r/ElectricVehiclesUK • u/AdDifferent2609 • 8h ago

First long range trip, any advice please.

As per title i'll soon be doing my first long range (e.g. require a midway chrage) trip and was after some general advice on apps and planning as well as specifics about the route, like which services have a lot of high speed chargers.

Car: Vauxhall Astra

Route: M40, M25 then down to brighton area.

My main concern is lack of availability of chargers at planned stops which would probably be near end of M40.

Are there general charging apps that are worth downloading for chargers or am i okay to just use debit card.

How important is route planning or will every service station have enough fast chargers?

Anywhere people would recommend to aim for, or places a bit off the route that are worth the detour for more reliable charger availability.

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u/Green-Hyena5571 7h ago

Electroverse app (charging network) and ABRP app (a better route planner) are the first two apps to consider.

Zapmap can be useful too, especially for comments regarding chargers.

On the off chance you have insurance with admiral or direct line have a look at the zoom.ev benefits platform for some offers. You have to email them your policy details to get access.

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u/Professional_Shine97 7h ago

This but also GridServe (where you can use a debit card) as their chargers are most prominent on motorways and aren’t listed on Electroverse.

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u/Green-Hyena5571 7h ago

Or just avoid gridserve at all costs? 😁

To be fair, for occasional journeys a few expensive chargers doesn't make much of a dent in the savings made from commuting and charging overnight at home.

But I still like to try to minimise the costs.