Who’s bringing the horse - no - EV to France?

fits

We stopped at a Novotel in Rennes which has Tesla supercharging but also has 3 or 4 high powered chargers. Shopping nearby and would consider an overnight stop there in future.

I can’t remember if I wrote up our trip!

Heroditas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121084670#Comment_121084670

That's where we charged on our way to Carnac this year. It's a perfect stopover because we picked up a load of groceries in the supermarket while the car charger

AndyBoBandy

Doesnt matter how long you had to backtrack, or put up with apparently closed hotels while hungry etc..., the relief of getting the bag back with passports as well as whatever else it may contain thats irreplaceable must have been joyous.... Nothing worse than that heart in the mouth moment when you realise you don't have something that you should have on you...

You'll enjoy the game even mores now.... C'mon Ireland

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121085715#Comment_121085715

Wandering off topic, we had an incident years ago on a cruise ship where we'd put the passports and important documents in the room safe (like you're supposed to 😬) and the f**king battery died on the thing on the last day

The room service guy had to call security to unlock it and they were all busy because the ship was in port and 2,500 people were trying to get off and on the ship

The staff were getting a bit pissy because we were still in the room an hour after we were supposed to be out but I then explained to them that nothing short of a giant octopus attacking the ship was getting me out of that room without our passports in hand. That calmed them down a bit

Anyway, got the paperwork eventually so all was good, didn't end up as stowaways 😁

prosaic

I left phone in Dublin when heading for ferry in Cork. We were half way to Cork and not really enough time to go back to get it. Heart in mouth followed by sick feeling for next couple of hours. I was thinking about all the things you need a phone for now, especially when travelling. And for using car charger maps, of course. We had the other phone so not too bad. I got phone sent by courier to town we were staying in. Reunited in under 3 days. So, passports, tickets, cards, phone is the new mantra.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121087901#Comment_121087901

Remind me not to trust you with a set of car keys 😉😂

tlaavtech

Have a notional plan to take my 33kW BMW i3 to France next year. Leaving from Waterford so likely to be Risslare to Cherbourg. I'll be based near Bordeaux but will be heading to other locations, the farthest being north of Tolouse.

I have two questions.

I'm happy enough withe the density of chargers in general, but my main worry is when heading back to the ferry and having getting delayed at charge points. Anyone suffer major delays at charging stations?

I have a BMW charge card, but can't find which networks it covers. Is there a list anywhere that shows which suppliers have a contract with BMW? While I'm at it, is there list for Ireland? I don't public charge often, but when I do I start with the BMW card and if that doesn't work, try something else!

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088837#Comment_121088837

When I went last summer from Cherbourg to Kiel in Germany (1300km) and back, I only used superchargers and only had to queue at 1.. and it was the very last one before Cherbourg. Only had to queue for about 15 minutes… but we had budgeted plenty of time for such a situation (and to stop by the wine and beer supermarket in cherbourg), so it was grand in the end…

Just always give yourself plenty of time..

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088837#Comment_121088837

Year on year, the situation will be changing with the percentage of EV's on the road and charger density. If I was doing a return to Cherbourg with a 33kWh battery I'd be planning on being North of Rennes the night before. That will give you flexibility to have a more relaxed final 200kms.

fits

We did two long journeys on Saturdays and the motorway ionities were very very busy in July. We weren’t waiting long but no free ones either

fits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088837#Comment_121088837

You would have a shorter drive to Bordeaux from Bilbao.

Boscoirl

So far have stopped to charge 5 times in France. All Superchargers. It’s just easier( plus forgot too get a Chargemap card lol)

plenty of availability at all so far. Most having 14-18 chargers. Have met plenty Irish people at them.

on Ile de Re for a few days so will probably have to use a local one. Will see how it goes.

fits

The chargepoint app is useful we found for local chargers and starting chargers without the rfid card.

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096385#Comment_121096385

Yes this works on all the Lidl chargers, DC and AC. Or at least any in Brittany and Normandy that I used

hurikane

Help! My Chargemap card hasn’t arrived and heading to France at the weekend. Will be based in Brittany. What are my options for charging?

Heroditas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121259912#Comment_121259912

Have a look here. All is not lost!!

https://support.chargemap.com/l/en/article/ato5gbmbk7-i-have-not-received-my-chargemap-pass-yet-will-i-be-able-to-charge-my-car-by-other-means

fits

Chargepoint app is pretty good at starting charges from phone.

hurikane

Great thanks guys. Is there any other apps if Chargemap via app without card activated fails?

Heroditas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121261075#Comment_121261075

The ABRP app can be used to plot your route and it'll tell you the charge provider at each stop (as will Chargemap). You can then see what is needed to charge at each location, e.g. I stopped at the Novotel chargers in Rennes and also at the Total Energy chargers on the way back to Cherbourg. Both allowed me to use a credit card if I didn't have the Chargemap pass. In fact, most of the bigger/faster chargers allow you to just use a credit card.

hurikane

Great thanks for the info

talla

I see Tesla Supercharger has now opened @ Cherbourg (open to all CCS cars)

sh81722

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121592851#Comment_121592851

Handy to top up both the car and the underfloor wine cellar before heading to the port.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121595771#Comment_121595771

on the way home in 2002 we stopped in for 60 bottles of wine... and it was bloody awesome.

the_amazing_raisin

Well I'm going to do a bit of thread resurrection since it's that time of year

Off to France in June on the ferry, this is our first time driving in Europe so I'm a tiny bit nervous 😅

The drive isn't too long, 2 hours, we're not quite ready to tackle the long drive to the south of France yet

I can't register for We Charge anymore because they won't take my Revolut card. Wise cards don't seem to work either

I decided to get Plugsurfing and Chargemap cards, since they seem to have lots of chargers in France. Rates aren't brilliant but I've always been of the view that EV costs should be viewed over a year rather than individual journeys

I'll be bringing my Type 2 cable and granny lead. I'll probably order a 16A Schuko to UK adapter as well. The campsite has a bank of chargers, so I don't envisage needing the granny lead, but better safe than stuck

I was reading through the requirements and was amused by the breathalyser law in France. Halfords have single use ones so I'll pick up a pack before going

I'm not quite sure how I'm expected to carry a spare light bulb since my lights are matrix LED headlights. I hope les gendarmes aren't expecting me to carry a full set of headlights around 🤣

I've made sure my insurance covers me and VW roadside assistance covers Europe apparently. I considered paying for AA roadside assistance, but it's €114 for a one week holiday 😱

I've got tyre plugs and stuff so I'm reasonably confident a small puncture won't stop me this time

Other than that I can't really think of anything else I'd need to organise in advance

Anyone got any advice? Did I miss anything?

talla

Yeh the spare bulb/ replacement requirement always throws up a discussion in the household. I ignore, as I assume its just legislation that hasn't been updated with the advent of LED clusters in cars.

Only other thing I don't see mentioned is the requirement for hi viz vests for each passenger which must be accessible in the car i.e. not stored in the boot and a warning triangle.

munchkin_utd

>The drive isn't too long, 2 hours

thats an understatement. You barely have started and youre finished.

As for the breathalyser, spare bulbs etc, even if your headlights are LED some indicator or other bulbs may not be so check that. I thought the breathalyer requirement was scrapped, or at least so good as to make it redundant.

What youre not mentioning is high vis jackets for all passengers in the car. Also, the emergency triangle and the high vis have to be easily accessable, not under all your boot contents

If you have chargers at the site then youre flying. Some of the sites we visited in Italy over the past few years have almost no chargers and a ban on charging from the mobile home, and no public chargers nearby, which would make a holiday with an Ev, or the usecase for an Ev as your main car, difficult.

sh81722

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122001480#Comment_122001480

You'll also need reflective vests for all the passengers stored within the cabin (i.e. not in the boot). Also you'll need the Crit air https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/ emission sticker if planning to drive in the many urban areas in France. We have the German one which seems to be unofficially recognised in most of the Europe.

Rusky rusky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121592851#Comment_121592851

There's one in Morlaix is now open as well. Handy for roscoff ferry from Cork.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122001550#Comment_122001550

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122001613#Comment_122001613

Got the vests and triangle, but good call on having them somewhere accessible. I'll shove the vests into one of the seat pockets

fits

I wouldn’t bother bringing the granny charger. You’d need an adaptor and sites really aren’t keen on people charging from the pitch.

We successfully managed without any cards as we applied too late. Started all charges from apps. But we have chargepoint and chargemap cards for this year. We are flying and renting an EV this time.