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

[tigerbalm]

Day 4: Utrecht (Netherlands) -> Eemshaven Port (Netherlands)

Today's main goal is to make our ship from Netherlands to Norway on-time. It leaves at 15:30 and they request that car's are ready to check-in two hours before departure.

We pack up the car – with a full overnight destination charge – making today much easier.

And head out of Utrecht on a quiet Saturday morning – on a ten lane motorway – with light traffic.



Passing 350 kW charging stations every 10 km or so – an amazing density of chargers – the majority of fuel stations on motorways appear to have them.

We don't think Dutch EV drivers really have to do any charge planning – there is always working stations nearby!



Powered by plenty of wind energy – we pass continuous lines of wind turbines.



And soon we are at the start of the 32 kilometre long Afsluitdijk – constructed between 1927 and 1932 – with a motorway on-top.



Unfortunately, there is currently a lot of construction there – so the tourist parking stops were closed.



About 10 km before the end – there was a fuel station – where we could pull in to soak up the sights. We took this opportunity to stick on one of our GoPro's to capture driving across.

Unfortunately, despite firmly attaching it – it pop'ed off during the drive – and with it being much too dangerous to go back for it – we lost both the camera and footage!

Here is a short 20 sec clip we did take from inside the Taycan with an iPhone.




We push on towards the port – passing countless FastNed charging stations.

With a lot of agriculture in this area – we pass thousands of upside-down Dutch flags – as a protest with the governments plans to cut emissions.



Soon it becomes time for us to pull in for a quick charge – mostly to make tomorrow a bit easier.

At many service stations in Netherlands – not only do you have fast 350 kW chargers – you have the choice of multiple networks providers – in this case IONITY and FastNed. But with best prices available to us at IONITY – it makes no sense to use other networks – unless they are very convenient.

After we were charged, we did check out the FastNed setup – the cover is something they have everywhere – it helps you find them, gives them a unique brand feel – and of course are very handy in inclement weather.



As we near the port – we see out first sign for Norway.

Eemshaven is an Energy Port – and there are wind turbines, solar panals and other energy generating facilities as far as the eye can see.

Producing 8000 MW – Eemshaven alone could power the entire island of Ireland – with 2GW to spare!





Including an experimental two blade turbine.



The dock for our ferry is clearly signposted and check-in is quick and professional. We have about an hour to wait in the quickly growing queue before we can board. There are plenty of food and comfort facilities while you wait.



At least the boat is here – and not cancelled as it was two weeks previously!

Boarding the boat itself is simple and starts on-time.

And we park up with the staff chocking our wheels for the crossing to Norway.

We find our cabin – which has a living and sleeping area.







The ferry leaves exactly on-time – 15:30 – to the minute.



We have pre-booked dinner for 19:00 and breakfast tomorrow morning at 09:00 – just in time for our scheduled 10:00 arrival.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
IONITY Rijksweg	43%	87%	46.24	€15.26	26 mins	10.5C	53C	DC 350 kW	IONITY

Today we did 283 km over 5:03 hours, with an average speed of 57 km/h, consuming 24.1 kWh/100km.

 

[McgR]

There is one app called EV Hotels that show some of the hotels.
Not quite sure how good it is but have a look and try.

Looked it up. It is a payed app. 3,5 euro. Net very expensive. Do you know if it works well in Europe? Don’t mind paying if it works.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 5: Kristiansand (Norway) -> Stavanger (Norway)

You've heard of the "Love Boat", well this is the "Startup Boat"!

While everything eventually went okay – you can see signs that this is a brand new ferry company.

Most of the payment terminals didn't work – causing long queues all over the place – as people struggled to pay for food, duty free and other purchases.

Our dinner took a few hours to be delivered to our table – but when it did come – it was very well prepared and tasty.

We arrive into Kristiansand port – right on time – after a relatively smooth crossing. Excited fellow passengers crowd the deck to get our first views of Norway.



Disembarkation is efficient and with no checks on this side of the border – we're straight onto the road-network and into our first – of what will be many tunnels in Norway.

Leaving Kristiansand behind us, we joined what looks like a brand new section of the E39 motorway.

Our PCM navigation thought we were going through a mountain and some forest. It had the road represented as dotted-lines (like it knew about it – but not open yet) with the "old" road it had routed us on to our right.

The one of the over-the-air map updates came in – and suddenly – the new road became the active road! We think this is the first time that we've seen a map update en-route actually fixes something!

Speed limit of 110 km/h and all – for Norway – this is autobahn stuff – we'll enjoy it!

Eventually the new section comes to an end.

And we're on more usual two-way roads.

The road infrastructure is so impressive, with tunnels leading to bridges leading to tunnels.

And junctions within the tunnels.

This is one area where the PCM Navigation does a good job – when it is inside in a tunnel and cannot receive GPS signals, it uses the rotation of the wheels to provide an estimate of how far into the tunnel it is – allowing it to give timely directions.

We stop off at a random lake to soak in the Norwegian landscape.

As the weather is so mild – with zero snow on the ground – we decide we're going to come off the E39 and follow The North Sea Route – along Road 44.

This means we could do with a short unschedule charge. This being Norway, of course there was a suitable station 500 meters away!



Oh, we've been wanting to use a Kempower charging station for some time. We've got a physical Mer RFID token with us – so it's trivial to get the charge started.

Kempower offer some of the best UI/instructions for use – that I've seen. It even tells you during the charge – if the kW being delivered is limited by the station or car's capacity.

Leaving with enough power to explore – it isn't long until we see warning sign's that every Porsche driver likes to see – turns ahead.

We weren't expecting to push the Turbo S a bit on this part of the trip. It is just so intoxicating coming out of a corner.

A really good hifi system perform's amazingly at low volumes – you can still hear the bass, the cello's, the instrument separation.

Likewise, a Turbo S can be enjoyed within the 80 km/h limit of these roads – it's stopping power going into a corner, it's handling within it and it's urgency coming out. You don't have to be going fast to have a great time.

The road takes us down to lake level – giving a very dynamic feel to the landscape.

We drive through forest's

And climb into the mist.

And are greeted with views like this every few kilometres.

This route is amazing – we're so happy to have come off the E39 and that conditions are mild enough to explore it.

And passing serene towns every twenty kilometres.

And as we get closer to Stavanger – we drop down to sea level.

We need a "safety" charge tomorrow – as we don't expect to get a destination charge – and route to IONITY Lura. When we get there we see that there are two broken pedestals – leaving four – that are all taken up with taxi's and with a queue forming.

As we don't desperately need a charge – we decide to move onto our hotel and grab a new charge tomorrow morning when back on our route.

Coming out of the charging station – we take the wrong exit off the roundabout – and end up in a large car-park – with bank's of Mer 150 kW chargers!

Okay, fortune has spoken – we'll grab some electrons. As these are 400V stations - we're impressed that with our 150 kW DC converter on-board – we are pulling in 148 kW – very low losses.

Today started out with a plan for two IONITY stops and ended up with two Mer charges.

Arriving at our hotel the Radisson Blu Atlantic Hotel in the heart of Stavanger.

Where we have plenty of room to relax – write up this report – and plan tomorrow.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Amfi Fleekefjord	41%	82%	38.74	€30.54	17 mins	10.5C	53C	DC 150 kW	Mer
Kvadrat	40%	90%	46.24	€30.51	21 mins	9C	49C	DC 150 kW	Mer

Today we did 259 km over 6:04 hours, with an average speed of 44 km/h, consuming 25.5 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

And maybe you could give us a tip: how do you selected your hotels while planning your trip.

Generally we don't make getting destination charges a priority – for us they are a bonus. When we're looking for hotels, we will filter for "EV Charging" in hotels.com and also use PlugShare to suss things out.

But our "algorithm" for charge planning – has us coming into every hotel with enough power to reach our next public charger with ease. That way, if we don't get a destination charge – it is no drama.

if we do get one, then we generally skip our first planned public charge en-route the next day.

This does mean we arrive in to hotels with more in the battery then if we knew we'd get a destination charge. There are a few hotels we really trust – to be able to get a charge at – and for those we'll come in a lot emptier.

 

[tigerbalm]

Ferry fire

https://www.independent.ie/regional...n-place-and-life-jackets-issued-42338421.html

Yikes! Glad we missed this on our Day 2 – this is the ferry we used to get to United Kingdom and will return on at the end of this trip.

 

[cityhpper]

Welcome to Norway @tigerbalm! Excellent choice doing the Road 44 from Flekkefjord and northbound, against the Stavanger district. Great pictures, as always

Best of luck with the next stretch, and do remember the average-speed zones in the tunnels for tomorrow...

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 6: Stavanger (Norway) -> Bergen (Norway)

We started the day with a great breakfast at our hotel – always essential for any road-trip. We grab our car from the public car park behind the hotel – which due to construction in the area (we think) was free overnight.

We head north out of Stavanger and are soon in one of the many tunnels that we'll travel though today.

These tunnels connect up the many islands that lie north of Stavanger – Mosterøy and Rennesøy and many smaller ones. Lots of the tunnels are 8 kilometres or more.

In between the tunnels the scenery is reminiscent of the west of Ireland – with green fields, stone walls and sea inlets with little jetty's. Perhaps some common Viking influences?

The road and tunnels eventually run out and we see in the distance one of two ferries we'll be taking today.

Boarding is quick and painless – but we get caught out that we can't use our EPASS24 account (which we use for tolls) to pay for this ferry – like we could on the E6 further north last year. We make an account on the ferry and register our car.

We remember to put our Porsche Vehicle Tracking Service (PVTS+) into "transport mode" for an hour – to prevent triggering an alert. However, some of our fellow passengers cars have blaring alarms – which drives us upstairs to sample the views and a slightly quieter crossing.

As we didn't get a destination charge overnight – its time for a quick top-up and we stop at a nearby Shell station for energy, comfort break and supplies.

We are impressed with the standard of service station in Norway – good selection of goods, spotlessly clean toilets, friendly staff and well maintained equipment.

We start the charger with our Fortum RFID token and start to receive 180 kW despite having a fairly high state-of-charge.



We stop off to look at a remote sea hydrocarbon platform – something we don't see too much of in Ireland. Despite their beauty – the Norwegian's also use the fjord's for industry.

The road sometimes climb's up the side of the fjord's.

Revealing amazing calm views to our side.

We feel there isn't enough places to pull in and admire the views – but when we do find some – we take advantage.



To soak in the sights.

We climb to 450 meters and start to see some snow that looks like it fell a while ago.

Before dropping back down where the snow thins out again.

With many powerful waterfalls off to our side.

Before arriving in the town of Odda by the water's edge.

After which we head into a couple of 10 kilometre long tunnels.

And continue to twist and turn along the fjords.

We arrive at the town of Jondal where our second ferry is awaiting – and even the Spar's have fast chargers!

We pay and board.

This ferry is fully electric and amazingly quiet and smooth. Both ferry and car getting their energy for this journey by the same source – Norwegian hydro power.

As we exit the ferry we can see where it plugs in to its shore power as it loads and unloads – a massive CCS socket if you will. It is the "hut" and "white box" you see to the top right of this picture.

The battery on this ferry must see some cycle count!

It's time to head for Bergen – our home for tonight. Passing loads of unused Tesla charging pedestals.

Through some more snowy road sections.

With a gradual but continuous fall in altitude feeding our battery back a little bit of juice.



And drop into Bergen itself on a dry Monday afternoon.

Where we park up at a public carpark and grab a destination charge overnight. It is only delivering 3kW so won't fill the battery – but one key aspect of EV road-trips – is grab free power where it's convenient.

And check-in to our comfy home for tonight at the Bergen Børs hotel in the centre of town.

We've been thinking about the route we took today since late 2020 and are so happy we got to experience it.

We really enjoyed our first day experiencing the majestic fjords of south western Norway – and look forward to plenty more in the days to come.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Shell Aksdal	59%	83%	25.22	€20.51	18 mins	8.5C	31C	DC 225 kW	Recharge
Parking KlosterGarasjen	29%	82%	44.4	€0.00	16 hours	12C	28C	AC 3kW	Parking Garage

Today we did 314 km over 7:08 hours, with an average speed of 45 km/h, consuming 19.4 kWh/100km.

Note: The relatively low speed limits and plenty of regenerative opportunities as coast down steep fjords got us our most efficient Turbo S day since we got the car.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 7: Bergen (Norway) -> Ålesund (Norway)

We awake to a breakfast at the same room as where we ate dinner last night – quiet an impressive setting to start our day.

We walk to our car – and it has reached 83% charge overnight. Plenty for us to skip our first IONITY charge at the busy station north of Bergen.

We pay for our parking by entering our Irish registration number at the kiosk inside the entrance and drive out of the barrier-less exit.

Today is inherently a rather simple one – drive the main route – the E39 – to Ålesund. But what a route – it is just fjord after fjord around every corner.

Our photos will not do it justice.

We stop at a peaceful lake to enjoy the scenery. Though it is late morning – it is not very bright – with an overcast sky.



Thankfully, traffic on the E39 is relatively quiet.




In Ireland, a waterfall like this would be a tourist attraction in its own right – here in Norway, its just part of the typical background.

Just like yesterday, throughout the day we see some snow at the side of the road.

Near hydro stations – the power company has often mounted an old Pelton Turbine – as a monument at the side of the road. This relatively simple device providing the power to our car while in Norway.

The weather is cold and clear and makes for very pleasant driving.




We take the first of three ferries today – between Oppedal and Lavik. These give nice 20 minute rest periods and opportunity to take comfort breaks.



We continue to pull in where we can to enjoy the scenery.



Allowing us to capture this image of a lightly frozen lake.



Or even this 360 degree composite of the scene.

To enjoy this, view it on flicker and zoom in to maximum and then pan around the scene – so you can experience it as we did.



Though we didn't get a full destination charge overnight – we've had plenty of energy so far. However, we know we won't get any destination charge tonight – so it's time to take on some more power.

We have a scheduled stop at Skei where there is both a Tesla and IONITY station. Though the location is relatively remote – we pull in a full 246 kW.

We order some hot food at the nearby Circle K and eat it inside at their facilities. We walk back to our car when it has hit 92% state of charge.

And continue heading north towards Ålesund.

We board the second of three ferries we're taking today – this one will take us from Anda to Lote.

We're getting good at remembering to set our Porsche Vehicle Tracking Service into "transport mode" before departure.



It's a very calm crossing the fjord.



And this is made more so – by the fact that this is also an electric ferry. You can see it's charging station behind us.



And the matching charing tower at our destination. The ferry only get's to take in power for the 10 or 15 minutes it takes to load and unload at each side of the fjord.

The Norwegian sky seems so big.

Here you watch a one minute clip of what it's like to drive it.




When it's required the Norwegian's will place a tunnel – we must have been through fifty of them today so far.

We continue to stop where we can to admire the landscape.

Until light is beginning to fade.

As we catch our final electric ferry from Festøya over to Solavagen.

And pull into our overnight car park – where our Taycan is back parked beside a Peugeot e-208 – just like it is at home!

With the 360 camera system helping us to confidently avoid hitting any pillars.

The Hotel 1904 will be a comfortable place to spend tonight.

Watched over by a Viking/Troll (?) with a tail and a 1980s ghetto blaster.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
IONITY Skei	29%	92%	68.79	€11.65	38 mins	4C	41C	DC 350 kW	IONITY

Today we did 407 km over 8:35 hours, with an average speed of 48 km/h, consuming 21.5 kWh/100km.

 

[cityhpper]

Excellent report!

Out of curiosity, I have one question that relates to the car itself: how would you compare the Turbo S to the 4S, when travelling roads like these? What are the major differences?

Re the number of tunnels: well, we usually don't build them just for fun... Often, there are good reasons like:
- possibility to move traffic away from densly populated areas
- easier to go through a mountain, than climb up one side and down the other
- fjords are too deep or too wide (or both), to build a bridge
- section of roads that are exposed to avalanches in winter and rock slids in summer, or just too exposed to the elements, are better replaced with tunnels. Sometimes, such stretches of roads might still be driveable if you'd rather enjoy the scenery than the inside of a mountain.

Keep the pictures and movies coming!

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 8: Ålesund (Norway) -> Trondheim (Norway)

Other then get to Trondheim – today is all about driving The Atlantic Road. Something that has been on our "todo" list since forum member @Mats suggested it to us last year.

We left Ålesund shortly after nine in the morning.

Queuing for an electric ferry at Vestnes to take us across the fjord to Molde. We're getting used to this now!

Stopping off at the other side for some supplies and a quick "safety" charge from Mer. We don't put too much power in – as Mer is expensive compared to IONITY – which we'll use later.

We're familiar with these chargers that Mer are using from ESB at home in Ireland.

But Mer's variants have two clear advantages: a] the cables are much longer then the really short ones that ESB use and b] we get the full 150 kW from these chargers – where as at home we get perhaps 130 kW due to the DC/DC voltage booster losses.

I wonder is Mer running these at 800V where as ESB only use 400V?



The car is getting a little dirty – and we notice a manual self-service cleaning bay along our route.

Believe it or not – this is the first time in any of our road-trips that we've ever cleaned the car.

That's better.

Shortly afterwards, we reach the Atlantic Road – It connects Averøy with the mainland via a series of small islands and islets spanned by a total of eight bridges over 8274 meters.

And a short video revealing the road ahead.




We were hoping weather in the region would allow us to drive this route – but could never have expected to have the sun shining, no winds and near 8C degree temperature. It felt near summer.

Approaching the Storseisundet Bridge – it is every bit as spectacular as it is in the pictures.

We enjoyed it so much – we drove over it three times – here is one of those times.




Once over the bridge – we stop off at a viewing platform – to soak in the views.





As has been the case since arriving in Norway, there are plenty of tunnels on today's route.

At Nordmørsviveien, we even drive under an airport's glide slope – though the runway lights.

We stop in at IONITY Aspøya for a planned charge to get us to our hotel. Having stayed at this hotel on our previous trip – it has valet parking – we're confident we'll get a destination charge overnight – so we only take in enough power to arrive at the hotel with 20%.





We take one final ferry at Kvisvik.

And stop to organise our bags a little before arriving at hotel – as we're not going to bring everything in. It's noticeably colder then it has been – with air temperature hovering just at freezing point.



We drop down into Trondheim.

And pull up outside our hotel for tonight – The Britannia – where we unpack our overnight bags and valet park our car.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Mer Kviltorp	31%	60%	24.19	€14.70	10 mins	4C	35C	DC 150 kW	Mer
IONITY Aspøya	21%	61%	35.61	€6.03	9 mins	6C	45C	DC 350 kW	IONITY
The Britannia	18%	100%	68.60	€0.00	3hrs 45 mins	4C	21C	AC 22 kW	Hotel

Today we did 348 km over 7:58 hours, with an average speed of 45 km/h, consuming 23.0 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

South Western Norway

As we leave south west Norway behind and point our Porsche Taycan northwards – here is a minute long clip sharing the mood and sights of what we've experienced since arriving in Kristiansand four days ago.

 

[RoseyPSU]

@tigerbalm your trip reports are one of, if not the, highlight of this forum for me. They've always been so informative and immersive. But I have to say, your inclusion of 4k video from both the car and a drone take it to another level. Watching them in full resolution on my 36" screen at work, I feel like I'm right there with you in Norway.

Just amazingly entertaining work. Thank you.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 9: Trondheim (Norway) -> Mo i Rana (Norway)

With a long day ahead – we grabbed breakfast at 07:30 – among the business people preparing for a days work or conference. The Britannia feels very much like a hotel where business is done – compared to some more touristy places we're staying at. We'll be here again on our return leg to Ireland.

The valet doorman was new to the job and a little uncomfortable with driving a car with the steering wheel on the "wrong" side – so asked us to drive the car up to surface level as the hotels car park is tight and pokey.

Driving out of Trondheim on a dark morning that is threatening to rain for the first time on this trip.

Keeping with the theme of interacting with airports – this time we drive under a runway.

Though we have a long day and the E6 is busy with traffic and trucks – we still stop off where we can to admire the views – especially as there is now more snow and frozen lakes.

Though its milder than our trip last year – less "arctic" feeling – in many ways this is much better. It's easier driving – allowing for more adventures – and the mix of green nature and white snow – makes for a more varied landscape.

That said, the roads are clear only because of the efforts of the Norwegian road authority and their staff. At one stage we're stuck behind a grit truck and able to see them at work.




Forests, winding road, frozen lakes, snow capped hills, low cloud – this landscape has it all – like being in your very own Hollywood movie.

Thankfully, the day did brighten up for periods.

Revealing a grand landscape under a Norwegian sky.

We stop in at one of the frequent rest-area's to review our charging plan – and are surprised that the PCM Navigation is suggesting a Tesla supercharger.

We have never used one so decide to go for it!

In general our Turbo S has been performing in Norway as efficiently as our 4S did last year. Our planning was much more pessimistic and we're finding where we had a 3 charging stop strategy being reduced to just a single stop.

When we've firmed up on our observations, we'll write up a longer comparison of the two models later in the road trip.

We pull in to the totally empty Tesla Bekkenstenveien with our battery correctly preconditioned by our PCM.

Access to these charging facilities is very welcome – compared to last year – as IONITY is only starting to build out its network this far north. Tesla has the most comprehensive charging service providing greater then 50 kW of energy in northern Norway.



As it was available – we chose the station with the layout most suitable for the location of our DC charging port. Getting the charge started was simple and fast via the Tesla app and thanks to our on-board upgraded DC/DC converter - we were pulling power at 145 kW.

Access to the chargers for non-tesla owners is not available in Ireland yet – but we had anticipated this during planning – and signed up using our Paris work/office address when creating our account.

Easy!



As we had never been at a Tesla supercharger station before – other then seeing them from a distance – we enjoyed taking a few pictures of them.



We've been in many tunnels in Norway – but this is our first "Tesla Tunnel".



We grab some food at the welcoming and comfy "Best" service station nearby after our car has charged.

Why did we even bother to clean our car yesterday?

[

Afterwards, we continue north on the E6.

And pass under the "Nord Norge" announcing that we're entering into the arctic region proper.

Enjoying the many frozen lakes and rivers.



As light fades the landscapes remains spectacular.

And as we near Mo i Rana – the snow/sleet starts to fall. This is where all the facilities of our Taycan help out: all-wheel drive, NF0 winter tyres, radar keeping us from traffic in front, infra-red camera watching for wildlife and pedestrians.




We arrive at our overnight hotel – Scandic Meyergården – which has plenty of 22 kW destination chargers available.

We're around 80 km south of the arctic circle and we'll cross tomorrow with a full charge on-board.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Tesla Bekkenstenveien	21%	73%	43.00	€22.41	16 mins	2C	42C	DC 250 kW	Tesla
Scandic Meyergården	18%	100%	68.60	€0.00	3 hours 45 mins	1.5C	22C	AC 22 kW	IONITY

Today we did 474 km over 7:53 hours, with an average speed of 61 km/h, consuming 23.6 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

First week/7 days stats

We did 3,173 km over 62:30 hours, with an average speed of 51 km/h, consuming 23.0 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

Crossed the Arctic Circle

In a Porsche Taycan Turbo S driven all the way from Dublin, Ireland.

Much more arctic conditions then last year. Full report later!

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