My 850 mile trip from Oxford, UK to Lake Como Italy

Lupin

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I have been waiting to try a long distance trip in the Taycan for a while, so after after a fair amount of route planning my wife and I headed off this week, We left Oxford at 6 am for our Journey, via the channel tunnel to Lake Como in Italy.

Our first stop was at Maidstone services after 120 miles. This wasn’t really necessary for charging but I wanted to get a bit of reserve in the battery before leaving the country. Unfortunately all four Ionity chargers were completely dead. A call to Ionity service line yielded only a suggestion that I use Zap Map to find an alternative. This was particularly disappointing as I would be depending on the usually reliable Ionity network for the whole European road trip

We went to the next Ionity site at the Channel Gateway services hoping this would work. However, as soon as we turned off the motorway, it was clear the Ionity site was gridlocked by traffic queueing for petrol. We eventually got access to the charging station with the assistance of a helpful marshal and entering through the exit road. We got a small charge whilst we sat watching a zombie apocalypse played out in front of the adjacent petrol pumps. Unfortunately we only had time for 13 minutes of charging because we had to go to a scheduled Covid test (needed for entrance into Italy)

After the test we drove to the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone. I thought we would use the time waiting to load on the Shuttle train to get a bit of charge. Sadly both the two ageing general chargers at the Eurotunnel were broken. Adjacent there were six new Tesla Superchargers standing smug and unused.

The Taycan loaded onto the train fine, despite low ground clearance. The smart lift function recorded the location of the bump at the threshold of the train. I did briefly wonder how the nav system would record a speed bump on a moving shuttle train.

So far on this trip, two out of three charging locations had all their machines out of order, and the the third was almost inaccessible due to the UK petrol crisis. Not a good start. Let us hope we have more luck in France.

More to come..
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I have been waiting to try a long distance trip in the Taycan for a while, so after after a fair amount of route planning my wife and I headed off this week, We left Oxford at 6 am for our Journey, via the channel tunnel to Lake Como in Italy.

Our first stop was at Maidstone services after 120 miles. This wasn’t really necessary for charging but I wanted to get a bit of reserve in the battery before leaving the country. Unfortunately all four Ionity chargers were completely dead. A call to Ionity service line yielded only a suggestion that I use Zap Map to find an alternative. This was particularly disappointing as I would be depending on the usually reliable Ionity network for the whole European road trip

We went to the next Ionity site at the Channel Gateway services hoping this would work. However, as soon as we turned off the motorway, it was clear the Ionity site was gridlocked by traffic queueing for petrol. We eventually got access to the charging station with the assistance of a helpful marshal and entering through the exit road. We got a small charge whilst we sat watching a zombie apocalypse played out in front of the adjacent petrol pumps. Unfortunately we only had time for 13 minutes of charging because we had to go to a scheduled Covid test (needed for entrance into Italy)

After the test we drove to the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone. I thought we would use the time waiting to load on the Shuttle train to get a bit of charge. Sadly both the two ageing general chargers at the Eurotunnel were broken. Adjacent there were six new Tesla Superchargers standing smug and unused.

The Taycan loaded onto the train fine, despite low ground clearance. The smart lift function recorded the location of the bump at the threshold of the train. I did briefly wonder how the nav system would record a speed bump on a moving shuttle train.

So far on this trip, two out of three charging locations had all their machines out of order, and the the third was almost inaccessible due to the UK petrol crisis. Not a good start. Let us hope we have more luck in France.

More to come..
Hi , this sounds like a great adventure , I look forward to hearing more . Can I just ask , i assume your don’t carry a Tesler tap , but would that have allowed you to charge via the Tesler superchargers ?
 

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I have been waiting to try a long distance trip in the Taycan for a while, so after after a fair amount of route planning my wife and I headed off this week, We left Oxford at 6 am for our Journey, via the channel tunnel to Lake Como in Italy.

Our first stop was at Maidstone services after 120 miles. This wasn’t really necessary for charging but I wanted to get a bit of reserve in the battery before leaving the country. Unfortunately all four Ionity chargers were completely dead. A call to Ionity service line yielded only a suggestion that I use Zap Map to find an alternative. This was particularly disappointing as I would be depending on the usually reliable Ionity network for the whole European road trip

We went to the next Ionity site at the Channel Gateway services hoping this would work. However, as soon as we turned off the motorway, it was clear the Ionity site was gridlocked by traffic queueing for petrol. We eventually got access to the charging station with the assistance of a helpful marshal and entering through the exit road. We got a small charge whilst we sat watching a zombie apocalypse played out in front of the adjacent petrol pumps. Unfortunately we only had time for 13 minutes of charging because we had to go to a scheduled Covid test (needed for entrance into Italy)

After the test we drove to the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone. I thought we would use the time waiting to load on the Shuttle train to get a bit of charge. Sadly both the two ageing general chargers at the Eurotunnel were broken. Adjacent there were six new Tesla Superchargers standing smug and unused.

The Taycan loaded onto the train fine, despite low ground clearance. The smart lift function recorded the location of the bump at the threshold of the train. I did briefly wonder how the nav system would record a speed bump on a moving shuttle train.

So far on this trip, two out of three charging locations had all their machines out of order, and the the third was almost inaccessible due to the UK petrol crisis. Not a good start. Let us hope we have more luck in France.

More to come..
I think you will need to plan a bit in France. There are good Ionity stations and in some places they have Total chargers. But the stretch you are driving from Calais etc is a bit lacking of chargers. They are building some more alon the A26 but for now…. Many of the Charging Planners also direct you on the route around Paris and that can be a bit of a lottery with traffic.

My experience with Ionity has been very positive with maybe a restart of one or two chargers needed from Ionity in France, but no disaster such as no charge at all. Touch wood!
 
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Lupin

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Hi , this sounds like a great adventure , I look forward to hearing more . Can I just ask , i assume your don’t carry a Tesler tap , but would that have allowed you to charge via the Tesler superchargers ?
Thanks. I dont have a Tesla Tap but I think they are not relevant in the UK as, unlike the US, Tesla access is controlled by software, rather than plug type. In any case, I dont think they work with Superchargers. I do plan to use Tesla low power chargers once we get to Italy but I hope they are all CCS type
 

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Hi , this sounds like a great adventure , I look forward to hearing more . Can I just ask , i assume your don’t carry a Tesler tap , but would that have allowed you to charge via the Tesler superchargers ?
In Europe all Tesla model 3 and Y are equipped with CCS connectors for DC charging. Same as in the Taycan. And bothe Teslas and Taycan and others, use the same standard connectors for AC charging. However Tesla have not yet opened their Supercharger network for other users, even if you could plug in. The Tesla tap converter is an American thing and of no use in Europe.

The only other DC connector I know of here is the CHAdeMO connector. But I have not seen many of them.
 
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Thanks. I dont have a Tesla Tap but I think they are not relevant in the UK as, unlike the US, Tesla access is controlled by software, rather than plug type. In any case, I dont think they work with Superchargers. I do plan to use Tesla low power chargers once we get to Italy but I hope they are all CCS type
Tesla Taps definitely do not work in superchargers. The taps are however very handy when spending the night in a hotel and all they have available are a couple Tesla Level 2 chargers. (Thanks for the help, Elon!). With any DC fast charging there is a little romantic software conversation continually taking place between the charger and the car (think of the Offspring Song "Pretty Fly for a White Guy," EV says "Give it to me baby" and the charger responds "Uh Huh, Uh Huh.") Imagine the results if the EV said "Stop, that hurts" and the charger proceeded to dump another 350 kWh load into her battery. Ouch! Unfortunately the only language Tesla SC's understand is Tesla. All the other superchargers are multilingual (so as to communicate and interact with every EV on the planet) which likely explains why they have so many problems.
 
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B61

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Enjoy on the trip, I’m crossing my fingers that Ionity chargers will work for you :fingerscrossed: … and I’m looking forward on news & photos from your journey:like:
 

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I have been waiting to try a long distance trip in the Taycan for a while, so after after a fair amount of route planning my wife and I headed off this week, We left Oxford at 6 am for our Journey, via the channel tunnel to Lake Como in Italy.

Our first stop was at Maidstone services after 120 miles. This wasn’t really necessary for charging but I wanted to get a bit of reserve in the battery before leaving the country. Unfortunately all four Ionity chargers were completely dead. A call to Ionity service line yielded only a suggestion that I use Zap Map to find an alternative. This was particularly disappointing as I would be depending on the usually reliable Ionity network for the whole European road trip

We went to the next Ionity site at the Channel Gateway services hoping this would work. However, as soon as we turned off the motorway, it was clear the Ionity site was gridlocked by traffic queueing for petrol. We eventually got access to the charging station with the assistance of a helpful marshal and entering through the exit road. We got a small charge whilst we sat watching a zombie apocalypse played out in front of the adjacent petrol pumps. Unfortunately we only had time for 13 minutes of charging because we had to go to a scheduled Covid test (needed for entrance into Italy)

After the test we drove to the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone. I thought we would use the time waiting to load on the Shuttle train to get a bit of charge. Sadly both the two ageing general chargers at the Eurotunnel were broken. Adjacent there were six new Tesla Superchargers standing smug and unused.

The Taycan loaded onto the train fine, despite low ground clearance. The smart lift function recorded the location of the bump at the threshold of the train. I did briefly wonder how the nav system would record a speed bump on a moving shuttle train.

So far on this trip, two out of three charging locations had all their machines out of order, and the the third was almost inaccessible due to the UK petrol crisis. Not a good start. Let us hope we have more luck in France.

More to come..
I am waiting patiently for the next instalment!
Heaven knows what our non-UK Taycan owners make of our Countries Non-fuel crisis.

I am expecting to take delivery of my 4s CT from Bournemouth Porsche Centre later this month and have a desire to take the car to Europe. I have experienced plenty of charging anxiety with my wife's BMW i3 and I really hope that at the end of your reporting that I will be left feeling confident that travelling in an EV across Europe is achievable. Bon Voyage.
 


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Hi , this sounds like a great adventure , I look forward to hearing more . Can I just ask , i assume your don’t carry a Tesler tap , but would that have allowed you to charge via the Tesler superchargers ?
TeslaTap is a US only thing and Tesla Tap will _NOT_ let you use a Supercharger.
 

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Enjoy the trip, hope charging reliability improves.
 

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Shmee posted something similar recently where the only problems he had with charging was in UK! We really need to step up our EV infrastructure:
 

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I have been waiting to try a long distance trip in the Taycan for a while, so after after a fair amount of route planning my wife and I headed off this week, We left Oxford at 6 am for our Journey, via the channel tunnel to Lake Como in Italy.

Our first stop was at Maidstone services after 120 miles. This wasn’t really necessary for charging but I wanted to get a bit of reserve in the battery before leaving the country. Unfortunately all four Ionity chargers were completely dead. A call to Ionity service line yielded only a suggestion that I use Zap Map to find an alternative. This was particularly disappointing as I would be depending on the usually reliable Ionity network for the whole European road trip

We went to the next Ionity site at the Channel Gateway services hoping this would work. However, as soon as we turned off the motorway, it was clear the Ionity site was gridlocked by traffic queueing for petrol. We eventually got access to the charging station with the assistance of a helpful marshal and entering through the exit road. We got a small charge whilst we sat watching a zombie apocalypse played out in front of the adjacent petrol pumps. Unfortunately we only had time for 13 minutes of charging because we had to go to a scheduled Covid test (needed for entrance into Italy)

After the test we drove to the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone. I thought we would use the time waiting to load on the Shuttle train to get a bit of charge. Sadly both the two ageing general chargers at the Eurotunnel were broken. Adjacent there were six new Tesla Superchargers standing smug and unused.

The Taycan loaded onto the train fine, despite low ground clearance. The smart lift function recorded the location of the bump at the threshold of the train. I did briefly wonder how the nav system would record a speed bump on a moving shuttle train.

So far on this trip, two out of three charging locations had all their machines out of order, and the the third was almost inaccessible due to the UK petrol crisis. Not a good start. Let us hope we have more luck in France.

More to come..
need pictures! thanks
 
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Lupin

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This is more or less the route I plan to follow.
Porsche Taycan My 850 mile trip from Oxford, UK to Lake Como Italy Screenshot 2021-10-03 at 17.23.54


The A26, Avenue des Anglais was clear and a pleasant drive. I even found Lane Keep Assist helpful, which is a first for me. My first planned stop was the Ionity charger at Aire de Rely. In theory the Taycan can get from my home, to Aire de Rely, without recharging, so our failed charging attempts in the UK would not be catastrophic, but the safety margin was a bit thin. If Aire de Rely is closed/ out of order/ besieged by English drivers trying to get petrol, then we were in trouble. The backup plan would be to use a slow charger in a nearby Lidl carpark (and miss our dinner appointment that evening). Fortunately Aire de Rely was a dream. The Porsche RFID card worked quickly and efficiently. We quickly charged up during a nice late breakfast with a proper cappuccino.

Now, with confidence in Ionity restored, I have a bit of decision to make. Do I go to the next Ionity charger in Reims, or stop at slower charger from another (untried) network? This would have been a simple decision, if Ionity Reims (Aire de Gueux) were not a couple of miles off my preferred route. Two miles is not a problem, but we are then on the wrong side of the motorway and would need to do a 20km round trip to turn around, and get back to where I wanted to be. Close inspection of google maps showed a service road off the Aire de Gueux services which might enable a quick turn round through the local village. I decided to stick with Ionity, try the service road and if that didn’t work, 20 km extra would not be a disaster.
Aire Gueux worked fine, giving us briefly an impressive 240 KW charge rate. However the service road was firmly gated shut. With hindsight, this was predictable as the motorway was a payage autoroute, so you cant have cars coming off without a toll booth.

We had another flawless charge at an Ionity station, at a shopping centre in Metz, just off the motorway. It was then cross country to our stopping point for the night in a lovely Chateau deep in rural Alsace (no overnight charging, but lots of character). As darkness closed in, the car confirmed it had adjusted the headlights for driving on the right. Nice feature.We arrived at the hotel a little late and the small number of other guests had already started dinner together at a couple of large tables. We had a great convivial evening, with people from all over Europe. There was general agreement that I was a wise Englishman to have an EV, given the UK's current problems with petrol. I didn’t mention that the problems were are also having with electricity companies going out of business. However, my feeble green travel credentials were put into proper perspective by the lovely Dutch couple we sat next to who were walking from the North Sea to the Mediterranean over many years, walking a week or two each year.
Porsche Taycan My 850 mile trip from Oxford, UK to Lake Como Italy tempImageeysdsw


Overall the afternoon in France had been excellent. We had three high speed charges, each giving more than 50% increase in charge, in about 20 minutes. Tomorrow might be harder as we would be setting off through rural France with only about 60% charge.
 
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Porsche Taycan My 850 mile trip from Oxford, UK to Lake Como Italy Screenshot 2021-10-04 at 13.19.46
It It was a cold morning as we set off and the estimated range had dropped a little. The were no backup chargers on this leg. We had to get back to the motorway and the Ionity charger at Haut Koenigsburg services. The early morning drive in the French countryside was excellent. The Taycan may be a Grand Tourer on the motorway but it also delivers some fun on the twisty roads. Unfortunately a bit of spirited driving further eroded the range. Fortunately, we did not get lost and even managed to turn the right way when we got onto the motorway.

I have driven this journey a few times in my 911 and Haut Koenigsburg is one of my favourite stops; Spectacular views and a resident family of Ibises (if that is the plural. Anyway, big birds) who entertain the tourists. However, as we drove in, I spotted a group of serious looking types with cables and clip boards huddled around the Ionity chargers. It did not look good. However my concern was short lived. They were BWM engineers checking out their instrumented BMW EV. I went to get a coffee and watch the Ibises and was fully charged in no time.


We drove into Switzerland without stopping. I realised we did not have a Vignette ( the permit needed to drive in Switzerland), so we stopped at the first services to get one, and noticed a tempting non-Ionty high speed charger standing unused. The car handshake worked, but 20 minutes later I still had no charge. The charging system was fine, but none of my UK debit/credit cards were recognised. I even tried the Porsche RFID card with no luck.

There was the usual traffic jam getting into the Gotthard road Tunnel but nothing too bad. 10 miles later, coming out of the tunnel, the range indicator was saying we had over 20 miles to go to our next charging stop, but it forecast we would only use 2% battery to get there. This sounded wildly optimistic to me. Was this the beginning of an infamous Porsche software meltdown? No, it was all downhill, and the range indicator was spot on. I hadn’t realised the algorithm took into account the gradient of the road.

So in Switzerland the Ionity chargers are just as reliable as in France and even more frequent. (I even managed to bravely drive past one without stopping, confident that the next was easily in range) I didn’t need to access other networks, but if I did, I may need sign up to their networks, rather attempting to pay as you go. We got our final high speed Ionity charge at Bellinzona Nord. We charged to 95%, as from here on there would only be slow AC chargers around the Lakes in northern Italy.
 

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Nice to hear your experience. I think there are a number of 50 kW chargers around Lake Como, and as you say there are quite a few in Switzerland of > 100 kW. To the west of Como it looks fine but on the east side, a bit sparse?
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