Western Europe Taycan road-trip report

[B61]

FYI: in Slovenia, there are no tolls for EV vehicles.

EDIT: i was wrong. We have to pay for annual vignette, but there are no annual fees for usage roads at registration.

Sponsored

 

[tigerbalm]

FYI: in Slovenia, there are no tolls for EV vehicles.

That's really great – but I suspect won't last when there are a lot of EV's on the road. Right now though, it seems like a good incentive/reward for EV adoption.

 

[B61]

Agreed. Otherwise, annual vignette costs only 110€.

 

[tigerbalm]

Grossglockner High Alpine Road - this is going to be good!

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 11: Grossglockner High Alpine Road (Austria)

Today we drove around the Grossglockner High Alpine Road which is at the heart of High Tauren National Park. The mountain pass road has a total of 48 km with 36 turns that leads deep into the centre of Austria’s largest national park.

They are well setup for EV's – with multiple chargers along the route – and a €10 discount for entry to the park – bringing the ticket down to €29. They even have a page dedicated to EV's on their website at https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/motorsandtyres/emobility. All the chargers along the route are free to use.

As we were only 50 km from the park, we didn't need them – but wanted to experience the impressive setup – we did get some top-ups. Before we purchased our ticket, we got a quick DC top-up.

The DC charger was unusual, in that the UI gave a lot more info than a charger would typically - including what the car's BMS was "demanding". I thought it interesting:

The last time I was here was in 2007 when I was driving my then two month old Volvo S40 D5 Diesel. This is the car that I traded in 13 years later in 2020 for my first Porsche – a Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid – a significant upgrade!

The roads here are sweeping, wide and steep – in a nutshell they are brilliant.

Until we reached the glacier.

We did the tourist thing and went on the funicular.

We saw this beautiful 911 parked in the multi-story car park. Anyone know what colour blue this is?

At lunch we grabbed another free charging top-up – this time AC.

The charger wasn't on PlugShare so I added it – https://www.plugshare.com/location/338247

And then a pleasant evenings drive back down to Lienz.

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Grossglockner Hochalpenstrass, Austria	83%	96%	10.051	€0.00	23 mins	22.5	30	DC 50kW	Unknown
Grossglockner Hochalpenstrass, Austria	71%	90%	16.587	€0.00	1 hour 15 mins	23.0	35	AC 22kW	Unknown

Today we did 165 km over 4:39 hours, with an average speed of 36km/h, consuming 27.7 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

What's in our frunk?

• Juice Booster 2 Travel Charger
• Travel Charger 5 meter extension cable
• Adaptors:
  • UK
  • Swiss
  • Schuko
  • Italian
  • 32A 3-phase industrial
  • 32A 1-phase industrial
  • 16A 3-phase industrial
  • 16A 1-phase industrial
• Mennekes branded Type 2 AC Charging Cable
• Porsche Cleaning Kit
• Screenwash

The travel charger handles everything from 3 amp single phase up to 32 amp three phase electricity supplies. It also handles the three phase electrical networks without a neutral – like those found in Norway.

 

[kort]

What's in our frunk?

• Juice Booster 2 Travel Charger
• Travel Charger 5 meter extension cable
• Adaptors:
  • UK
  • Swiss
  • Schuko
  • Italian
  • 32A 3-phase industrial
  • 32A 1-phase industrial
  • 16A 3-phase industrial
  • 16A 1-phase industrial
• Mennekes branded Type 2 AC Charging Cable
• Porsche Cleaning Kit
• Screenwash

The travel charger handles everything from 3 amp single phase up to 32 amp three phase electricity supplies. It also handles the three phase electrical networks without a neutral – like those found in Norway.

You certainly seem to be ready for anything. Back in the early days of EV road trips I carried all sorts of adapters but since networks like EA, ionity and so many others are available the need to have so many adapters is lessened. Enjoy your epic trip and keep the reporting coming

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 12: Lienz (Austria) -> Salzburg (Austria) ?

We left Lienz this morning for an easy drive north (and slightly further east) to Salzburg along the A10 motorway – making use of that digital vignette!

The weather was a balmy 25C all the way and Salzburg is at 26C.

We made a pitstop at a self-service laundry for some washing chores.

Before driving the remaining few kilometres to our hotel – Sheraton Salzburg – where there is a public charger right outside the hotel's entrance.

Our balcony overlooks the Kurgarten beside the Mirabell Palace and Gardens.

My co-driver and I got married here in the Marble Hall – 15 years ago – and the reason for this trip has been to celebrate that wedding anniversary.

We've been re-tracing all the places we visited at the time of our wedding and the few years around it – as we road-tripped first by train and then in our Volvo. The route hasn't been at all random!

Now to enjoy sunny Salzburg!

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Salzburg, Austria	58%	100%	35.15	€20.41	2 hours	26	31	AC 22kW	Porsche Charging Service

Today we did 209 km over 3:33 hours, with an average speed of 60km/h, consuming 17.5 kWh/100km.

 

[B61]

Congrats on your annyversary

 

[f1eng]

Happy anniversary!
What a lovely way to celebrate it.

 

[jvincent]

What a great driving vacation! Thanks for taking the time to do this travel log. Your car is making me want Neptune and Turbo S wheels for my CT4. Beautiful pictures of the scenery (and the car).

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 13: Salzburg (Austria) -> Stuttgart (Germany)

After a walk through Mirabell Gardens, we left Salzburg along the A8 autobahn for Stuttgart.

It was threatening to rain and the traffic – especially around Munich – was very heavy.

This was my first time driving the Taycan on the autobahn and I was very impressed by the car's behaviour and performance. It felt very comfortable at the higher-than-normal speeds typical of the autobahn. I was actually surprised at how "normal" the car felt. It didn't sound any different, the surface coated brakes (PSCB) behaved as they did at lower speeds. You still can't feel the transition between regen and friction braking.

The only thing I visually noticed is that tapping the brake pedal at the higher speeds would instantly cause the green regen bar to grow rapidly and start putting serious power back into the battery.

I run the Michelin Pilot Sport 4's at 2.5 bar on the front axel and 2.2 bar on the rear axel – the recommended pressures for half-load – and they were at 2.8 bar and 2.4 bar respectively as they heated up while underway.

When at speeds in excess of 180 km/h the silence of the Taycan – mine has the acoustic glass – is uncanny. While one might miss the sound of a flat-six in a 911 – I think the silence is also an impressive party piece.

You need to keep an eye on the speedometer though as without the noises of a combustion engine under a bit of strain – it is all too easy to reach speeds faster than you'd think in a Taycan.

We made our first of two scheduled charging stops at IONITY Friedberg, where we grabbed some quick fast food while waiting for around 30 kWh to be added to our battery.

There were three test Mercedes vehicles here, where Mercedes employees appeared to be testing their different vehicles at the public chargers. It was interesting to see pre-production vehicles with racks of servers and wires in the boot and passenger areas. That's not something I see everyday.

Near the IONITY chargers was a Fastned Charing Station. As I am an investor and I'd never seen one of their stations before, I found it interesting. The covered areas was impressive as was the chargers and the seating bench provided out of the elements. Certainly a better "built environment" than the typical IONITY charger setup and with easier parking.

They are not on the Porsche Charging Service – I hope that is something that is addressed.

We continued towards Stuttgart along the A8 where the unrestricted sections increase in length and traffic away from Munich became a little lighter. Consumption at the higher autobahn speeds was around 10 kWh/100km higher than our usual motorway consumption. We also don't have easy destination charging at our hotel, so we stopped in for a final charge at IONITY Denkendorf just before we reached Stuttgart.

Our hotel for the next two nights is Althoff Hotel am Schlossgarten.

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Friedberg, Germany	32%	77%	30.33	€10.01	17 minutes	24.5	36	DC 350kW	IONITY
Denkendorf, Germany	31%	76%	40.86	€13.48	19 minutes	21	39	DC 350kW	IONITY

Today we did 378 km over 5:35 hours, with an average speed of 69km/h, consuming 23.1 kWh/100km.

 

[ithinkmac]

Man, now I want an Euro delivery.

-ThinkMac-

 

[Swissbob]

Day 13: Salzburg (Austria) -> Stuttgart (Germany)

After a walk through Mirabell Gardens, we left Salzburg along the A8 autobahn for Stuttgart.

It was threatening to rain and the traffic – especially around Munich – was very heavy.

This was my first time driving the Taycan on the autobahn and I was very impressed by the car's behaviour and performance. It felt very comfortable at the higher-than-normal speeds typical of the autobahn. I was actually surprised at how "normal" the car felt. It didn't sound any different, the surface coated brakes (PSCB) behaved as they did at lower speeds. You still can't feel the transition between regen and friction braking.

The only thing I visually noticed is that tapping the brake pedal at the higher speeds would instantly cause the green regen bar to grow rapidly and start putting serious power back into the battery.

I run the Michelin Pilot Sport 4's at 2.5 bar on the front axel and 2.2 bar on the rear axel – the recommended pressures for half-load – and they were at 2.8 bar and 2.4 bar respectively as they heated up while underway.

When at speeds in excess of 180 km/h the silence of the Taycan – mine has the acoustic glass – is uncanny. While one might miss the sound of a flat-six in a 911 – I think the silence is also an impressive party piece.

You need to keep an eye on the speedometer though as without the noises of a combustion engine under a bit of strain – it is all too easy to reach speeds faster than you'd think in a Taycan.

We made our first of two scheduled charging stops at IONITY Friedberg, where we grabbed some quick fast food while waiting for around 30 kWh to be added to our battery.

There were three test Mercedes vehicles here, where Mercedes employees appeared to be testing their different vehicles at the public chargers. It was interesting to see pre-production vehicles with racks of servers and wires in the boot and passenger areas. That's not something I see everyday.

Near the IONITY chargers was a Fastned Charing Station. As I am an investor and I'd never seen one of their stations before, I found it interesting. The covered areas was impressive as was the chargers and the seating bench provided out of the elements. Certainly a better "built environment" than the typical IONITY charger setup and with easier parking.

They are not on the Porsche Charging Service – I hope that is something that is addressed.

We continued towards Stuttgart along the A8 where the unrestricted sections increase in length and traffic away from Munich became a little lighter. Consumption at the higher autobahn speeds was around 10 kWh/100km higher than our usual motorway consumption. We also don't have easy destination charging at our hotel, so we stopped in for a final charge at IONITY Denkendorf just before we reached Stuttgart.

Our hotel for the next two nights is Althoff Hotel am Schlossgarten.

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Friedberg, Germany	32%	77%	30.33	€10.01	17 minutes	24.5	36	DC 350kW	IONITY
Denkendorf, Germany	31%	76%	40.86	€13.48	19 minutes	21	39	DC 350kW	IONITY

Today we did 378 km over 5:35 hours, with an average speed of 69km/h, consuming 23.1 kWh/100km.

Nice! I also noticed the autobahn nuked my consumption averages. Nav sent me to a Fastned in Germany that didn’t work with Porsche charge card. Found that a bit annoying…

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 14: Stuttgart (Germany) -> Karlsruhe (Germany) + Porsche Museum

We are probably the easiest going – roll with it – kind of travellers. When on a trip like this, it is impossible to plan for every eventuality so being flexible is essential to having a successful journey and a good time.

We had planned to stay two nights at our current hotel – Althoff Hotel am Schlossgarten in Stuttgart – but unusually for us – have decided to move on this morning to a new hotel.

The three reasons for the decision – in no particular order – were:

#1 Destination charging

Though the hotel shows up as having EV chargers on hotels.com – the reason I originally booked it – the hotel wrote to me in advance of my stay to say they had no charger compatible with my vehicle.

This turned out to be untrue and there was a standard working Type 2 charger in the hotel underground car park. However, I only stumbled upon it accidentally late at night and by that stage it was blocked by a non-EV car.

This is the only hotel that we failed to get any charge at due to misinformation. Ironic that in the home of Porsche, that we'd experience our first five-star hotel that would be so EV unfriendly.

#2 Rats

There are rats everywhere outside the hotel. We're not talking one or two but dozens at once. At one stage on our attempt to walk to a nearby restaurant there were numerous in front and behind us.

This is not necessarily the fault of the hotel – and might be due to the extensive construction taking place at the nearby main train station – but it was enough to make my co-driver uncomfortable with staying, using the underground car park and generally walking within the local environs around the hotel.

#3 Bar

With such an extensive driving trip – by necessity alcohol isn't a big feature – but we're coming towards near the end of the long driving sections and we thought we'd have a drink at the hotel bar after last nights dinner – only to be told that every empty table/seat was reserved.

Even though we were guests at this 5-star hotel – it was made fairly clear that we were not wanted. Instead, we went back to our room. As I mentioned earlier – we're not too fussy – but I don't like paying to be made feel unwelcome.

Mercedes-Benz Museum

So after check-out we headed to the Mercedes-Benz Museum – in the rain – good timing on having mostly indoor activities today. The car park had plenty of EV chargers free.

The charger started to immediately giving us 20kW of power – that would quickly make up for the lack of destination charging last night. Thank you Mercedes-Benz!

The museum is very impressive and well done. Being that we're here on a wet Thursday morning – its very quiet – which allows us to easily spend time at each exhibit. I think the 1930's cars were the ones that stuck out for me – they have such design flair.

In term's of EV's they had this prototype police car.

And this general concept EV.

Which I thought had some Taycan elements to its design.

And close up of an EV motor and battery components.

Porsche Museum

Then it was on to Porsche Museum – thankfully the rain had stopped at this stage.

Traffic was really heavy in Zuffenhausen and it was difficult to find your way and manoeuvre around the general area.

Parking was easy at the museum itself and there was again plenty of chargers. We decided to top up again – as much for the novelty of doing so at Porsche as anything. The chargers only gave 11kW here – half the speed of Mercedes-Benz.

Our Taycan is now parked 100 meters from where it was "born".

Why PIN protect them and then tape the code to the chargers – ?‍ ?

After grabbing some Currywurst in the cafeteria we headed up to the museum proper.

They certainly make a big deal right at the start that Porsche + Electricity are not at all strangers.

The PCM looks solid – and trouble free.

There are so many great cars here – I think its very difficult to pick one. But I enjoyed seeing "The Pink Pig" in real life.

They had a Euro NCAP crashed Taycan 4S.

And a Taycan battery cell from LG Chem.

Some bits of the museum was like being at a nicely appointed dealer.

It was interesting to see a Formula E car up close.

Unfortunately, Factory Tours are not available until 2022 due to the pandemic. We knew that coming here, but it would still have been great to see the assembly line where our car was built.

With both the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche Museum's the buildings that house them are as much a part of the attraction as the exhibits themselves.

Karlsruhe

It was then time to head out of Stuttgart for our new hotel – Hotel Der Blaue Reiter – in Karlsruhe. While it was only around 55km away – it took 1.5 hour due to traffic jams. New hotel is great – even has its own brewery attached to it – shouldn't be too difficult to get a beer tonight!

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Mercedes-Benz Museum, Germany	71%	100%	24.237	€0.00	1 hour 12 minutes	18.0	30	AC 22kW	None/Free
Porsche Museum, Germany	93%	100%	5.85	€0.00	23 minutes	20	32	AC 11kW	None/Free

Today we did 117km over 3:58 hours, with an average speed of 30km/h, consuming 21.6 kWh/100km.

Sponsored