Bringing my EV to the UK

celtic_oz

Travelling to UK tonight, back tomorrow, will have to charge a few times, Kia EV6 so can take a fast charge

I believe most of the chargers there take CC now ?

Will be using Zapmap and plugshare to find them.

Any tips on apps I should subscribe to or other ?

TIA

slave1

Are there any Tesla SuC open to non-Teslas en route, if so they would be preferred option. You may need a VPN to setup the Tesla App for UK locations, or set it up when you land....

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AndyBoBandy

How did you get on OP?

celtic_oz

went dublin - holyhead - birmingham - liverpool - holyhead - dublin in 24 hours

charged to full in dublin port 50kwh.. then twice using instavolt beside a macdonalds each time with CC, 150KW, charged to full by the time I had a coffee.

brilliant probably the least stressful part of the trip.

the_amazing_raisin

I'm gonna hijack this thread if no-one objects 😁

I need to travel to the UK soon, ferry to Holyhead and then driving towards Cornwall

ABRP is giving 2 routes, one basically a diagonal line through Wales through Snowdonia national park and towards Newport before going around towards Bristol

Route 2 is along the North coast of Wales and then M6 and other motorways towards Bristol

Both routes take about the same time, second one is about 20 mins longer charging but faster driving

My instinct is to stick with Route 2 since it looks to be an easier drive, Route 1 is a constant zigzag so seems like it would require more braincells

Just wanted to see if anyone had any experience and advice on this?

celtic_oz

if its not a leisure trip I'd be inclined to get to the Motorways asap and just make a note of fast chargers and then gun it.

Thumper Long

Did a similar trek a couple of years ago in an ICE so no charging required but if memory serves it was via the A fifty something across wales to the M6 then M5 with Exeter as the destination so Cornwall would be a bit further on. My advice is always use the best roads you can especially on long drives

UID0

I lived on the south coast of England for a while, and would never have considered going diagonally across Wales to get to Holyhead. A55 and then onto motorways. Watch out around Birmingham as the traffic can be horrendous depending on what time you get there.

Having said that, if you're not in a hurry, the trip through Wales would look much nicer, and your charging stops will be more interesting than motorway services.

the_amazing_raisin

Thanks for the responses folks. Not exactly in a hurry but since it's the longest drive I've done so far I'll probably take it on the easy setting

So I'll probably go with the M6 route

Charging should be fairly straightforward, I'll be coming off the boat with a nearly full battery

Charging stops will be Ionity Stafford and Cullompton. My biggest worry is Stafford, it seems to get very busy but there's other hubs nearby

mfceiling

I've done that trip to South Cornwall before and it's a long drive!! Did it in a BMW diesel so unfortunately no advice on the EV. Definitely would stick to the motorways. Much easier to make progress. Go on to smaller "B" roads and you could be stuck for miles behind trucks, tractors or caravans. No thanks!!

sh81722

We are actually heading to Holyhead->Cornwall tomorrow evening and are planning to take the Wales route as it will be a more scenic drive as the M6 alternative. We will be doing most of the drive on Sunday starting early morning from Caernarfon. I have driven through the Snowdonia before and there are some really nice roads if you like driving on twisties. Also not a fan of A55 nor M5/6. Been there too many times. It's a holiday so going to enjoy the scenery basically.

Planning to charge at Gordano near Bristol and Launceston SuC probably but will take it as it comes. On the way back will decide based on the journey down which route to take.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119494502#Comment_119494502

I think for me it's the length of the twisty roads that worries me. I'd be happy to drive an hour or so like that, but 3-4 hours would definitely be pushing me to my limits

Motorways are boring as hell, but on the plus side they're boring and you can relax 😁

sh81722

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119494546#Comment_119494546

Let's see how it goes on Sunday. I might regret the decision, but based on previous experience the UK A roads tend to be quite quick, definitely not boreen roads by any means. And depending what time you travel the Midlands can also be a bit of a pain...

sh81722

Yes, definitely recommend going through Wales (Caernarfon - Dolgellau - (Aberystwyth if you need charging) - Llanbrynmair - Llanidloes -Builth Wells - Newport) as an interesting alternative to M5/M6 route. Traffic was light both ways and the roads and scenery beautiful. It doesn't even take much longer than the other route.

The UK roads are very logical so you can drive at a good average speeds. Any corners that are tight are marked and otherwise just keep on driving.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119534212#Comment_119534212

Thanks, I might give it go on the way home if I'm not pressed for time

the_amazing_raisin

First leg done, Holyhead to Osprey charger in Wolverhampton. Google maps took me along the A41 to avoid traffic, bypassing the motorway entirely

Lovely drive, but unfortunately I arrived with 38% instead of 10% so I'm being punished with slow charging

I'm supposed to charge to 86% before heading on, but I might bail around 70% and take a short stop further on

It seems the car lasts a lot longer than my bladder so I'll probably need to stop anyway 😂

First time using a Kempower charger (Osprey Wolverhampton at the Costa drive thru). I have to say they're brilliant, lightyears beyond any of the garbage ESB have rolled out. I love the webpage you can open to show your charging progress

I managed to kill one of the chargers with my debit card (I guess it only takes the queen's money) but second one worked fine

the_amazing_raisin

Second stop at Ionity Cullompton, once again the car was more efficient than ABRP thought and arrived with 34% against the expected 10%

Still pulling 90kW, not sure I'll have time to finish my pasty

I can see the attraction of Ionity sites since they tend to be located right beside the motorway, as opposed to the Osprey site earlier where I had to go through half of Wolverhampton

Once again first charger failed to authorise, this time using my We Charge card. Second charger worked first time however. Having 6 chargers at a site is just magic, takes all the worry out of the equation

the_amazing_raisin

Last leg from Cullompton to Falmouth was fun, A30 is definitely a driver's road

Arrived at hotel to find chargers free, but from a company I'd never heard of (Smappee)

After eventually figuring out what app to download (there's no identifying marks on the charger, just a QR code that doesn't open a web link) I managed to register and pay and then found out one of the chargers wasn't connecting to the app. Got the other one working and the car is charging at a merry 11kW

Funny how the charger that gave me the most trouble was the destination charger

Also I think I'm cursed that the first charger I try is always broken

the_amazing_raisin

So a few thoughts after yesterday's travels:

First off driving bringing an EV outside Ireland is easy. Having proper hubs makes all the difference. I honestly would have no worries traveling across Western Europe with my car

I didn't have to queue for a single charger, and even though I had some charger failures there was another charger to try

I honestly don't think I could have done it faster in a petrol car, I would have had to stop as often for as long just to take a break

Having said that, destination chargers that require you to download an app are very annoying. Especially when there's no instructions or brand marks on the charger, just a QR code that doesn't work.

Also ABRP seems very pessimistic about my consumption. I constantly arrived with about 25% more battery than expected. I'll have to play with the settings a bit to see if I can get it working better

Lastly, having some sort of driving aid like Autopilot or Travel Assist is brilliant. Just kick it on and relax during the motorways and wider A roads and it helps you arrive safely and not exhausted

the_amazing_raisin

One other thing, those Kempower chargers I used yesterday are great, having the QR code on the charger that brings up a webpage available that gives you up to date charging information is brilliant

Something I noticed yesterday was that I was only getting around 67kW when I started. I assumed it was because my SoC was high (~37%) but I noticed later there was a note on the webpage saying "charger limiting". Later as the car charged up it changed to "car limiting" so I think the charger might have not been giving full power

When I charged later at Ionity I got 97kW at around 34% starting SoC, so that seems to confirm it

sh81722

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119540446#Comment_119540446

Were there many other stalls in use at the time? The Kempower dispensers all share common rectifier stack and it could have been due to the total demand at the site. Other possible explanation is that it was an underprovisioned installation.

Apps etc. in UK for parking and charging can be a bit meh. I tried to use the Geniepoint chargers at Truro P&R, but although topped up my account for a tenner their backend system was not able to activate any of the two charging posts I tried to connect to. The Mer chargers at the Eden Project were on the other hand flawless. Using SuC is the best as you just plug in and go. I have a Revolut card linked with Tesla to minimise the transaction charges that would have happened when travelling in non-Euro countries.

yop

I did Westport, Dublin Port, Holyhead, Wales, Manchester, Blackpool, Manchester, Holyhead, Westport there at the start of the month.

Found it excellent tbf. The number of (slow) fast chargers makes it easy to get top ups if needed, I stopped over in Wales with the kids and charged to 100% on their free charger. Outside of that I got a free 7kw charger in Blackpool and 25 mins at a McDonalds in Stockport which then got me to the McDonalds there near Holyhead on the 150kw and that then got me home to Westport.

34 euro for 1230 kms... not bad! :D

sh81722

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119541490#Comment_119541490

Sounds great both as an experience and pricing. Most of the UK and also Scotland (get the Chargeplace Scotland card several weeks before the trip) is very well served but I found Cornwall really lacking in (working) chargers.

micks_address

just back from a week in Scotland with my id4. No real hassle at all with charging. Took ferry from Belfast so topped up battery at ikea gridserve... and got on the boat with 97% battery.. not sure what the cost was there.. seemed to take about 1.50 to start the charge.. but i wasnt charged anything else? Drove to Edinburgh... was staying at hotel on the university campus.. they had loads of 7kw chargers.. maybe they were 11 can't remember.. used the chargeplace card to start charge... thought they would cost me something but was free by the looks of it.. did a quick charge in Sterling on the way to Glencoe.. that cost about 17 euro.. started with contactless payment.. then a charge in Oban.. a charge at a hotel close to where we stayed.. 22kw charger.. back to hotel in Glasgow where they actually had a free charger 7kw... left Glasgow full and back to Dublin with about 35% left in the car.. didn't drop below 50% at any point on the journey.. did about 1250km in total for probably less that 50 euro.. the free chargers in Edinburgh and Glasgow helped.. and the low charge cost in Belfast..

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119540815#Comment_119540815

There was an E-tron there for the first few mins but they left, so I was the only car out of 4 stalls

I wonder was the site being power limited for some reason

the_amazing_raisin

Trust my **** luck to get a puncture on my last day!!!! 🤬🤬🤬

And I'm in the middle of fecking Cornwall

Screw in the tyre and it's flat, doesn't seem to be holding any air

Called roadside assistance to see if they can someone out to help since I've to drive home tomorrow

At least I'm still in the hotel and not stuck on a roadside somewhere

AndyBoBandy

This is why I carry a plug kit & 12v compressor in the boot………..

my 1st option/preference would always be to try and repair myself before getting 3rd parties involved….:

MojoMaker

Speaking of plug kits, any recommendations there?

Two feckin screws in the same wheel in the same week just gone!!

the_amazing_raisin

To update the tyre saga, the AA van came out this morning and put a temp plug in.

They found a second screw in the tyre but when they removed it the tyre didn't leak

IIRC the tryes have puncture protection on my car. I guess I picked up the first screw and the puncture protection did it's job, but the second screw was too much

Problem now is getting a repair, since puncture protection tyres aren't really repairable.

The guys in the tyre shop are going to try putting a temp plug in which should at least get me home, after that I don't care if it leaks

I'll need to check my pressure at charging stops to make sure it isn't leaking too much

Wish me luck...

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119546033#Comment_119546033

I've got the compressor but no plugs, they're in the boot of the wife's car 🤦‍♂️

Apparently they don't work with puncture protection, but if it's enough to get me to the repair shop then it'll be enough

I'll definitely be getting a set for my car as well after this

AndyBoBandy

I was told that you can’t plug an acoustic tyre, yet I plugged a puncture in one of mine, as well as another Boardsies and they held until the tyres were replaced (due to wear, so nor puncture related). I drove about 20,000km on mine after I plugged it….

for the sake of €10 on Amazon, it’s well worth having a kit in the boot.