time.