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

[tigerbalm]

-7 C, spring temperatures for us from northern Sweden.

Running a day behind on report log. Today we experienced this:

But yeah – being near the coast here – keeps temperatures relatively "mild".

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[jonah]

Thank you for the reports! Sounds like an awesome trip

You have an impressive low consumption. I’m struggeling to get my MY23 Taycan ST GTS below 27 kWh/100 km even with much less icy conditions than you have..

Have you noticed any difference in consumption from previous trips when the car was brand new?

 

[Oink]

Thank you for the reports! Sounds like an awesome trip

You have an impressive low consumption. I’m struggeling to get my MY23 Taycan ST GTS below 27 kWh/100 km even with much less icy conditions than you have..

Have you noticed any difference in consumption from previous trips when the car was brand new?

He's driving long distances, and an EV works a bit like diesel cars -- high consumption at the start of a drive. I drive 4km to work and even with all the down hill I can get anywhere from 20 - 37 kWh/100km, and 37 - 45 kWh/100km going back home (up hill). By not flooring it to get up to speed you can save a lot of energy, as well as coasting a lot. If there are no cars on the road and has rained I cheat a bit by not having my car in the middle of my lane to avoid the water that has accumulated in the wheel indentations on the road giving me resistances.

Summer '21 I did Bergen -> Oslo in ca. 15 kWh by driving mostly speed limits + VAT, no charging necessary. 458km, about 80km left.
Summer '22 I did Bergen -> Oslo in ca. 22 - 23 kWh by driving speed limits + VAT + Porsche tax. Charged once while eating.
No trips in the winter, which I'm glad we didn't as the heater broke dec 22, and didn't get it back until Feb 8th or so. Be terrible if it broke somewhere up in the mountains.


@tigerbalm: If you're charging there and I have time, I'll come say Hello at Ionity Haukås (Bergen) on your way back if you're charging there.

EDIT: Also, did you post anywhere why you swapped the 4S for a Turbo S?

 

[tigerbalm]

high consumption at the start of a drive.

Every time we're connected to a hotel destination charger – we try to use remote climate control – to warm up the cabin/battery before we set off - so we pull power from the grid rather then our battery.

This helps significantly to keep initial consumption lower.

@tigerbalm: If you're charging there and I have time, I'll come say Hello at Ionity Haukås (Bergen) on your way back if you're charging there.

Thanks @Oink – that would be great – unfortunately we're going back by a different route – Trondheim to Oslo to get the boat to Kiel, Germany.

EDIT: Also, did you post anywhere why you swapped the 4S for a Turbo S?

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/thinking-of-upgrading-the-4s-to-a-turbo-or-turbo-s.5387/

This thread shows I was starting to think about the move soon after taking delivery of my 4S. But the catalyst for the move was that I had a lot (three) failures of the then new 22kW AC charger that let us stranded abroad a few times. I wanted out of the car – and Porsche Dublin (and Porsche AG) worked with me to get me into a Turbo S on terms that worked for everyone.

I originally spec'd the Turbo S without the 22 kW AC charger – for obvious reason (!) – but between the order and the build locking - they rolled out a fix for it – and my 4S became very, very reliable. I then had the confidence to put it back into my new Turbo S order.

 

[tigerbalm]

Have you noticed any difference in consumption from previous trips when the car was brand new?

I took delivery of our car in mid January 2023 – so I consider it still fairly new. When we embarked on this road-trip nearly two weeks ago – we had 2,500 km on the car – today we crossed over 8,000 km!

The car had higher consumption before regen kicked in – but then settled down quickly.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 14: Narvik (Norway) -> Mosjøen (Norway)

Long one today – back across the arctic circle.

We pop down to our fully charged car with a remotely warmed up cabin – in minus 10 celsius outside air temperature.



With the frunk continuing to comfortably carry all our technical equipment.



It's a bitterly cold, but clear day.



We board our final Norwegian road ferry to Skarberget – which happens to be our quietest one we've been on – only three other cars. Payment being handled automatically using FerryPay.

These twenty minute crossings are always a nice time to take a rest and enjoy the scenery passing by the window.



Car still looking clean from yesterday's wash.



Small sections of the road are surprisingly fully clear of snow and ice – giving us a sneak peak of what the next Norwegian season will look like.



However, these aren't long lived and as we climb altitude – the snow returns.



And the temperature dips to serious minus 17 celsius.

Limiting – but doesn't stop – our pull-overs for photography.



We're running a one charging stop strategy today.

And with reliable access to Tesla – we can run things closer to the wire then we would have done last year – when fast charging wasn't available in Northern Norway.

In fact, in this part of Norway, the Porsche Charging Planner consistently picks Tesla as a suggested charging stop – which means battery is nicely pre-conditioned.

We grab some lunch while we wait for our car to charge to 90% at 135 kW – giving us plenty of energy for the climb up over the arctic circle.



And it isn't long until we're on the Saltfjellet – with no wind – and beautiful arctic light.

We stop briefly again at the Arctic Circle Centre.



We're lucky to be the only people here and have the scene to ourselves.



We can't stay long – as we still have a few hundred kilometres to cover before we get to our hotel tonight.

And the light is fading.

There is so much technology on this car that helps us drive in the reduced visibility of night:

• Accurate maps on the PCM navigation screen
• Very accurate estimate of energy consumption and arrival state-of-charge
• Matrix LED headlights with Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus
• Night Vision Assist (looking out for wildlife)
• Brake and warn assist enhanced by the ACC radar

Arriving at our hotel – Fru Haugans Hotel – one of the oldest in Norway – just after 18:00 in the evening.

And plug in for a free 22 kW destination charge – an unexpected surprise as it wasn't mentioned either on the hotel website, hotels.com or plugshare.



And head to the bar for a bite to eat.



And a drink after a long day's driving.

Norway does cosy very well – especially with the harsh climate outside.



The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Tesla Storjord	13%	79%	63.0	€26.41	43 mins	-13C	32C	DC 150 kW	Tesla
Fru Haugans Hotel	38%	100%	51.9	€0.00	4 hours	-8C	25C	AC 22 kW	Hotel

Today we did 503 km over 8:25 hours, with an average speed of 61 km/h, consuming 25.4 kWh/100km.

 

[jonah]

Every time we're connected to a hotel destination charger – we try to use remote climate control – to warm up the cabin/battery before we set off - so we pull power from the grid rather then our battery.

This helps significantly to keep initial consumption lower.

That’s a great tip, thank you! I never thought of it that way. To me it was only about heating the cabin. Brilliant!

 

[tigerbalm]

Rear-wheel steering on a Turbo S

As we catch up on trip reports – thought this might be an interesting share. It's some raw footage (including raw audio) – and therefore long – from a GoPro pointing backwards at our rear wheel as it interacts with the snow/icy environment.

The start and end is especially interesting as it is there you can see a good demonstration of the rear-wheel steering (default on Turbo S) option working.

Is the rear-wheel steering more or less pronounced then you thought? Have you seen it do its thing before?

 

[Skier]

Rear-wheel steering on a Turbo S

As we catch up on trip reports – thought this might be an interesting share. It's some raw footage (including raw audio) – and therefore long – from a GoPro pointing backwards at our rear wheel as it interacts with the snow/icy environment.

The start and end is especially interesting as it is there you can see a good demonstration of the rear-wheel steering (default on Turbo S) option working.

Is the rear-wheel steering more or less pronounced then you thought? Have you seen it do its thing before?

Fascinating. I have RWS on my Turbo but was pleasently surprised to see how much they actually turns. Now the preformance makes sense. Thanks for sharing.

 

[rb33gl]

Rear-wheel steering on a Turbo S

As we catch up on trip reports – thought this might be an interesting share. It's some raw footage (including raw audio) – and therefore long – from a GoPro pointing backwards at our rear wheel as it interacts with the snow/icy environment.

The start and end is especially interesting as it is there you can see a good demonstration of the rear-wheel steering (default on Turbo S) option working.

Is the rear-wheel steering more or less pronounced then you thought? Have you seen it do its thing before?

Fascinating. Turn-in is quite significant, which must be why it's noticable in normal driving

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 15: Mosjøen (Norway) -> Trondheim (Norway)

We awake to a decent breakfast and a beautiful winter scene outside our window.

And to a fully charged car – though we forgot to activate "remote climate" while at breakfast – so it was a frost -8c when we went out to it!



As we get underway – the temperature rises to - 4.5c – still quiet cold.

It's always interesting to us that the Battery Management System (BMS) is quiet comfortable with leaving the high-voltage battery remain quiet cold – even after hours of driving. In our case it remained at -2c for most of our morning.

We suspect it finds it easy to keep it cool with the copious amounts of freezing cold ambient air available to run over the two front radiators.

When at higher altitudes – plenty of snow remaining on the road surface.

And the trees.

With the yellow line markings sometimes peering through.



And passing back under the sign – now announcing that we're leaving arctic region.

Which doesn't result in any immediate change to conditions.

We approach the small town of Namsskogan.

Where the most northerly IONITY station is under construction.

As it's not open yet – we're using Tesla Brekkvasselv to get our fast power fix – a return to the first Tesla station we've ever used.

We're grateful for access to these – it's made charging in the arctic region much easier this year – compared to our last trip.

But with much better pricing – we eagerly look forward to using the new IONITY stations under build.



Soon after leaving Brekkvasselv – as forecasted – it starts to snow. We're a sucker for pictures of our Neptune Blue Taycan in falling snow.



Pictures like this make us glad we didn't stick with Crayon as the colour for our Turbo S.



With our Pirelli PZero Winter NFO tyres providing plenty of grip – in the conditions – combined with the electric all-wheel-drive train – not a single wheel slip is experienced.



As we drive on – the road and sky blend in as one.

And stop and wait for a Circle K pizza.

The blanket is only for cozy comfort – not because the car is in any way cold.

In fact – one of our favourite characteristics of electric vehicles – is you can run full air-conditioning, seat heating/ventilation, etc, without associated engine noise when stopped for extended periods.

We pull up to our hotel The Britannia – our second time on this trip – for a comfortable night and a destination charge via their valet service.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Tesla Brekkvasselv	38%	70%	27.0	€12.71	24 mins	-2.5C	32C	DC 150 kW	Tesla
The Britannia	12%	55%	36.0	€0.00	2 hours	-1C	21C	AC 22 kW	Hotel

Today we did 389 km over 7:31 hours, with an average speed of 53 km/h, consuming 25.1 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 16: Trondheim (Norway) -> Oslo (Norway)

After breakfast we check-out and ask for our car from valet. We learn that unfortunately the hotel has a system failure overnight and all the chargers in their basement car-park tripped – resulting in no car's charged.

The head doorman – on arriving to work in the morning – checked the cars as one of his first duties – and noticed the problem. He reset the trip switch and got all the car's charging again.

This is one of those occasions where having a 22 kW on-board charger was handy – because in the two hours between the system being reset and us checking out – our did manage to get to 55% from 12%.

This hotel is normally a very reliable place to get charged – hence why we arrived in with only 12% yesterday – but this being Norway – we've plenty of high-powered charging options en-route – so this won't impact our plans or timing very much.

It hadn't snowed in Trondheim for a while – but as we were packing up the car – and planing our new charging strategy – big fluffy flakes were falling across the city.

It was about -2C outside but it takes our PCM to adjust to the correct temperature after being in the "warm" garage overnight.

And we're soon heading south towards Oslo for our final day's driving in Norway.

Passing a rare enough – for Norway – thermal power generating plant. Statkraft being predominately a hydro power company and the largest generator of renewable energy in Europe.

It is where most charging stations gets its power from and MER is their own charging company – that we use as a fallback charging network on this road-trip.

Due to the destination charge failure – we pop into IONITY Klett – just outside Trondheim for a quick energy top-up to 70% – and get us back onto our plan for today.



Passing through many snow topped tunnels.

As conditions are perfect – we decide to remain on the E6 and climb over the Dovrefjell – rather then take the lower Road "3" near Berkak.

The road here is clear, traffic is light and we put our Taycan into Sport mode for the first time in Norway and enjoy the twists and climb up the mountain pass.

Enjoying the wave of power pushing us into our 18-way sports seats.

Until we're up above 1000 meters in glorious sun and snow landscape.

Passing a weather and traffic camera – in the low sun – that provides us with so much forward planning information on conditions on the route ahead.

With light traffic – what an enjoyable last day's driving in Norway.

And well sign-posted average distance speed cameras keeping us informed.

And one sharp bend later.

We're down into IONITY Dombås for a solid top-up to 95% and a late lunch.

With plenty of foul smelling winter grade windscreen washer fluid available – need to use ours up before we get back home.



Coming back to a busy station after reaching our target charge. There is also a busy Tesla station across the road.

As we get closer to Oslo – the E6 turns into a proper motorway with a posted speed limit of 110 km/h. It's amazing to us that this very same road also winds itself over the arctic circle and right past our hotel in Tromsø.

What a road – in our opinion – one of the best in Europe for a road-trip.

And we reach our hotel for tonight – the unusually named – The Thief – where we also stayed previously.

And park up in the underground public car park – plugging into the plentiful Mer 22kW destination chargers for a top up.



The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
IONITY Klett	52%	70%	22.17	€3.75	13 mins	-2.5C	29C	DC 350 kW	IONITY
IONITY Dombås	9%	95%	78.51	€13.25	40 mins	-1C	34C	DC 350 kW	IONITY
Mer The Thief	11%	100%	81.5	€25.00	4 hours 15 mins	2.5C	26C	AC 22 kW	MER

Today we did 535 km over 8:00 hours, with an average speed of 68 km/h, consuming 23.4 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

Apple Photos

A good visualisation of the places we've taken our Taycan(s) in Norway, Finland and Sweden over the past two years.

We need to do more in Finland, right ?

Estonia and Denmark being non-roadtrips.

 

[Poshfpg]

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.

 

[or1]

Great reports!

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/

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