Taking the family away on holiday can be an incredibly stressful endeavor, especially if you’re embarking on a long-distance road trip to reach a destination in Europe. And if that wasn’t enough, you also have to deal with the added strain of range anxiety when driving an electric vehicle (EV). However, despite these challenges, electric car sales are increasing rapidly, with more and more drivers opting for EVs on their big-mile getaways. But is it practical for those who have been die-hard fans of petrol-powered vehicles for years?
Paul Barker, the managing editor at car sales website carwow, has been a journalist in the automotive industry for over 20 years and has driven every car with a petrol or diesel engine during that time. So when he got the opportunity to take a £123,000 BMW iX EV to France for a two-week family break, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of trepidation. In this diary-style account, Barker shares his experience in the hopes of shedding some light on the realities of using a battery-powered vehicle to reach a holiday destination. Is it truly practical to take an electric car on a European road trip with your family? Barker decided to find out, and here is a detailed account of his journey.
Day 1
1:30 AM: The ferry is booked for 5:05 AM. It seemed like a wise decision months ago, but now I find myself setting a 1:30 AM alarm on a Saturday morning and dragging my reluctant yet excited kids out of bed for a 90-minute drive to Dover. This is the perfect time to nervously check the BMW iX’s range and monitor how quickly the battery depletes as the miles tick by. Turns out, it’s faster than I had hoped.
Plan A is to make a quick stop at the Ionity charger in Folkestone, ensuring we have enough charge to cover a reasonable distance from Calais before stopping for a late breakfast. However, Plan A encounters immediate problems. The EV chargers are located on a closed forecourt at 4 AM, so we have to drive through the petrol station exit. And to top it off, the Ionity charger displays an “Out of Order” message. Fortunately, the neighboring charger is functional, giving the car a much-needed boost. This incident highlights one of the major issues with the UK’s charging network – reliability.
10:08 AM: It’s now daylight, and we’re cruising along semi-empty French autoroutes, approximately 130 miles from Calais. The BMW’s battery is down to around 20%, which is expected considering the load we’re carrying, including a roof box, four bikes, and, of course, my not-so-forgiving family. Thankfully, my pre-trip research paid off, and I know that many French supermarkets have high-powered chargers. I’ve identified a Carrefour in Rouen that seems suitable for our needs.
We opt for this charging location as it’s cheaper than motorway service stations and offers the added bonus of sweets, baguettes, and a 20-euro worth of flip flops that my 12-year-old insists are essential. Additionally, I realize it’s our wedding anniversary the day before we head home, so I also buy a card to avoid an anniversary disaster. By the time we finish shopping, the car is at its optimal charge capacity of 80%. Charging any further would slow down the rate considerably. Planning ahead for charging locations proved essential for a smooth journey.
1:35 PM: We’ve added another 130 miles to our journey, and the battery is once again down to 20%. I’ve identified another Carrefour supermarket near Le Mans with a 150kW charger, which should do the job nicely. Despite maintaining a cruise-controlled speed of 65mph on the Autoroute, we’re only able to cover around 120 miles comfortably before needing another charge.
Luckily, this charging stop aligns with lunch, so we indulge in crepes while the car charges for 30 minutes, bringing the battery back up to around 70-80%. We then head out of town, using a section of the famous race track that doubles as a public road for the majority of the year. I manage to convince my wife, who has taken over driving duties, that it’s the most direct route out of town and not just a personal indulgence.
3:51 PM: We’ve been on the road for over 12 hours now, but our spirits remain high. The kids have had their fill of sweets, movies, and audiobooks, and we’re only a couple of hours away from our final destination. Rather than getting too clever and trying to find another charger off the beaten path, we decide to stop at a motorway service station for a quick top-up. After all, motorway chargers are supposed to be the fastest and most reliable, right?
Well, it turns out that’s not always the case. We plug into a charging point at a service station near Poitiers only to discover that it’s charging at a disappointing 8kW, which is even slower than what I can achieve at home. We move to a neighboring charge point, and it jumps to 43kW, still not quite as fast as we had hoped. Nonetheless, it provides enough charge to complete the final 115-mile stretch of our journey, where a well-deserved pizza and a cold beer await us. We spend another 21 minutes basking in the sunshine next to a busy motorway, ensuring we have enough charge to reach our destination comfortably.
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