Rolfe
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- Joined
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- Location
- West Linton, Scotland
- Driving
- MG4 SE SR
So here's the plan. Regular readers may remember that I drove to Sussex and back (from central Scotland) last August to attend the Glyndebourne Festival. I enjoyed it so much that I'm going back in May this year (and again in August), and the May trip has also diversified.
Day one, 21st May. West Linton to Portslade, 450 miles. Drop cat at cattery and get going about 10 am. I haven't quite decided on charging stops, because a lot depends on how much the weather warms up in the next three weeks. I can certainly do it in three, but ABRP sometimes suggests four would actually be quicker. I'm inclined to aim for Forton as the first stop, even though the service station there is a dump, because it now has decent chargers and at 148 miles it's about the right distance. It will also be lunch-time. After that, who knows? Every time I ask ABRP I get a different answer, possibly because there are now so many options.
I'm looking at the NEC hub at Birmingham as a possible second stop, but it is BP Pulse, and did I read somewhere that these chargers don't like MG4s and should be avoided? Any advice on this? I don't want to arrive there low and then discover that I can't get a charge. If I did charge there I could get as far as the Cobham Ionitys for the third stop. That's less than 50 miles from my destination, but it would give me a choice of whether to take on just enough to get me there, or to stay longer to arrive at a higher SoC, depending on how the time is going.
Day 2, 22nd May. Portslade to Glyndebourne and back. That's only a 32-mile round trip. My main aim is to arrive at Glyndbourne with enough charge so that I can get all the way to 100% on the destination chargers there, in the time I'll be there. That probably means getting there above 40%, so if I haven't charged up far enough at my third stop on day one, I'll have to make a trip to a rapid charger at Portslade in the morning before I go. Again, the only ultrarapid in the neighbourhood is a BP Pulse (which was broken last time I was there). Should I avoid, and go to the 50 kw Blink charger which I know will talk to my car?
Day 3, 23rd May. I expect I'll take my hosts out to dinner somewhere, so I'll use a bit more charge. Not sure if it will be worth asking them if I can granny-charge overnight to get back to 100% for the next day, I suppose I could.
Day 4, 24th May. Portslade to Halifax, 273 miles. ABRP suggests a couple of short stops, even starting at 100%, which I suppose makes sense. Anyway, no pressure, plenty options, and when I get there I can charge up to 100% on the type 2 chargers helpfully situated literally 50 yards from my friends' front door.
Seriously, how lucky am I? The house in the background there is my friends' house. Otherwise, Halifax is a desert of single Genie-point chargers at various supermarkets, but I should coco. Sure, the damn things are ICEd, but people do move on, and I can just lurk and maybe have a cathartic row with someone when they get back to their dinosaur-juice-mobile which is parked where it shouldn't be.
Day 5, 25th May. Day out at the Everything Electric North show at Harrogate. My friend's husband is a bit of a petrol-head, a Merc man, but he's not closed-minded. He refused to have a go at driving Caliban last year, but maybe he can be tempted to try something at the show. I would imagine Mercedes might have a presence with some of their electric models. Anyway, what shouldn't I miss? The round trip is anything from 70 to 100 miles depending on which way you go, but I shouldn't need to charge at all. Unless they have some cheap chargers in the car park, in which case I might avail myself. But I'll be back at the Halifax destination chargers in the evening anyway, so back up to 100%.
Day 6, 26th May. Who knows. Sunday driving in the Yorkshire dales, with a nice stop at a pleasant eatery. Or two. Back to these incredibly convenient type 2 chargers to get back to 100% before day 7.
Day 7, 27th May. Halifax to West Linton, 186 miles. This is getting quite routine. Coming home after Christmas in the cold I had a 40-minute stop at the Carlisle Ionitys, but in late May I should only need a few minutes. (Yes I know I could have done this without a charge if I'd bought the LR, but I like the SR, so there.) Carlisle, Gretna or Annandale Water are all within range. And get this, I'm no longer needing to think, "better charge up more than I really need to get home, because if I arrive on 10% it's going to take more than 24 hours to charge" - because by then I should have had my Zappi installed. And be able to take advantage of all the sunshine we should be having by then to charge not just fast, but free.
Well, that's the plan. Let's see if it survives contact with the enemy. I'll keep you posted.
Day one, 21st May. West Linton to Portslade, 450 miles. Drop cat at cattery and get going about 10 am. I haven't quite decided on charging stops, because a lot depends on how much the weather warms up in the next three weeks. I can certainly do it in three, but ABRP sometimes suggests four would actually be quicker. I'm inclined to aim for Forton as the first stop, even though the service station there is a dump, because it now has decent chargers and at 148 miles it's about the right distance. It will also be lunch-time. After that, who knows? Every time I ask ABRP I get a different answer, possibly because there are now so many options.
I'm looking at the NEC hub at Birmingham as a possible second stop, but it is BP Pulse, and did I read somewhere that these chargers don't like MG4s and should be avoided? Any advice on this? I don't want to arrive there low and then discover that I can't get a charge. If I did charge there I could get as far as the Cobham Ionitys for the third stop. That's less than 50 miles from my destination, but it would give me a choice of whether to take on just enough to get me there, or to stay longer to arrive at a higher SoC, depending on how the time is going.
Day 2, 22nd May. Portslade to Glyndebourne and back. That's only a 32-mile round trip. My main aim is to arrive at Glyndbourne with enough charge so that I can get all the way to 100% on the destination chargers there, in the time I'll be there. That probably means getting there above 40%, so if I haven't charged up far enough at my third stop on day one, I'll have to make a trip to a rapid charger at Portslade in the morning before I go. Again, the only ultrarapid in the neighbourhood is a BP Pulse (which was broken last time I was there). Should I avoid, and go to the 50 kw Blink charger which I know will talk to my car?
Day 3, 23rd May. I expect I'll take my hosts out to dinner somewhere, so I'll use a bit more charge. Not sure if it will be worth asking them if I can granny-charge overnight to get back to 100% for the next day, I suppose I could.
Day 4, 24th May. Portslade to Halifax, 273 miles. ABRP suggests a couple of short stops, even starting at 100%, which I suppose makes sense. Anyway, no pressure, plenty options, and when I get there I can charge up to 100% on the type 2 chargers helpfully situated literally 50 yards from my friends' front door.
Seriously, how lucky am I? The house in the background there is my friends' house. Otherwise, Halifax is a desert of single Genie-point chargers at various supermarkets, but I should coco. Sure, the damn things are ICEd, but people do move on, and I can just lurk and maybe have a cathartic row with someone when they get back to their dinosaur-juice-mobile which is parked where it shouldn't be.
Day 5, 25th May. Day out at the Everything Electric North show at Harrogate. My friend's husband is a bit of a petrol-head, a Merc man, but he's not closed-minded. He refused to have a go at driving Caliban last year, but maybe he can be tempted to try something at the show. I would imagine Mercedes might have a presence with some of their electric models. Anyway, what shouldn't I miss? The round trip is anything from 70 to 100 miles depending on which way you go, but I shouldn't need to charge at all. Unless they have some cheap chargers in the car park, in which case I might avail myself. But I'll be back at the Halifax destination chargers in the evening anyway, so back up to 100%.
Day 6, 26th May. Who knows. Sunday driving in the Yorkshire dales, with a nice stop at a pleasant eatery. Or two. Back to these incredibly convenient type 2 chargers to get back to 100% before day 7.
Day 7, 27th May. Halifax to West Linton, 186 miles. This is getting quite routine. Coming home after Christmas in the cold I had a 40-minute stop at the Carlisle Ionitys, but in late May I should only need a few minutes. (Yes I know I could have done this without a charge if I'd bought the LR, but I like the SR, so there.) Carlisle, Gretna or Annandale Water are all within range. And get this, I'm no longer needing to think, "better charge up more than I really need to get home, because if I arrive on 10% it's going to take more than 24 hours to charge" - because by then I should have had my Zappi installed. And be able to take advantage of all the sunshine we should be having by then to charge not just fast, but free.
Well, that's the plan. Let's see if it survives contact with the enemy. I'll keep you posted.
