Taycan to the Alps 18-day road trip 2022

[tigerbalm]

Day 7: Bled (Slovenia) -> Ljubljana (Slovenia)

A short day today to bookend our first week of this road-trip. After a very pleasant breakfast, we head out to our fully charged car – a rare destination charge on this trip so far.

As can be seen from today's map – we're still routing to the capital via a mountain route – one that yet again brings us in and out of Austria – and incorporates some of the Solčava panoramic road.

We head south on the A2 but turn off left before Kranj – heading north to the border of Austria. Once again, we're quickly in the forest landscape that covers 50% of Slovenia.

Passing through many pretty villages

While not as dramatic as yesterday's route – there are still plenty of turns to keep us on our toes.

Popping into Austria.

Where the roads get slightly wider.

With plenty of views of the alps.

Before crossing back into Slovenia.

Leaving the forest.

And driving into the capital Ljubljana – our home for tonight.

Finding our hotel – InterContinental Ljubljana – easily and pulling up outside the hotel for valet parking.

Where they plug the car into a normal wall socket – giving us 1.2 kW. Still its free power – one of the tricks of EV road-trip's is to grab power where its convenient.

With the frequent ascents and descents – the car regenerated about 10% of battery during this short day's driving – very impressive – Taycan's love the mountains!

We've a good view of the alps in the distance from our room.



Now to enjoy the capital.

Today we did 152 km over 3:07 hours, with an average speed of 50 km/h, consuming 20.1 kWh/100km.

 

[B61]

Wow…how did you decide to a such route?
did you stop at Jezersko? Few weeks ago, Boris Johnson was there on honeymoon
https://www.vilaplaninka.com/en/about/

i‘m really sorry that i’m not at work these days…i’d love to drive you around the city while you would charge @22kwh in the garage of my office.

 

[tigerbalm]

Porsche Roads app

Our first two routes are now published on the app:

1. The Kölnbreinsperre at https://roads.porsche.com/content/en/routes/the-koelnbreinsperre
2. Triglav National Park at https://roads.porsche.com/content/en/routes/triglav-national-park

The app is handy to help you navigate to the start/end of the routes and keep you on course via CarPlay.

We'll be publishing more of our twisty alpine driving routes as we go.

Note: the web links display fine on desktop but have a glitch when showing on smaller screens or mobile. I've reported the bug to Porsche and have found the Roads team very responsive.

 

[tigerbalm]

Wow…how did you decide to a such route?

Was seeking out the Solčava panoramic road and this route seemed most interesting from Bled.

did you stop at Jezersko? Few weeks ago, Boris Johnson was there on honeymoon
https://www.vilaplaninka.com/en/about/

We didn't stop but it did look like a nice town. I noticed that hotel when passing – defo one for the list – but didn't know about Boris staying there! Next time for sure!

 

[tigerbalm]

Ljubljana

Nice Turbo charging away.

Later on.

Cooling water.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 8: Ljubljana (Slovenia) -> Trieste (Italy)

A short touristy day today.

We checked out of our hotel – The InterContinental Ljubljana – after a superb breakfast (our best yet on this trip) on the 20th floor.

Our car was waiting for us with 81% battery charge. So our Juice Booster EVSE plugged into a normal 230V socket provided 20% charge over the 22 hours it was plugged in! Still we had not planned for any so it was all a bonus – plus a good excuse to use our travel EVSE.

We headed west out of the capital in bright sunshine and light traffic along the A1 motorway.

Turning off roughly half-way towards Italy. We've always liked the way that the PCM navigation matches the simulated signs to the colours of the country we're in.

With Slovenia making use of relatively unusual yellow signs for directions – normally in Europe – such colour is reserved for road-works/warnings.

At @B61's suggestion we stopped off at Predjama Castle for a look. Within two minutes of leaving the motorway we are back into twisty forested driving roads. There are so many in Slovenia to discover!

While Ireland is full of interesting castles, we've never seen one built into the side of the rock like this one.

Climbed up to the top to capture the view.



And navigated the steep steps back down!

We then drove the twenty minutes to Postojna Cave using a joint ticket with the castle. This is a very large cave system – certainly the biggest we've been in.

It even has a train track inside the cave for part of the experience – it is an impressive 3.7 km long and there has been a train operating here since 1872.

Sometimes it gets surprisingly close to the cave formations.

Once the train brings us a few kilometres into the cave we get out.

For a 1.5 km walk through the various formations along a very well guided path.

Emerging back to the surface into a beautiful 26 degrees afternoon – we continue heading west – towards Koper – a town on Slovenia's tiny coastline.

For a quick eight minute long splash of electrons at an IONITY station.

Crossing into Italy.

Hvala Slovenija za krasen čas. (Thank you Slovenia for a wonderful time.) ​

Dropping down into the centre of Trieste – where we park up for valet parking in front of our hotel – Savoia Excelsior Palace Trieste.

We have a great view of the Adriatic Sea from our balcony.

Right, time for food!

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
IONIY Koper	62%	75%	23.14	€7.64	0h 8m	26.5	42	DC 350kW	IONITY

Today we did 154 km over 3:02 hours, with an average speed of 63 km/h, consuming 18.8 kWh/100km.

 

[xy911jk]

Day 8: Ljubljana (Slovenia) -> Trieste (Italy)

Dropping down into the centre of Trieste – where we park up for valet parking in front of our hotel – Savoia Excelsior Palace Trieste.

Hey @tigerbalm, do you now that this is where your fellow citizen James Joyce completed "The Dubliners" and started "Ulysses"? You can see his statue with a 10 mins walk from your hotel

 

[tigerbalm]

Well, there goes our view!

 

[tigerbalm]

James Joyce in Trieste

After breakfast stroll in beautiful 26 degrees sun. Lots of street traders setting up for a busy Saturday.

Though the Beer Chopper took as much of our attention.

Can you see James Joyce in the background ?

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 9: Trieste (Italy) -> Bressanone (Italy)

Getting later every day – we checked out of our hotel at 12:00 and headed north out of Trieste with the Adriatic Sea coastline to our left.

Though most of it was obscured by tree lined avenues.

Before joining the autostrade towards Venice. Where our Bip & Go telepass device worked reliably first time. We haven't used it since February.

As we didn't get an overnight destination charge we stopped into a quiet IONITY station at Portogruaro. This only gave us power at 100kW but thankfully we didn't need to take too much energy on-board – so we didn't bother to try out other charging pedestals.

Before continuing along our route – following the PCM Navigation closely. At no stage was the motorway very busy.

And before long the Italian Alps felt within reach.

As the terrain got more mountainous – we pass through countless short tunnels.

And we're travelling in the Dolomites.

We pull into IONITY Trento – a station we used a few times on our road-trip last year. It is busier this time and an additional two charging pedestal's have been added bringing the total to six. Unlike our previous stop – we immediately get the full 265 kW power.

This entire route today has very impressive road infrastructure to handle the difficult terrain.

We turn off the the main roads towards our accommodation – where we're rewarded with some twisty turns – and a 911 Turbo S Cabriolet following us.

We pull into our hotel for the next two nights – Santre dolomythic home.

Where we park in the conveniently located garage and plug into one of their 7kW destination charger – so happy to have the new 22kW software fix applied!

Where we'll make good use of our room's sauna and hot-tub – after many long drives.



The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
IONIY Portogruaro	39%	70%	27.06	€8.93	0h 15m	27.0	39	DC 350kW	IONITY
IONITY Trento	29%	70%	38.24	€12.62	0h 12m	25.5	43	DC 350kW	IONITY
Bressanone	35%	100%	54.40	€0	16h 0m	19.5	32	AC 7.2 kW	Hotel

Today we did 411 km over 6:18 hours, with an average speed of 66 km/h, consuming 21.9 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

IONITY

Today is the half-way mark on this road-trip.

We think it's interesting that we've been able to easily get this far exclusively(*) on the IONITY network. The current locations of the network are very well located and with their recent expansion plans – can only get better.

Additionally, Plug & Charge has been a game changer for us on this trip – making it so much easier to get a charger started. This function was only restored for our MY21 car with a 22kW AC charger in the recent software update.

Every IONITY charger we've gone to has started to provide charge on first attempt. This feels like an improvement on what it was like a year ago.

We are now at the stage in terms of our planning – that we expect to get a charge easily at any IONITY station we visit and increasingly we do not plan for alternatives if we fail to do so. It just feels like we'd be planning for something that's highly unlikely to happen.

The experience with IONITY transcends the European countries they are located in too. Regardless its the same reliable service and with Plug & Charge – we don't even have to deal with the different languages on the charger screen – we don't even look at the screens any more.

With electricity prices rapidly rising in Europe – IONITY (combined with Porsche Charging Service discounts) are increasingly looking like great value too.

* Except for our stop at the Audi Charging Hub – which we went out of our way to experience – passing two IONITY stations – to do so!

 

[tigerbalm]

Half-way trip data

Distance	3069 km
Driving Time	53:21 hours
Average speed	59 km/h
Average consumption	21.6 kWh/100km
# charging sessions	20
# high-speed DC charging sessions	14
# low-speed AC charging sessions	6 (including initial home charging session before we set off)
Total charging cost	€193.30

Using €2/litre as average petrol prices for last week in Western Europe – our charging cost of €193.30 would buy us the equivalent of 96 litres of petrol.

Our Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid – the last petrol car we owned – used 8.46 litres/100km – when averaged over our ownership period – and that included really using the electric drive during pandemic lockdown period in Ireland – meaning the consumption figures were artificially low.

So for the same €193.30 spend – we'd have gone 1,134 km in the Panamera – 37% of the distance we've travelled in our Taycan.

And we are not "trying to be efficient" in our Taycan. We are seeking out hilly twisty mountain roads – and enjoying the autobahn on this trip. We're driving it like a Porsche!

 

[Throb]

Even with a car as wide at the Taycan there is plenty of space and little risk of curbing your wheels.

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
IONITY Wetteren	26%	85%	49.89	€16.46	0h 18m	23.5	45	DC 350kW	IONITY
IONITY Aachener Land Süd	30%	83%	41.94	€13.84	0h 14m	18.0	46	DC 350kW	IONITY
IONITY Brohltal West	43%	75%	26.24	€8.66	0h 9m	19.0	46	DC 350kW	IONITY
Frankfurt Hotel	27%	100%	68.85	€30.08	7h 12m	20.0	32	AC 11kW	Hotel

Thanks for posting such a detailed trip report.

Just a quick note about the Channel Tunnel. You had loads of room inside the carriage because you were in the single deck part of the train. This is where large coaches, vans, and cars with roof boxes get sent. The regular double decker carriages are much narrower, and fitting the wide Taycan between the narrow, metal kerbs would have been a challenge, and almost certainly you would have kerbed your wheels. If you didn't request it or reserve it in your booking, you almost certainly had someone see your car when you got to the booth with your lane allocation, and put you in the wide carriage.

I use the Tunnel frequently, and I always tick the "roofbox" option when making my booking. This means you get allocated the wider, single deck carriage. I do this even for medium size cars. The carriages are just too small for modern day cars, and they need replacing as they date from when the Tunnel first opened in 1994.

 

[tigerbalm]

Just a quick note about the Channel Tunnel.

Thank you for the useful information. We had a "flexiplus" ticket type which seems to give a lot of freedom when you get to the terminal.

When we were getting some food in the Flexplus Lounge we noticed that there was a notice on the screens telling drivers with "Tesla's" to pick the "large" lane. We didn't know why for sure but though it might have something to do with EV's being larger in general.

So when we drove out of the lounge we also picked the large lane – with flexiplus – you can make that choice yourself – as you are not strictly allocated a lane.

Until now we hadn't appreciated that was a good decision to make. As we're going back via the tunnel – we'll know now to repeat it!

We just assumed that the double-level carriages were not as high but the same width!

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 10: Stelvio Pass [Driving Day]

Today we have a long full day of driving over the amazing mountain passes and valleys in The Dolomites.

After a decent breakfast we check out this 3D relief mapping table at our hotel.

Was very neat being able to get a sense our planned route in this way.

We walk out to a fully charged car – this is one of those days where getting a reliable destination charge makes everything easier.

We start the day by heading back down south to Bolzano – where the steep walls of the valley are close to the road – making for a dramatic driving experience.

Which is very well represented by the 3D Satellite view in our Passenger Display.

You'll notice the -42% battery level being shown on the display – this was one of those days where we wanted to fully control the charging and switched off Porsche Charging Planner option. At the time this photo was taken – we hadn't manually added our planned charging stop – but would do later on in the day.

The reason for turning off the option is that this was one of those rare day's where we wouldn't have an IONITY station option and didn't want the car picking some random charger.

As we reached Bolzano – traffic was building up – but thankfully the PCM navigation routed us around it very effectively – and actually pointed us in the direction of our first climb of the day – Mendelpass passo Mendola.

And we're almost immediately into the coveted twisty stuff.

We knew we were starting off with a good one – because the route was packed with motorbikes and cyclists – and they know which ones to choose!

Reaching the town of Ruffré-Mendola at the top of the pass – where we consider stopping for food – but its a little too early in our day for that just yet.

We continue down the other side of the pass – passing through quaint cobblestone'd towns.

And endless kilometers of apple orchards.

With their ordered rows of trees reaching right up to our road.

Many of the towns we pass do not have a lot going on this warm Sunday.

Heading for passo Tonale.

And climbing up.

To some great views from the road.

We climb up the 1883 meters to the top of Passo di Tonale – where we pull into a pizza restaurant for some lunch.

This place is popular with bikers – where we park next to a group all the way from Norway.

A messed up ordering in Italian resulted in the strangest pizza we've ever seen – one with french fries on top – what-the-heck – ah well, we need to roll with it!

At this stage we were at 57% battery and were close to our planned charging stop of the day which was only a few kilometers away.

We follow the ski cable cars down the pass.

And pull into the 100 kW DC charger – that happens to have a rare Taycan charging on it. Thankfully they are just finishing and we plug in for a ten minute top up.

We started the charger – as planned – with our EnelX RFID card – which we had pre-ordered due to @McgR's helpful report earlier in the month. We had just started when a Tesla Model 3 started to queue – so this is a busy little charging station at Pointe di Legno.

We continue our day navigating mountain passes – with the next big one being Passo Del Mortirolo.

Where the cows have bells.

And the roads are narrow.

And very enjoyable.

This cyclist overtook us at 80km an hour – must feel great after such a tough climb on the way up!

Eventually reaching the big one – the highlight of our day – Passo Stelvio.

It's close to 17:00 in the evening and the road is quiet except for the bikers – there is no motorhome/RV in front of us – lets go for it!

The car climbs beautifully – with the rear-wheel steering and PDCC working hard on the steep turns.

We easily keep up with motorbikes and in some instances overtake them.

Climbing up and up.

Until we reach the plateau near the top.

Nearly there – feeling relaxed.

Made it!

2744 meters – the highest we've been with our Taycan.

With 42% in our battery – the PCM is estimating we'll arrive back at our hotel with 21% – and our hotel is close to 180 km away!

That is remarkable.

It really helped us appreciate – with the regenerative capabilities of the Taycan – being at altitude is a form of stored energy.

It's time to head back down and harvest it on the steep inclines.

Passing by the Forst brewery on the way back to our hotel – the tasty beer we've been enjoying in this region.

Finally arriving back to our hotel just in time for dinner – and a reliable destination charge. The chargers here must be load-balanced – as there are less cars charging today and we immediately got the full 22 kW – rather than the 7 kW yesterday.

And did the PCM do a good guess at the top of the Stelvio at what our arrival state of charge would be? Of course it did – as always!

Time for a drink – what a day!

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Pointe di Legno	60%	82%	19.91	€14.93	0h 12m	21.0	32	DC 100kW	Enel X
Bressanone	20%	100%	67.50	€0	3h 30m	17.5	33	AC 22 kW	Hotel

Today we did 393 km over 8:16 hours, with an average speed of 49 km/h, consuming 21.4 kWh/100km.