Coming from Tesla to Taycan, but worried about charging on road trips.

[Bongo77]

hello all- new member here. I'm just about to commit to a new Taycan 4S Cross Turismo, but coming from a Tesla Model 3 performance I'm worried about the poor state of non-supercharger infrastructure in the UK.

Is there a charging network that comes anywhere close to the Superchargers? Having being spoiled on Superchargers, I don't really want to download any more than one app and I don't want to charge at less than 150kw and I don't want to have o queue.

I live in Nottingham and typically do a 250 mile round trip (North or south) once a week or so.

I only use superchargers on these long trips and in 55,000 miles and 4 years I may have been lucky but I have only had to queue for a supercharger charger twice and have never needed to charge for more than 30 mins to continue my journey. I have tried to use non-Tesla superchargers out of curiosity about 5 times in the past and only had one decent experience (Instavolt Skelton Lake, Leeds).

As a past Porsche ownerI know the Porsche will have a better fit and finish, will be more engaging to drive etc etc, but the feel good factor will be seriously dented by any charging inconvenience. What are your real world experiences in the UK in 2023?

Grateful for your honest opinions on charging only. Not meaning to turn this into a Tesla v Taycan war- having Test driven a Taycan a couple of times I'm well aware of the pros and cons of each, but I haven't yet lived with a non-Tesla EV on a daily basis.

FYI- I can't keep both cars and use the Tesla for road trips- that would completely defeat the object. I would like one car to do everything.

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[kort]

the biggest problem getting a L3 charge at EA units is that you could encounter is congestion at the EA chargers.

for the most part the stations are operating ok but with all the new EVs on the road the chargers are crowded and are always in use.

in addition you have many people who don't grasp the nuances of L3 charging and will try to charge to 100% are an absurdly low charging speed, which just increases the congestion.

 

[Jhenson29]

What are your real world experiences in the UK in 2023?

the biggest problem getting a L3 charge at EA…

 

[Archimedes]

Stick with Tesla if fast charging is a key buying decision.

 

[Vercingetorix]

OP is in UK.

 

[Bongo77]

the biggest problem getting a L3 charge at EA units is that you could encounter is congestion at the EA chargers.

for the most part the stations are operating ok but with all the new EVs on the road the chargers are crowded and are always in use.

in addition you have many people who don't grasp the nuances of L3 charging and will try to charge to 100% are an absurdly low charging speed, which just increases the congestion.

 

[Scandinavian]

Is there a charging network that comes anywhere close to the Superchargers? Having being spoiled on Superchargers, I don't really want to download any more than one app and I don't want to charge at less than 150kw and I don't want to have o queue.

I guess there are a number of UK owners on here that have a much better view than I have got from visiting a few times. I have also not been any further north than Boston in the U.K.

I got the advice to look at ZAPMAP and find suitable stations that way, since that seemed the best option in the U.K.? It worked out ok for me, but if you only want one card or app, I think you will have a challenge. But there are a number of Tesla chargers open for all, so keep your Tesla app and register there.

You get the Porsche Charging Service card with the car and that will cover you for Ionity, Porsche dealers, Fastned, Osprey and should cover Shell network as well. But She’ll has never worked for me with the Porsche card. There may be others that are included but I stayed with the Ones I knew would work.

Both BP and Shell have had credit card readers when I used them, but Shell charges something like 0.85 GBP vs 0.31 at Ionity!!!

Coming from mainland Europe I found the charging experience in the U.K. very much below the standard. Quite a few chargers out of order and well known to the helpline and the Ionity stations seldom gave the expected or advertised power. Ionity in Cambridge services was a terrible experience a number of times.

You can also see a lot of the chargers that in theory should be included in the Porsche service, in My Porsche app. However even there the nonworking Shell stations still are indicated for me.

It is possible to do your trips, but requires a bit more planning and care compared to using the Tesla network that you are used to. They have set the standard for EV charging experience and are hard to beat.

 

[Bongo77]

Stick with Tesla if fast charging is a key buying decision.

It really is, so it looks like I will have to. To me, the Taycan Turismo is the most attractive EV out there at the moment & I'm a big Porsche fan, but it would only make sense to me as a daily dirver if I stuck within its range and charged at home.

It's such a shame that the EV manufacturers still haven't built a competitive charging network. Ionity looked promising at one point, but they only have 19 locations in the UK and just over 100 chargers. So unless I retire or move to a more developed country I guess I'm stuck with the Tesla- which of course is no real hardship, but it would have been nice to have a change!

More han happy to be corrected by any UK Taycan drivers. Responses from members in the US about the EA charging network are obvioulsy irrelevant. I would have hoped previous respondents would have realised this!

 

[Bongo77]

I guess there are a number of UK owners on here that have a much better view than I have got from visiting a few times. I have also not been any further north than Boston in the U.K.

I got the advice to look at ZAPMAP and find suitable stations that way, since that seemed the best option in the U.K.? It worked out ok for me, but if you only want one card or app, I think you will have a challenge. But there are a number of Tesla chargers open for all, so keep your Tesla app and register there.

You get the Porsche Charging Service card with the car and that will cover you for Ionity, Porsche dealers, Fastned, Osprey and should cover Shell network as well. But She’ll has never worked for me with the Porsche card. There may be others that are included but I stayed with the Ones I knew would work.

Both BP and Shell have had credit card readers when I used them, but Shell charges something like 0.85 GBP vs 0.31 at Ionity!!!

Coming from mainland Europe I found the charging experience in the U.K. very much below the standard. Quite a few chargers out of order and well known to the helpline and the Ionity stations seldom gave the expected or advertised power. Ionity in Cambridge services was a terrible experience a number of times.

You can also see a lot of the chargers that in theory should be included in the Porsche service, in My Porsche app. However even there the nonworking Shell stations still are indicated for me.

It is possible to do your trips, but requires a bit more planning and care compared to using the Tesla network that you are used to. They have set the standard for EV charging experience and are hard to beat.

Many thanks for your detailed reply Scandinavian- it's clear that Northern Europe is miles (Km?) ahead of the UK. I think what I need to do is a practice run on one of my longer trips and avoid the Tesla only superchargers, stickng to the Porsche/ Open Tesla network.

I'm happy to accept a bit of inconvenience for the excitement of having a new car, but if I'm telling my wife and kids I'm coming home 2 hours late from work because I've first had to detour, then find a working charger, then queue, then charge at <150kw it's not ideal!

 

[Scandinavian]

I do not know if you have used ABRP app or website before. Plan your route in there with a setting for a Taycan model. You can easily set filters for different networks to avoid and also minimum number of stalls. I never ever bother or look at stations less than 4 chargers.

I forgot to mention I also had very good experience at some Gridserve stations! Just card payment and more expensive than Ionity, but what an experience. Charging station design of the future!!! Plenty of chargers >20? great shop, rest areas, coffee shops, snacks etc. If you have these close, well worth a visit. Seek them out on your trip!

 

[Bongo77]

I do not know if you have used ABRP app or website before. Plan your route in there with a setting for a Taycan model. You can easily set filters for different networks to avoid and also minimum number of stalls. I never ever bother or look at stations less than 4 chargers.

I forgot to mention I also had very good experience at some Gridserve stations! Just card payment and more expensive than Ionity, but what an experience. Charging station design of the future!!! Plenty of chargers >20? great shop, rest areas, coffee shops, snacks etc. If you have these close, well worth a visit. Seek them out on your trip!

Yes, I'll try ABRP again & will keep an open mind.

In my day job I actually did some work relaing to the Gridserve Electric forecourts, but I totally forgot about them! The one in Essex is very good, but it's currently one of only two or three in operation. I really hope they continue to invest.

Thanks again Scandinavian!

 

[f1eng]

Grateful for your honest opinions on charging only. Not meaning to turn this into a Tesla v Taycan war- having Test driven a Taycan a couple of times I'm well aware of the pros and cons of each, but I haven't yet lived with a non-Tesla EV on a daily basis

I mainly charge at home and have no Tesla experience as a baseline but on the rare occasions I have charged away from home the pitiful investment in infrastructure here has been evident.

What I did was used ZapMap to find >150kW chargers near the route I was taking, making sure there was a cafe nearby, and have so far been fine, by the time my drink is ordered, delivered and drunk I have had enough charge for the next leg of my trip.

It is obviously more “work” than using a petrol car or, it seems, a Tesla but it has been OK.

My biggest limitation has been complete absence of high speed chargers anywhere near my daughter’s house in Anglesey. Generally the beautiful places are much worse served than the motorways so a bigger problem for holidays than work.

 

[SteveGTS]

hello all- new member here. I'm just about to commit to a new Taycan 4S Cross Turismo, but coming from a Tesla Model 3 performance I'm worried about the poor state of non-supercharger infrastructure in the UK.

Is there a charging network that comes anywhere close to the Superchargers? Having being spoiled on Superchargers, I don't really want to download any more than one app and I don't want to charge at less than 150kw and I don't want to have o queue.

I live in Nottingham and typically do a 250 mile round trip (North or south) once a week or so.

I only use superchargers on these long trips and in 55,000 miles and 4 years I may have been lucky but I have only had to queue for a supercharger charger twice and have never needed to charge for more than 30 mins to continue my journey. I have tried to use non-Tesla superchargers out of curiosity about 5 times in the past and only had one decent experience (Instavolt Skelton Lake, Leeds).

As a past Porsche ownerI know the Porsche will have a better fit and finish, will be more engaging to drive etc etc, but the feel good factor will be seriously dented by any charging inconvenience. What are your real world experiences in the UK in 2023?

Grateful for your honest opinions on charging only. Not meaning to turn this into a Tesla v Taycan war- having Test driven a Taycan a couple of times I'm well aware of the pros and cons of each, but I haven't yet lived with a non-Tesla EV on a daily basis.

FYI- I can't keep both cars and use the Tesla for road trips- that would completely defeat the object. I would like one car to do everything.

I recently did SW London to Nottingham and back, it is doable on one charge but I stopped at Milton Keynes Ionity to top up and got around 260kWh, there’s a cafe there too.

 

[Fish Fingers]

Surely we must have some members in the UK who have moved from Tesla to Taycan and charge in the wild?

This may be a gamechanger though when it's introduced
https://insideevs.com/news/677450/new-uk-law-99-percent-ev-charger-reliability/

 

[Scandinavian]

Surely we must have some members in the UK who have moved from Tesla to Taycan and charge in the wild?

This may be a gamechanger though when it's introduced
https://insideevs.com/news/677450/new-uk-law-99-percent-ev-charger-reliability/

That indeed would be a game changer! Good to see that all this mess of apps, cards, dongles from different providers would change.

Whatever was wrong with the Payment Cards and Credit Cards already in use globally. I am sure there will be other ways to get discounts but move in right direction.

I however question the reliability measurement of 99%. Would be interesting to hear more about how that would be measured and what is covered? Uptime, charge power, communication etc?

But still great to see that there will be a target to achieve and to sort out this mess.

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