Good idea!
Yes the Mercator projection was a European ego thing!!! Look at a world map with a Gall-Peter projection (though also flawed) and you see how insignificant we are in Europe
I agree totally - the forward planning (provided you have the time) is a big part of the fun of a roadtrip - and makes it last longer!Thanks @Fish Fingers for the complements – it is much appreciated. To answer your question, probably a little from column A and a little from column B.
In my day job I am a software engineer that is increasingly sliding over towards management. I started a SAAS business a few years ago with a few friends and we sold it to a medium sized global business just before the pandemic. As we're spread across three timezones (Australia, Europe and US), being timely and precise is important on a daily basis.
In terms of these road-trips – my co-driver (wife – who is also a software engineer) and I purchased the car explicitly for this purpose. It was never going to be just a daily driver (we WFH or commute by public transport) or an A to B machine. We were looking for a new adventure and they are a little tricky to find today in advanced economies like Europe. It was then that we thought about EV road-trips. They could be interesting and challenging!
Drive between Dublin and Athens – in an ICE car – main thought that jumps into your head would be – the length of the journey. But do it in a EV. Is it possible? I don't know. Here is something you can try thats layered on top of European normality that is anything but normal. And from that the interest and the idea was born.
One year ago, I didn't know a kW from a kWh. What the difference was between AC or DC charging. Why did I sometimes have to bring a cable and otherwise there seemed to be a cable hanging from the charger. That has been its own journey!
We knew from the start that the actual "driving the trip" was going to be an exercise in executing on the plan. That planning the trip was going to be an integral part of the experience and you couldn't divorce it from the actual driving.
Approached with this mindset brings two elements: firstly, the trip itself lasts longer – this one has been a kind of pandemic lockdown hobby for over a year. Secondly, its a great feeling when something you planned a few months ago in the comfort of your home – works out a few thousand kilometres – on the day.
An example of this was the destination chargers at our current hotel in Mo i Rama.
I couldn't find out too much about them – but I did manage to locate a picture on the internet with someone standing beside them.
Zooming in on the charger (and ignoring the subject of the picture!) I could find out what random charging service seemed to be supporting them – signed up – put my payment details against it – and stored away in our vast array of Apple Notes – a copy of the "how to start a charge" instructions that we gleamed from that picture – and translated ahead of time from Norwegian.
So last night, after a long day, when all of the above worked out and we "got our destination charge" – there was a heck of a lot of detective work and discovery that went on ahead of time to make sure that all happened easily – and that gives us joy!
No standing around in minus 5 degrees trying to download an app from the app store and trying to wrangle in our sign up details!
If we make it look easy – it is solely down to the planning.
I'd love to hear how the Turbo S compares consumption wise in similar conditions! Especially as I am considering one! Hint, hintSir, you have driven much further in my country Norway, than I ever have. It is extremely embarrassing to say, but I haven’t been further north than Trondheim. I hereby degrade myself from the Viking I thought I was, to "Viking-light", until my frayed reputation is restored. I am ashamed, and admit I really need to pull myself together now!
Reminds me of that epic Billy Connolly sketch about the length of Norway where he asks - if you were to tip Norway up on it's southernmost point and allow it to fall forward in a southern direction, where would it's northernmost point land? Everyone scratches their heads and guess France/Spain and the like, until Billy loudly announces "Morocco!"Just how far north are we really?
Norway's geography is very deceptive. It's a crazy tall (but relatively thin) country and the usual Mercator projection can make it seem smaller (or not as tall) as it really is.
I find comparing our latitude with similar in Canada gives a better sense of just how far north we are – and are heading.
| Location | Start SOC % | End SOC % | kWh added | Cost | Duration | Ambient Temp | Battery Temp | Charger Type | Network |
| Kobbelv Vertshus, Norway | 54% | 81% | 23.0 kWh | €13.53 | 0h 39m | -4.5 | -1 | DC 50 kW | Mer |
| Narvik, Norway | 28% | 100% | 60.3 | €0.00 | 3h 30m | -2.5 | 23 | AC 22 kW | Hotel |
