The first question many people ask when you say you drive an EV often is: 'What if you want to drive long distances to go on holiday?'. Fair question! To know the answer, we interviewed 2 wolves to hear about their experience on traveling with their Volkswagen ID.3 company car over the summer.
Curious to find out how Amélie & Bieke managed to drive to Austria & the South of France? Then continue the read!
How many km did you drive & how many stops?
Bieke: We drove 1000 km with a total of 3 stops of 40 minutes. My dad was driving the same route with a Diesel car, and we ended up only arriving 45 min later, however we were completely relaxed and had enjoyed the 3 longer breaks!
Amélie: We drove 1100 km to get there with 4 stops of 30 minutes.
What were you most worried about beforehand?
Amélie: As we were planning to hike in the mountains, we were worried about how the battery would react when driving up the mountains. Chargers are also less available in the mountains than on the highway, so initially we weren’t going to use the ID.3. We did some research and as chargers are still well present, we took the shot and planned our trip in detail. In the end, consumption of driving in the mountains is very similar to the consumption driving on the highway at a speed of 125 km/h.
Bieke: I was mostly concerned about whether the charging card would work at every charging station outside of Belgium. I was imaging that we would easily find stations, but then not be able to actually charge. When we started planning the trip and googled about charging in France, my mind was put at ease as many stations work with an app where you can add your credit card information and start a charging session.
How did you plan the trip?
Amélie: I started by choosing which network to use. Just as in the gas stations industry, many different providers exist in the electrical charger industry, and you have networks that offer the combination of different providers on one card. Depending on the country you travel to, the availability of specific brands in that country, and your own preferences, it is advised to order a specific international charging card. As we were crossing Germany, Ionity was very well represented, and I decided to order a Plugsurfing card that works on these stations. As many charging stations work with QR code, it is actually not necessary to order a card, but for us it felt ‘safer’.
Bieke: On the Plugsurfing app you can always check upfront if the charger is free at the moment, that is very convenient! Otherwise, I took on a similar approach. I can really recommend the ‘A Better RoutePlanner’ website/app to plan the actual road trip. You can indicate which car you are driving, the network you want to use etc. it then shows where you need to charge in order to reach your destination. It is not the best app in user experience, but it mapped out the way and places to stop.