mcr21
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
As "part 2" of the European road trip report, I thought I'd share some impressions from the last leg of the journey with my Taycan 4S to the Balearics:
Mallorca
Boarded the Baleria express ferry from Barcelona to Alcudia on the Northern coast of Mallorca, an almost six-hour crossing that was overall very smooth and pleasant save the families with screaming kids that they had to pacify with animated movies showing across the entire boat
The boarding process was very easy and straightforward and before arriving in Alcudia there was a brief stopover in Minorca.
Firstly, Mallorca has a fanastic road network and the quality of the highways and many of the smaller roads is second to none by European standards. They clearly put a lot of effort into maintaining the road infrastructure. Probably spent an hour+/day driving the car between the different picturesque towns, various beach clubs (Gran Folies by Port d'Andratx and Mhares by Puig de Ros probably being the two favorites), up to the picturesque mountain town Valldemossa by Tramuntana for hiking and other similar day excursions.
It goes without saying that the 4S consistently handles amazingly well be it narrow mountain roads or on the highways on the island. Used Smart Lift a few times which was helpful on bumpy smaller roads. Not much opportunity for fast driving since it was high season and speed limits are also fairly low on most stretches. But the often-stunning views and relaxed island feel compensated for this.
One comment is the width and general footprint of the car which sometimes was challenging when parking or generally navigating tighter sections of the smaller roads - rear axle steering was incredibly helpful in those situations.
On a practical note, there are not that many rapid chargers on Mallorca, save for a few Iberdrola older 50 kW ones and the faster one at the Porsche dealership near Palma (150 kW) which works like a charm. The staff are all extremely friendly and there's a nice waiting area inside the showroom.
There's plenty of dedicated EV parking spots throughout the island which is helpful in high season when public parking is scarce. On a related note, MELIB is the local government-sponsored street charging network, but could not get a single one of them to work either through the app or card payment.
Again, didn't see many Taycan's except for the odd ones near Andratx and many curious onlookers found it enjoyable to observe as again is not that common of a car on the roads in Southern Europe where EVs overall are less adopted.
Ibiza
After spending almost two fantastic weeks on Mallorca, a brief stopover in Ibiza made the return journey a bit easier as was split up into two shorter 2 1/2h ferry journeys on the Balearia express catamaran. On this route, there's a also nice spacious sun deck for passengers to sit outside to enjoy the views and take in some fresh air.
Ibiza is a much smaller island (1/6th at at 571.6 km²) so you can easily drive around the entire place in a day - and it's definitely worth exploring as has some beautiful beaches and spots to enjoy the sunrise/sunset.
Spent most of the time there around the Southern coast between Santa Eulalia and Eivissa and unfortunately most of the road network does not offer sea views, and the quality of the roads is not as high as in Mallorca though still very good.
The rapid charger we used was a Wenea 150 kW at ME Ibiza hotel. Brand new and worked perfectly every time, and Wenea also has a few 22 kW ones throughout the island.
The car ferry from Ibiza back to Denia was again very smooth and was a very pretty approach seeing the mainland appear from a distance. Denia while small has an almost brand new port so a very civilized area to disembark at.
Overall had an amazing time getting to know the car, it's many features and generally putting it to the test driving on everything from the highways in UK and France to the various countryside roads in Mallorca and Ibiza.
Mallorca
Boarded the Baleria express ferry from Barcelona to Alcudia on the Northern coast of Mallorca, an almost six-hour crossing that was overall very smooth and pleasant save the families with screaming kids that they had to pacify with animated movies showing across the entire boat
The boarding process was very easy and straightforward and before arriving in Alcudia there was a brief stopover in Minorca.Firstly, Mallorca has a fanastic road network and the quality of the highways and many of the smaller roads is second to none by European standards. They clearly put a lot of effort into maintaining the road infrastructure. Probably spent an hour+/day driving the car between the different picturesque towns, various beach clubs (Gran Folies by Port d'Andratx and Mhares by Puig de Ros probably being the two favorites), up to the picturesque mountain town Valldemossa by Tramuntana for hiking and other similar day excursions.
It goes without saying that the 4S consistently handles amazingly well be it narrow mountain roads or on the highways on the island. Used Smart Lift a few times which was helpful on bumpy smaller roads. Not much opportunity for fast driving since it was high season and speed limits are also fairly low on most stretches. But the often-stunning views and relaxed island feel compensated for this.
One comment is the width and general footprint of the car which sometimes was challenging when parking or generally navigating tighter sections of the smaller roads - rear axle steering was incredibly helpful in those situations.
On a practical note, there are not that many rapid chargers on Mallorca, save for a few Iberdrola older 50 kW ones and the faster one at the Porsche dealership near Palma (150 kW) which works like a charm. The staff are all extremely friendly and there's a nice waiting area inside the showroom.
There's plenty of dedicated EV parking spots throughout the island which is helpful in high season when public parking is scarce. On a related note, MELIB is the local government-sponsored street charging network, but could not get a single one of them to work either through the app or card payment.
Again, didn't see many Taycan's except for the odd ones near Andratx and many curious onlookers found it enjoyable to observe as again is not that common of a car on the roads in Southern Europe where EVs overall are less adopted.
Ibiza
After spending almost two fantastic weeks on Mallorca, a brief stopover in Ibiza made the return journey a bit easier as was split up into two shorter 2 1/2h ferry journeys on the Balearia express catamaran. On this route, there's a also nice spacious sun deck for passengers to sit outside to enjoy the views and take in some fresh air.
Ibiza is a much smaller island (1/6th at at 571.6 km²) so you can easily drive around the entire place in a day - and it's definitely worth exploring as has some beautiful beaches and spots to enjoy the sunrise/sunset.
Spent most of the time there around the Southern coast between Santa Eulalia and Eivissa and unfortunately most of the road network does not offer sea views, and the quality of the roads is not as high as in Mallorca though still very good.
The rapid charger we used was a Wenea 150 kW at ME Ibiza hotel. Brand new and worked perfectly every time, and Wenea also has a few 22 kW ones throughout the island.
The car ferry from Ibiza back to Denia was again very smooth and was a very pretty approach seeing the mainland appear from a distance. Denia while small has an almost brand new port so a very civilized area to disembark at.
Overall had an amazing time getting to know the car, it's many features and generally putting it to the test driving on everything from the highways in UK and France to the various countryside roads in Mallorca and Ibiza.
Sponsored
Last edited:
