Winter trip to the Alps in Taycan 4 Cross Turismo

[tigerbalm]

Have you considered route via Serbia, Croatia?

I don't know about other countries, but my insurance cover is only in EU, EEA (Norway, Iceland, etc) and UK. Just make sure you'd be covered if you leave the EU going via Serbia.

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[Mtljckt]

The area between Romania and Serbia has roads that are not that well maintained. It may be a nice trip in the summer but a heavy snow can create additional headache so I will stay on the beaten path of Sibiu-Arad-Budapest. Someone suggested I stick to Ionity once I pass Budapest. This may clear the hassle of installing several apps, while their chargers are most powerful and will decrease travel time. Due to charging time and speed difference this trip (1600km) requires 6 more hours to go electric instead of ICE. I'm now cutting a hole (literally) in the back of my 16-years 5 series to make room for the skis to have as a backup. The car drives as nice as the Taycan, but it lacks 4x4 which may be a hassle when up in the mountains.

 

[Mtljckt]

tbh I would take the plane and a local taxi / rent a car if you are traveling alone anyway.

I have a plane ticket and I will send my family by plane anyway. However, flight lands in Northern Italy and Italian rentals provide cars with summer tires. They give you a set of chains and off you go, deep into the Alps. I did this several times and it feels like a legal loophole that puts you and your family at big risk. All while you have a better car sitting at home.

 

[tigerbalm]

Plus EV roadtrips are actually fun!

 

[Mtljckt]

Plus EV roadtrips are actually fun!

That is right, but only if you own an EV. If you've only driven only ICE cars and you rent an EV for the first time, a long trip in the winter can be stressful. I just read about some drivers renting Teslas in US during the winter storm and complaining they had to stop every 2-3 hours. Well, a pause every 2-3 hours is kind of healthier anyway no matter the engine.

 

[McgR]

Got a nice souvenir today of our trip 2 weeks ago. A friendly letter from Frau Brenner

Speed after correction 139 km/h, 20 euro fine. Quite cheap.

I was driving 135 and a Tesla model X passed me by at 150 km/h and I remembered reading on this forum that driving in a slip stream would reduce air resistance.

The Tesla model X looked to be a good object to follow. ACC on 155 worked perfectly.

The Tesla was really fast in getting back in lane after passing another car. I presume is was automatic. Kind of hard to follow when he went back, my ACC accelerated and difficult to get behind him again.

anyway I was busy doing all this and didn’t see the 130 km/h sign (and he didn’t either)

Saw him being flashed and 2 seconds later so was I.

I was following him at the shortest ACC distance. Don’t know I the effect would be similar a bit further.

The electricity saved was less than te 20 euro fine a got.

 

[McgR]

Some considerations about ICE vs electric for longer distance trips.

This ski trip my neighbor was at the same resort. He has a mercedes E diesel. He left 1.5 hours later in Austria and arrived 1/2 hour later at home after a 950 Km trip. We traveled approximately the same route over Switzerland and France. I had dinner for 3/4 hours while charging which was longer than needed. Total of 3 charge stops of total +/- 1.5 hours, he only had one stop to fill his tank and one short one for coffee and toilet.

This is kind of what I was expecting.

I expected the trip to be 1 hour or a bit more longer because of charging stops. But my reasoning is that for the 3-4 longer trips we do each years this is only a couple of hours and I don’t mind having a coffee for twenty minutes. Every 2-3 hours.

Some caveats however. I do my homework and know the route and where the good chargers are and I avoid Saturdays during busy holidays. And you need a fast charging car and charger. It will completely different with a EQC / Ipace / Mach E with maximal +/- 100 Kw fast charging. The same stops would have been at least twice as long

As long as the chargers are available and functional all goes well. I would hate having to wait half an hour or more before I can start charging. Because then you are stuck in the car trying to keep your place in the waiting list.

 

[McgR]

Just returned from the same location in Austria. but this time with our other car a Merc CLA 250 e PHEV shooting brake with ski box.

We drove over Germany. The total trip took 9 hours in total including 3 fuel stops ( 35 liter tank) combined with coffee and restroom stops. Sandwiches prepared by the hotel before leaving. Average speed was higher with the CLA long stretches with ACC on 150 km/h.

The same trip took 10 hours last week because of heavier traffic.

With the Taycan it took 11 hours but with very bad weather and a 1 hours stop for dinner. And lower average speed because with the Taycan we traveled over Switzerland and France.

Why did we take the PHEV and not the BEV? Very heavy traffic was predicted with long charging queues. We drove on Friday and Sunday. Today at my 3 fuel stops I saw the Ionity chargers were busy but free chargers available. Last Friday they were all taken in some stops. Off course I wasn’t looking for plan B locations then. Just read a Dutch article that even yesterday the charging queues weren’t as bad as predicted but you need to plan and have a plan b or c charger.

I could also have done this trip with the Taycan. Would have taken probably 1 hour more. More coffee, longer stops. I don’t think I would have mind the stops and I am sure I would have preferred the Taycan on the Autobahn. The horrible chargers queues were not as bad as predicted.

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