Road trip charging - London to North East

[Throb]

Those Wetherby chargers are in the ideal location for me but the reviews on Zap Map aren't very encouraging. Leeds would be good but there's only six and all the reviews complain about speed.

It's really hard to interpret reviews as there's no way to know which problems are user error (not understanding battery temp, charging curve, car's max rate) and which are genuine charger problems.

I wouldn't read too much into the reviews. I used the Folkestone Ionity charger last week, and the reviews were awful on Zap Map, yet I got a brilliant charge, getting above 250 kW straight away.

Did I leave a review? No.

It's a disgrace IMHO that Porsche hasn't by now fitted the DC booster as standard

It is standard in some countries. It's Porsche UK who have decided not to include it.

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[smartymarti]

You have IONITY at leeds junction 59 at McDonald are really good junction 62 a690 shell also super fast Washington slightly further up also very fast north east a1 is well covered

 

[captainlk]

You have IONITY at leeds junction 59 at McDonald are really good junction 62 a690 shell also super fast Washington slightly further up also very fast north east a1 is well covered

Nice I hadn't considered a couple of them. Just to be clear, have you used these ones yourself?

 

[smartymarti]

Have used most of them all are really decent with minimal hassle

 

[MrB]

I’ve used Skelton Lakes Ionity and Gridserve Wetherby numerous times on the way up to Harrogate to see family a lot this year. Skelton Lakes can be very busy and, for a while, had a few offline or dispensing a charge for free but, consequently, at a much slower rate. Never had a particularly scintillating charge speed there (whereas I’ve seen 260kw at Baldock and Cringleford Ionity stations).

Wetherby Gridserve was very good and, for me, has always had good availability and been plenty fast (around the 200kw area).

If you come up the A1 there’s a single 175kw Shell Recharge at Newark just off the road (access off and on the A1 is a bit rubbish) and there’s a bank of 3 of the same at Markham Moor northbound (I think there may be some southbound but the nature of my journey has meant I’ve always been able to get back to Norwich without needing them, although this winter may see my needing to revisit that).

If it’s any consolation, I’ve had the car a little over 13 months, have done nearly 20,000 miles and well over half of that was done with charging at various DC/HPC stations around the country. It’s doable, it’s not perfect but it is doable.

My biggest problem is the amount of money I spend on coffee and snacks whilst I wait. That and getting my carcass in and out of the 18-way seats having spent a year buying coffee and snacks….

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Sand dancer]

If you could do a few test runs and let me know the best options...

absolutely agree. Ascot to Teesside to South Shields here

 

[Speuk]

I’ve used Skelton Lakes Ionity and Gridserve Wetherby numerous times on the way up to Harrogate to see family a lot this year. Skelton Lakes can be very busy and, for a while, had a few offline or dispensing a charge for free but, consequently, at a much slower rate. Never had a particularly scintillating charge speed there (whereas I’ve seen 260kw at Baldock and Cringleford Ionity stations).















Wetherby Gridserve was very good and, for me, has always had good availability and been plenty fast (around the 200kw area).















If you come up the A1 there’s a single 175kw Shell Recharge at Newark just off the road (access off and on the A1 is a bit rubbish) and there’s a bank of 3 of the same at Markham Moor northbound (I think there may be some southbound but the nature of my journey has meant I’ve always been able to get back to Norwich without needing them, although this winter may see my needing to revisit that).















If it’s any consolation, I’ve had the car a little over 13 months, have done nearly 20,000 miles and well over half of that was done with charging at various DC/HPC stations around the country. It’s doable, it’s not perfect but it is doable.















My biggest problem is the amount of money I spend on coffee and snacks whilst I wait. That and getting my carcass in and out of the 18-way seats having spent a year buying coffee and snacks….















Hope that helps a bit.

Really helpful thanks. Agree re snacks!
I'll be doing a similar mileage on mine when it arrives.... hopefully next week

 

[smartymarti]

Also just found a new garage jet 2 minutes off the a1 catterick , used last week straight on no hassles 149kw charge rate brilliant

 

[sbarker108]

My car is due to arrive soon, so I've been checking chargers on Zap Map to plan a journey I'll have to do fairly regularly - which is to drive from London to either Darlington or Northumberland with no charging at the destinations.

Looking at the reviews of chargers like Wetherby (new Gridserve fast chargers) or Peterborough (Ionity) and others on the way, they all either appear to be very busy, have low speeds, hard to access with a big car, or unreliable.

Is the state of the charging network really that bad? Does anyone else on here make a similar trip and where you stop off? Any general tips for surviving a road trip?

Sunderland has a 350 kw charger, might work out for you. Fastned I think it is.

 

[captainlk]

Bumping this thread as I've had the car for a few months now and done this trip multiple times. Putting the conclusions incase helpful for future searchers.

In short there are lots of good options on the A1, and soon there will be even more. These are my go-to options so far.

1. Ionity Peterborough - 350kw

A set of six good Ionity chargers at Peterborough where I've experienced the max 262kw. They do get busy given they are cheap, so I would avoid at absolute peak times (like early Saturday afternoon). The services here have good options for food and drink.

2. Shell Recharge Markham Moor - 175kw

Been here a few times. They are expensive which has benefits as they are likely to be available when Peterborough Ionity is busy. There is a Little Waitrose in the garage here but it's small and both times I've been here it didn't have any prawn sandwiches left which was very upsetting.

With a preheated battery I got the max 175kw very quickly. However some of them can be out of order, so check the status on Zap Map before heading here and avoid unless at least 3/4 are working or it's off-peak time.

3. Gridserve Wetherby Services - 350kw

Went here at Christmas when it was maximally busy (a huge queue to even get in the services). There are lots of chargers but seem unreliable with some having issues that aren't obvious until you try them. However there are so many of them that outside of Christmas it should be fine. The services are big and good with lots of eating/drinking options.

[soon opening] Gridserve Grantham North services - not sure how fast but probably the same as Wetherby. These are ready but still fenced off - should be ready to use imminently at a convenient location. More are in progress at Blyth services but look some way off.

There are lots of other lesser chargers like Instavolt and BP Pulse on the way, but in my opinion you don't need them given other better options.

 

[Throb]

Thanks for the post. Really useful. Is the photo above Markham Moor?

There is a real lack of Ionity chargers north of Peterborough/Milton Keynes when heading North (in my case to Leeds). Could do with a few between MK/Peterborough and Leeds.

 

[captainlk]

Thanks for the post. Really useful. Is the photo above Markham Moor?

There is a real lack of Ionity chargers north of Peterborough/Milton Keynes when heading North (in my case to Leeds). Could do with a few between MK/Peterborough and Leeds.

Yes it's Markham Moor. Totally agree that more Ionity chargers are needed.

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