French road trip with my EV
9:20am, 19th Aug 2024 | 6 Comments
Blog by DeeGee
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I changed my car in April to an EV, an MG4 standard range which is able to take me to and from work in a week on one overnight charge, saving me about £140 a month. It's not go the biggest of batteries, so I have to break any journey over about 200 miles in two, so I'm getting used to taking a break every 2 hours. My daughter gets car sick, though, so we need to take proper breaks.
I've just taken a driving holiday to France and was a little worried about the journey, but this is what I found. This is mainly for the benefit of the EV thread here. [TLDR: slight faff, but nothing I couldn't cope with...]
Departure day, traffic was very busy, I've learned from experience that Peterborough MSA is a no-go at times like that, so I went to Dobbies in Huntingdon instead, we had a nice break and a good family meal, with table service, more than long enough to charge. There were plenty of BeEV ultra rapids available, and that took me to Kent, I charged in my parents' village overnight, and then took off to Dover in the morning.
Because we had a bit of time before the boat, we stopped for a toilet at the MFG hub in Dover and I put some electrons in for 10 mins or so.
France side, Baie de Somme was a no-go on the way down, nothing free and time was rather of the essence. I'd done a bit of research and found a nice looking pub place just outside Abbeville called "Au Bureau" which had four rapids, a couple were free and we stopped for a decent lunch.
Second stop was planned for Bolleville's Ionity chargers, but those were all in use, all seemingly recently taken, so I had a look at Zapmap and found a nearby town, Lillebonne, which had a few rapids on the map.
On arriving in Lillebonne there was a signpost for rapid chargers which took me to a Mr Bricolage car park with about 10 empty rapids. It was opposite a branch of Leader Price, so we tried to get some shopping, but there was no stock and the staff were on strike! We had a wander round the town to fill time before hitting the road again. Waze directed us out of the town in a different direction to the way we'd gone in, and we passed an Intermarché with rapid chargers where we'd have rather stopped.
That was enough to get us to Arromanches, and the village itself had a public destination charger which we were able to use as required - I charged overnight the first night, but had to get up before 7am to move the car to avoid idle charges!
Apart from taking some free energy in Carrefour on Bayeux, and charging to 100% in the village the night before we left, I didn't need to charge again during the week.
On to the journey home.
Time was a bit less critical, we left the flat just after 10 and we had to be at Calais for 7pm.
Having had the chance to put the car on 100% before leaving thanks to the charger in the village, we took a little detour to see the German gun batteries at Longues sur Mer before hitting the road properly at about 11. I'd had a look at ABRP which was rather insistent that we stop at a place called Varneville-Bretteville just off the A29, which would have been at about lunchtime anyway, but I had a look at Street View and it seemed to be just a petrol station with a hub and probably not an ideal place for two kids to spend their lunch time, so I decided to have a go at the outward charging plan, but in reverse.
Electroverse app was not much good to me as it could show my location on a map, but if I asked it to route me to a charger it just claimed not to know where I was, so I decided I'd get to Bolleville, see what the lie of the land was like and then move on if necessary.
As it happened, there was a necessary toilet stop required, and the ladies' queue was right through the shop, so although at the time we arrived there were no chargers free, I had a look at the SoC of the chargers and reckoned that there'd be some movement soon, so I used the facilities, bought some sandwiches and then went back to the car with the kids to eat. Just then a 50kw charger had come free, there was nobody else waiting, so I got my son to stand in the space as an obstacle and shifted the car to the charger. By the time the wife came back, we'd settled down to eat a picnic, and by the time we'd finished I was on about 70%, which I reckoned was enough.
Bolleville's set up is rather weird, there are eight Ionity chargers in total, 6 ultra rapid and 2 rapid which also have Chademo, but they are on different sides of the forecourt, and only half are accessible in each direction, despite both sides sharing an amenity building.
Onwards towards Abbeville, and again, I'd decided to have a look at Baie de Somme, or I'd go back to Au Bureau for a coffee if it wasn't viable. As Electroverse still wasn't working on Android Auto and I couldn't work out how else to see the usage of the chargers, I decided I'd drive by and see what was happening.
As it was, the curvature of the bends into the service area made my daughter car-sick, so although all the chargers were full and there was a queue of three British EVs in front of me, I figured there was no harm sitting in the queue while we sorted the girl out.
There was a bit of a free-for-all with some arriving cars, who decided that the line of Brits who were clearly queuing for something were worth ignoring, and once while I was waiting a local car breezed past the queue and pushed in to a freshly vacated bay! The chap at the front of the queue evidently gave him a piece of his mind, so he left the bay, deciding to park in a Tesla space instead, and normal service was resumed. I was maybe waiting 10 mins for a bay there - would have added 20 mins to the journey if I'd gone back to Abbeville, so that worked out OK. I wouldn't have been happy trying to get to Calais with what I had left, so wanted to charge at some point round there anyway.
While we were waiting, we climbed up the viewing tower to watch at least two other queue jumpers getting short shrift.
What I did notice, at Baie de Somme, was a few UK folk charging to 100%! I suspect that this is because French electricity is much cheaper than ours, but I reckon when space is at a premium, this is a bit naughty! I got off myself at about 75% which I knew would get me beyond Coquelles, where I'd planned to have tea and charge at the Carrefour.
On for another hour or so to Cité Europe, where I knew we'd find something that we would all enjoy eating; the "one free hour for loyalty card holders" 22kw chargers were both occupied, but the rapids were all available, so I took one of those while we ate and got back to an almost full car. No problems getting back to my parents' in Kent and topped up overnight in the village as usual.
The full journey from there to North East Lincs isn't quite possible on one charge, so we planned, again, to stop and charge where we would eat, and again I decided to eschew Peterborough. Being late Sunday afternoon, Dobbies was closed, so I thought I'd have a look at the Gridserve hub at Grantham Moto. That's a really useful facility at the moment, although I only saw ultra rapids, all but one were empty and I got more electrons than I needed while waiting for food! It turns out that there are a couple of slower Gridserve machines round the corner which I'd rather have used instead, but you live and learn.
This was the first multi-charge road trip I've been on in the MG, and in my mind it went well. It's good to have different options to Motorway Services to have our break at, and in a way it felt like road trips did when I was little and we'd have longer stops at Little Chefs for a sit-down-meal. I'd absolutely do it all again, I think I did just enough pre planning, but I wish I could find a more reliable way to know the usage of chargers before turning off the road...
I've just taken a driving holiday to France and was a little worried about the journey, but this is what I found. This is mainly for the benefit of the EV thread here. [TLDR: slight faff, but nothing I couldn't cope with...]
Departure day, traffic was very busy, I've learned from experience that Peterborough MSA is a no-go at times like that, so I went to Dobbies in Huntingdon instead, we had a nice break and a good family meal, with table service, more than long enough to charge. There were plenty of BeEV ultra rapids available, and that took me to Kent, I charged in my parents' village overnight, and then took off to Dover in the morning.
Because we had a bit of time before the boat, we stopped for a toilet at the MFG hub in Dover and I put some electrons in for 10 mins or so.
France side, Baie de Somme was a no-go on the way down, nothing free and time was rather of the essence. I'd done a bit of research and found a nice looking pub place just outside Abbeville called "Au Bureau" which had four rapids, a couple were free and we stopped for a decent lunch.
Second stop was planned for Bolleville's Ionity chargers, but those were all in use, all seemingly recently taken, so I had a look at Zapmap and found a nearby town, Lillebonne, which had a few rapids on the map.
On arriving in Lillebonne there was a signpost for rapid chargers which took me to a Mr Bricolage car park with about 10 empty rapids. It was opposite a branch of Leader Price, so we tried to get some shopping, but there was no stock and the staff were on strike! We had a wander round the town to fill time before hitting the road again. Waze directed us out of the town in a different direction to the way we'd gone in, and we passed an Intermarché with rapid chargers where we'd have rather stopped.
That was enough to get us to Arromanches, and the village itself had a public destination charger which we were able to use as required - I charged overnight the first night, but had to get up before 7am to move the car to avoid idle charges!
Apart from taking some free energy in Carrefour on Bayeux, and charging to 100% in the village the night before we left, I didn't need to charge again during the week.
On to the journey home.
Time was a bit less critical, we left the flat just after 10 and we had to be at Calais for 7pm.
Having had the chance to put the car on 100% before leaving thanks to the charger in the village, we took a little detour to see the German gun batteries at Longues sur Mer before hitting the road properly at about 11. I'd had a look at ABRP which was rather insistent that we stop at a place called Varneville-Bretteville just off the A29, which would have been at about lunchtime anyway, but I had a look at Street View and it seemed to be just a petrol station with a hub and probably not an ideal place for two kids to spend their lunch time, so I decided to have a go at the outward charging plan, but in reverse.
Electroverse app was not much good to me as it could show my location on a map, but if I asked it to route me to a charger it just claimed not to know where I was, so I decided I'd get to Bolleville, see what the lie of the land was like and then move on if necessary.
As it happened, there was a necessary toilet stop required, and the ladies' queue was right through the shop, so although at the time we arrived there were no chargers free, I had a look at the SoC of the chargers and reckoned that there'd be some movement soon, so I used the facilities, bought some sandwiches and then went back to the car with the kids to eat. Just then a 50kw charger had come free, there was nobody else waiting, so I got my son to stand in the space as an obstacle and shifted the car to the charger. By the time the wife came back, we'd settled down to eat a picnic, and by the time we'd finished I was on about 70%, which I reckoned was enough.
Bolleville's set up is rather weird, there are eight Ionity chargers in total, 6 ultra rapid and 2 rapid which also have Chademo, but they are on different sides of the forecourt, and only half are accessible in each direction, despite both sides sharing an amenity building.
Onwards towards Abbeville, and again, I'd decided to have a look at Baie de Somme, or I'd go back to Au Bureau for a coffee if it wasn't viable. As Electroverse still wasn't working on Android Auto and I couldn't work out how else to see the usage of the chargers, I decided I'd drive by and see what was happening.
As it was, the curvature of the bends into the service area made my daughter car-sick, so although all the chargers were full and there was a queue of three British EVs in front of me, I figured there was no harm sitting in the queue while we sorted the girl out.
There was a bit of a free-for-all with some arriving cars, who decided that the line of Brits who were clearly queuing for something were worth ignoring, and once while I was waiting a local car breezed past the queue and pushed in to a freshly vacated bay! The chap at the front of the queue evidently gave him a piece of his mind, so he left the bay, deciding to park in a Tesla space instead, and normal service was resumed. I was maybe waiting 10 mins for a bay there - would have added 20 mins to the journey if I'd gone back to Abbeville, so that worked out OK. I wouldn't have been happy trying to get to Calais with what I had left, so wanted to charge at some point round there anyway.
While we were waiting, we climbed up the viewing tower to watch at least two other queue jumpers getting short shrift.
What I did notice, at Baie de Somme, was a few UK folk charging to 100%! I suspect that this is because French electricity is much cheaper than ours, but I reckon when space is at a premium, this is a bit naughty! I got off myself at about 75% which I knew would get me beyond Coquelles, where I'd planned to have tea and charge at the Carrefour.
On for another hour or so to Cité Europe, where I knew we'd find something that we would all enjoy eating; the "one free hour for loyalty card holders" 22kw chargers were both occupied, but the rapids were all available, so I took one of those while we ate and got back to an almost full car. No problems getting back to my parents' in Kent and topped up overnight in the village as usual.
The full journey from there to North East Lincs isn't quite possible on one charge, so we planned, again, to stop and charge where we would eat, and again I decided to eschew Peterborough. Being late Sunday afternoon, Dobbies was closed, so I thought I'd have a look at the Gridserve hub at Grantham Moto. That's a really useful facility at the moment, although I only saw ultra rapids, all but one were empty and I got more electrons than I needed while waiting for food! It turns out that there are a couple of slower Gridserve machines round the corner which I'd rather have used instead, but you live and learn.
This was the first multi-charge road trip I've been on in the MG, and in my mind it went well. It's good to have different options to Motorway Services to have our break at, and in a way it felt like road trips did when I was little and we'd have longer stops at Little Chefs for a sit-down-meal. I'd absolutely do it all again, I think I did just enough pre planning, but I wish I could find a more reliable way to know the usage of chargers before turning off the road...
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I used to run lots of marathons. Now I don't run so many.I've done 3/6 Majors though, help me run the rest:
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