Have you finally made a move across to Electric motoring or simply thinking about making it soon? Within this article, we walk you through everything you need to know about charging your electric car on long journeys.
Things To Check Before You Set Off On A Long Journey In Your Electric Car:
- How far your car travels on each charge – you need to consider the return journey too. This will determine how many times you will need to stop for a charge.
- What type of charges do you need to pack for your journey.
- The type of chargers and power your car can accept – This will tell you how long you will wait to get your Electric Vehicle (EV) all charged up.
- If possible, pre-condition your car before you set off – There is an ultimate temperature that EV’s battery needs to be at to make sure of the optimum performance. This is usually around 19 degrees.
Top Tip: it’s cheaper and more convenient to charge overnight, so try to plan your en-route charging accordingly when and where possible (e.g. picking a hotel or overnight stay with a 7kW-22kW charger).
En-Route Rapid Charges & How To Find Them
- Sat Nav in your electric car. Most current EV models come equipped with a handy integration of data for charge points, and some will even build in charging stops into your journey to calculate the overall time to destination.
- Third-Party apps. We recommend the following:
Pod Point Network – you will need the Pod Point app, check out your area or the map to find reliable charging stations.
ZapMap – UK’s number one universal charge point map. You can use handy filters like type of charges and networks, as well as check out if a charger point is available to use in real-time.
PlugShare (Europe) – drivers contribute to creating a library of charging points across Europe and further afield; it comes with pictures and reviews of charging stations.
What To Expect At Rapid Charging Stations
- Availability. Think about how likely it is that the charger will be available upon your arrival. Some sites will only have 1 charger available, which can be taken up by another user, look to find locations with multiple charger stations.
- Access Methods. Most common methods include apps, contactless card readers, RFID cards and some are just plug and play. Try to find this information before you get there to avoid any disappointments.
- Charge times. We recommend charging your car 20% – 80%, as charging to 100% can take a long time.
Conclusion
Hopefully our guide on how to charge your electric car on long journeys has provided you with all the information you need. If you’ve just bought the car, make sure your have suitable GAP insurance and breakdown cover for complete peace of mind. We can also offer you an extended warranty policy if required too.
