Taycan to Tromsø Road Trip – Winter 2023 (Arctic Norway)

[tigerbalm]

Just a bit of information about the seeming power plant near Trondheim: it produces heat for buildings in the area by burning waste. Almost 90% renewable according to Statkraft. See this web page: https://www.statkraftvarme.no/om-statkraftvarme/fjernvarmeanlegg/trondheim/

I did think it unusual to see a thermal plant – that explanation makes sense – we have something similar in Dublin.

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[tigerbalm]

Given the fairly rapid build out of chargers do you think next time you will just need the 'normal' 11/22kw lead and free up the frunk?

For sure, carrying the travel charger seems less and less necessary – but we still feel its good to be prepared. Think we'll still carry it though not expect to use it.

Similarly Winter tyres and 4WD should mean the chains are unnecessary as you won't be driving on much worse than you just did.

It has been snowing continuously since we left Tromsø – and while the main roads are regularily ploughed and gritted – side roads are not. We can definitely see situations where our continental winter tyres – as opposed to nordic winter tyres – would not have enough grip – and chains would help get us out of trouble.

We've been fairly lucky with the weather on both our Norway road-trips – get timing a little off and it could be much more challenging – especially when driving rural roads chasing the northern lights.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 17: Oslo (Norway) -> Kiel (Germany)

We check out of our hotel and pack up our fully charged car.



For the short trip to the Color Line terminal at the Port of Oslo.

Entering a tunnel under our hotel.

Which has a roundabout with a foot in it!

We are soon in the queue for the MS Color Fantasy – world's second largest cruiseferry, surpassed only by her sister ship, the MS Color Magic.

With our winter tyres tasting their last bit of snow/slush for this trip.

As we'll be on the ferry for 20 hours – we ring Porsche Tracking service in the UK to put our car into "transport mode" for the entirety of the crossing.

And enter the ship by the bow.

Driving through the giant car decks already full of trucks and transport containers.

Until we're parked safely on-board.



Let's hope for a smooth crossing – we'll be up on board shortly to get views of us transiting Oslo fjord.





You can follow our progress on https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9278234

No charging today.

Today we did 3 km over 0:58 hours, with an average speed of 3 km/h, consuming 54.0 kWh/100km.

 

[joacimli]

Given the fairly rapid build out of chargers do you think next time you will just need the 'normal' 11/22kw lead and free up the frunk? Similarly Winter tyres and 4WD should mean the chains are unnecessary as you won't be driving on much worse than you just did.

I've never owned a set of chains, have RWD S but hav

For sure, carrying the travel charger seems less and less necessary – but we still feel its good to be prepared. Think we'll still carry it though not expect to use it.



It has been snowing continuously since we left Tromsø – and while the main roads are regularily ploughed and gritted – side roads are not. We can definitely see situations where our continental winter tyres – as opposed to nordic winter tyres – would not have enough grip – and chains would help get us out of trouble.

We've been fairly lucky with the weather on both our Norway road-trips – get timing a little off and it could be much more challenging – especially when driving rural roads chasing the northern lights.

I have Nordic Continental Winter tyres on my RWD ST, un-studded, and has not had studded tyres since 1987. Last time I was stuck was due to a discharged starter battery. That's unlikely in the Taycan.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 18: Kiel (Germany) -> Ghent (Belgium)

After a very smooth crossing and a good restful sleep in our cabin – as we approach Germany – we have complementary breakfast on the Deck 15 – the observation deck – of the ship.

Just before docking we make our way down to the car deck.

Plotting our route into the PCM.

And it isn't long before we're disembarking.

And onto the German autobahn – with the tunnel under Hamburg open – unlike last time!

This is our first time on the autobahn with our Turbo S and we enjoyed it as much as the traffic and winter tyres allowed us to.

As our 4S also has rear-wheel-steering (RWS), Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV+) and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) like this Turbo S – the overall experience is familiar to us.

But – oh my goodness – the rate of acceleration – is a totally different animal. The car finds itself at 180 km/h with the shortest, lightest touch of the accelerator. Totally different to the 4S that you had to spend some time waiting for it to climb to that speed.

It's hard to describe how this car was such a capable snow adventure vehicle a few days ago now transforms now into an autobahn monster. It is like it's two different cars.

At one stage we are following a Panamera 4 – and you could really see it dealing with lag – when moving off after traffic. In comparison the Taycan Turbo S just wants to leap out of its own skin.

We found ourselves making sure we left even more space between us and the traffic in front – it is just too easy to close that space with a slightly harder press on the accelerator than perhaps one intended.

Overall we found the experience similar to our 4S – with just everything turned up a notch – but what a notch!

In general, we're starting to get used to the power of the Turbo S – but we can honestly say – it has as much power as we'd ever want.

It delivers it in a very usable way – in real-world traffic – with PDCC handling the fast sweeping bends on the autobahn – with aplomb.

With one – you'll find yourself wishing that the "old tech" Lamborghini in front of you – would just get out of your way!

And we don't care what anyone says – driving one like this – without the accompanying noise of combustion engine – is part of what makes it so special. We for one do not miss the howl of our previous V8 – we're over that – especially on eight hour high-speed trips.

That said – the Turbo S – is not silent – it makes noises – the suspension is adjusting itself – you can hear the actively aero opening and closing flaps to provide cooling – and unseen from the cabin spoiler is deploying – not to look good – but to provide genuine downforce.

It is not silent – it is just different – and it is awesome.

Of course this performance comes at a cost – and that cost is in increased energy consumption. Overall – we found our consumption increased by 33% – at autobahn speeds – averaging 180 km/h – with plenty of higher speed bursts when traffic allowed.

We were not trying to conserve anything – instead focused on enjoying the car and keeping safe.



Thankfully there are plenty of IONITY stations along the Germany authbahn network – and they provide a reliable fast charge.



A few hours of this – you can really crunch through the kilometres – and it wasn't long before we'd crossed Germany and into the more pedestrian pace of the Netherlands.

To optimise our charging strategy – we skipped a planned IONITY station in Netherlands – and instead chose a FastNed station was on the border with Belgium.



This is a really great network – so frequent you don't even had to plan to use it – it will be nearby.

We loved the layout – easy to use regardless of where your charging port is – and always with a cover from the elements over your.

However – as we're not members – the pricing is high – the same as ad-hoc charging at IONITY – around 72/c a kW/h.

A kilometre down the road from the charger – we crossed the seamless border into Belgium.

And enjoyed the fading light as we headed into Ghent – our stop tonight.

Driving in Ghent city centre was less enjoyable – lots of sharp turns and apparently Kamikaze cyclists made navigating the unfamiliar city tricky. However, the PCM did give us excellent and accurate guidance and that helped enormously.

Our hotel is located in a camera protect low emissions zone – which we were prepared for – and had registered our car and provided copies of our EU Vehicle Registration Certificate (VRC) in January.

Unfortunately, our hotel car park was full – and we had to queue to enter a packed nearby public car park. Waiting for the gate to open - when someone left – for around twenty minutes.

Unfortunately – all the public chargers were taken – and as we're only allowed into the car park - because a single car left – we had to use the space that had freed up.

We wondered if it would be tight enough that we'd have to use our remote parking option from the My Porsche app on our phone – but they were plenty big enough to get into and out of the car after.



The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
IONITY Tiste	25%	52%	25.6	€8.45	8 mins	4.5C	41C	DC 350 kW	IONITY
IONITY Dammer Berge West	18%	83%	53.1	€17.52	18 mins	5C	39C	DC 350 kW	IONITY
IONITY Bochum	9%	85%	61.63	€20.34	23 mins	4C	44C	DC 350 kW	IONITY
FastNed De Beerze	47%	70%	17.70	€12.74	8 mins	3.5C	38C	DC 300 kW	FastNed

Today we did 750 km over 9:58 hours, with an average speed of 76 km/h, consuming 28.5 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 19: Ghent (Belgium) -> Bristol (United Kingdom)

Just after 09:00 we check-out of our hotel in central Ghent.

As we unfortunately didn't get a destination charge last night – we have to use our pre-planned fallback charging plan – and head to a nearby FastNed station that is on our route.

When we're doing our trip planning – we never rely on getting a destination charge – we always have a planned fallback and arrive at our hotel the night before with enough energy to easily reach it .

That way – destination charges become nice optional bonuses – rather then essential charges.

Having pre-planned fallbacks already investigated and stored in our planning Apple Notes also makes sure the next morning goes relatively smoothly.

As we had used a FastNed station yesterday – it now recognised our car - and started the charge based on FastNed's proprietary plug & charge (based on MAC address of the car) – quickly delivering us their expensive energy at 265 kW.

Continuing along the Belgium coast – we soon crossed into France – as we headed for the Eurotunnel.

On check-in – we were offered – and took – an earlier train.

We attempted to plug into a nearby charger for a few minutes of energy – while we took a comfort break. The chargers recognised and authorised our Porsche Charging Service card – but the charger refused to start.

We weren't going to be here long enough to try again – and if we were – we'd probably have used the plentiful Tesla chargers behind us.

Still – what's the point – in installing such a great setup – and then have it fail to deliver electricity?

We pass through the radiation detectors at the UK Border Control posts.

And with it much quieter then our crossing over to France – we're soon driving down the ramp.

Onto the train.

Where the crossing to the UK takes around 35 minutes.

After which we drive off and straight onto the M20 towards London. Remembering to reset our dipped beams setting back to left-hand side.

With a passenger Eurostar train from London whizzing past us towards France.

We stopped in at IONITY Cobham on the M25 – a six pedestal charging station – but it was really busy – with a somewhat chaotic queuing system – so we decided to use our PCM to find a smaller Shell recharge station nearby – so as not to delay our arrival into Bristol tonight.

We carry a Shell Recharge (formally Newmotion) RFID charge card with us – which we use to start the charger.

The charger immediately starts to deliver us the promised 175 kW – meaning its a 800V station. We could see the 400V Tesla beside us – with a relatively low state of charge – only pulling 75 kW.

We plan on only taking in as much energy as required – due to the £0.85p/kWh pricing.

Bringing us to our final charge for the day – IONITY Chippenham – where we had our first IONITY charge on our way out to Norway on this trip.

The station was busy but with a more orderly queue and cars moving along quickly.

And with the sun setting – we approached Bristol – from the west.

Where we quickly found our hotel and its integrated public parking. Unfortunately we couldn't get the public chargers going here – would have been handy tomorrow.

This being our last night on this road-trip – we head across the pedestrian bridge.

In the light but cold evening breeze.

To a nearby Indian restaurant.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
FastNed Aalter	17%	88%	72.42	€52.14	34 mins	3.5C	36C	DC 300 kW	FastNed
Shell Addlestone	25%	60%	28.57	€22.93	11 mins	6C	38C	DC 175 kW	Shell
IONITY Chippenham	14%	88%	68.23	€23.20	30 mins	5.5C	39C	DC 350 kW	IONITY

Today we did 461 km over 9:15 hours, with an average speed of 51 km/h, consuming 23.8 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

Ah, feck sake

https://www.irishtimes.com/science/...celestial-spectacular-for-irish-sky-watchers/

 

[f1eng]

Ah, feck sake

https://www.irishtimes.com/science/...celestial-spectacular-for-irish-sky-watchers/

Bugger. We had a nice clear night here and I didn’t realise it was a possibility so didn’t look.
Grr.

 

[mangobay]

Ah, feck sake

https://www.irishtimes.com/science/...celestial-spectacular-for-irish-sky-watchers/

🫣Ah well it’s all about the journey @tigerbalm ! And what a journey. Thanks for sharing it with us all. Amazing to see.

 

[Donlam]

Ah, feck sake

https://www.irishtimes.com/science/...celestial-spectacular-for-irish-sky-watchers/

Sometimes aurora could be seen in certain months in North Co. Donegal, Ireland.

 

[B61]

We pass through the radiation detectors at the UK Border Control posts.

What kind of radiation detectors???

 

[tigerbalm]

What kind of radiation detectors???

Dirty bombs, etc.

https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/radiation-screening-ports-and-airports

 

[Scandinavian]

Ah, feck sake

https://www.irishtimes.com/science/...celestial-spectacular-for-irish-sky-watchers/

Wow that was a surprise. However you have shared an amazing trip with us! Thanks! And you surely have many fantastic memories of Norway and it’s landscape

 

[McgR]

Day 19: Ghent (Belgium) -> Bristol (United Kingdom)

Just after 09:00 we check-out of our hotel in central Ghent.

is this Grand Hotel Reylof? I stayed there a couple of years ago.

I live close to Gent. The city centre (like many old European towns) is not really made for big cars.

 

[tigerbalm]

is this Grand Hotel Reylof? I stayed there a couple of years ago.

Yes it was!

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