Can You Complete a Road Trip in an Electric Car? Our MD Investigates…
There are many beautiful parts of the world, so many places to see and so little time! Even less time if you need to stop to charge every couple of hours; even if you have the time, can you? After all, we keep hearing about the charging infrastructure not being up to the job…
With this in mind, our MD, Andy, decided to take his family on a road trip to Scotland! In fairness, he’s a dab hand, covering 40,000 miles a year. They ventured on with the family’s beloved Jaguar I-PACE in Summer 2021, when COVID was still dominating the headlines. The I-PACE has an official range of 290 miles, but as previously demonstrated, the realistic range is more in the 220 miles zone. So, let’s see how they got on with their electric car road trip!
There are 2 Major Things to Consider when Planning an EV Road Trip
The first thing is that you have more restrictions. You do need to spend a bit of time planning your charging stops on a major road trip. Always have a backup charging location too, just in case your first charge stop is full.
The second thing is, especially when visiting somewhere remote like Scotland, you (in theory) have a fuel station anywhere you have an accessible electricity supply. In many ways, this can make road trips easier, depending on how many miles you cover in a day. So, with a full car and full tummies, the family left the sleepy village of Yoxall, Staffordshire to start their trip.
Day 1 and 2: Yoxall to Dumfries - 216 miles | £8 spent
Day 1 saw us start our journey. We stopped in the Lake District, but as both chargers were full, we just had a comfort break and then carried on. Anyone making this journey could stop in Preston where a dozen fast chargers are situated, but we didn’t need to charge at that point. We arrived at our hotel with a dozen miles to spare; no issues though, as the town has several fast chargers in Brooms Road Car Park, which we used while eating our evening meal!
Day 2 consisted of various activities to exhaust the parents and entertain the kids at Galloway activity centre.
Day 3: Dumfries to Camusdarach Beach
275 miles | £16.25 spent (charged in Galloway prior, then free charge by Killin)
On day 3, we departed for Camusdarach Beach by Mallaig for Isle of Skye trips. We had a lunch stop at Loch Lomond, which I thought would be the perfect place for a charge! But no, the chargers were full, I suspect with staff cars…
Don’t worry though, we had planned for a second stop at Killin. To our delight, this charge point was free, not just with occupancy but cost as well, success! At the time of the trip, a lot of Scottish charge points were free, which may or may not still be the case. Killin was beautiful, and after a lovely hour-long walk and some ice creams, the car was fully charged and raring to go! We departed toward Mallaig for an evening meal before checking into our Airbnb overlooking Camusdarach.
Day 4: Camusdarach Beach - 30 miles (shopping in Mallaig) | £4 spent
Two important things to make clear from day 4:
- Camusdarach beach is truly beautiful, like a tropical paradise. Even more so, as we got very lucky with the weather!
- With the owner’s permission, we charged at Airbnb. As it was on an old-fashioned 50p meter, it worked out to £4/day total electricity, including charging from an external socket.
This gave us 120 miles a day as we were out and about in the car, much more than most of us will ever use! We’ve always asked permission to do this at Airbnb, never with an issue. As long as you don’t use a cheap extension lead, never underestimate how useful an outside socket can be!
Day 5 and 6: Isle of Skye - 80 miles | £4 spent
Just outside the paradise of Camusdarach Beach is the small harbour town of Mallaig. From which, a ferry whisks you to the Isle of Skye; somewhere the wife and I had long wanted to do. We spent 2 glorious days touring Skye! From the Old Man of Storr to the Fairy Pools, before being delighted by some Dolphins playing by the ferry!
Day 7: Casmusdarah Beach to Stirling to Edinburgh - 200 miles | £4 spent
Never underestimate how great a trickle charge from a 3-pin plug lead can be! We left full and made the trip to Stirling through some stunning countryside. Despite some family hilarity when the parking attendant at Stirling Castle called the Jag orange (it’s RED but the family disagrees…) great times and amazing views were had before heading to Edinburgh. We checked into our hotel and I walked a short distance to St James Square, which has a huge number of chargers! A little slow, but filled the car as I slept soundly!
Day 8: Edinburgh to Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort - 140 miles | £8 spent (overnight charging at Pod Point, St James Square)
In the relatively unknown Arbeia lies the remains of a Roman fort; the kids had a great time… for half hour! At least the grown-ups had a great time!
Later, the kids enjoyed the seaside funfair while the car charged at the public car park on the seafront. A small charge of £1.20 to connect, then free to charge! Be warned that Pulse chargers are not the most reliable, so check ahead!
Day 9: South Shields to home - 190 miles | £1.20 spent
With a full charge, while the kids played, we headed home on the 9th day, heads full of happy memories and a car full of juice, with my credit card still intact too!
We’d covered nearly 1,000 miles at a total cost of £45.45.
Yes, it could have been more expensive if we used ultra-fast chargers or cheaper if we used free chargers; the faster the charge, the more it costs. I had to use my backup charge points twice, but we had no other disruptions to our journey! Unless you count the scenic walk at Killin while we charged, can you call that a disruption, though? I would argue it was much less disruptive than petrol would have been! And it’s DEFINITELY been cheaper, you wouldn’t have even made it to Casmusdarah for £45!
Things to Take Away
- Go to Scotland! My wife and I have always loved it, and so did the kids!
- Road trips in an electric car are easier than petrol. As long as you have a plan, a backup plan, and don’t intend to cover 500+ miles in one day, you’ll be fine!
- The cost of electric motoring is barmy, in a good way! This was before the cost of living increased (check out our free webinar here!) and took electric prices with it, but don’t forget that fuel prices have increased too, massively! The simple truth remains that electric motoring is cleaner, more convenient, and cheaper than fossil fuels!
Interested in going electric? Get the guide below! Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions too!
Tags : automatic, electric car, electric cars, EV