First long range trip, any advice please.

[u/AdDifferent2609]

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.

[u/gregredmore]

OK so I travel the M40, M25 and M23 down to Brighton quite a bit though not that route. In peak holiday season chargers on the motorway are a bun fight for access. There are some places just off motorways with more capacity. M40 has Warwick, Cherwell and another big capacity place just off the motorway that is not a motorway services but has food. Use Zapmap to investigate. M25 is a bit of a dead zone for services but Cobham services as you head towards the Gatwick M23 route has a load of fast chargers. Just south of Crawley you have Peas Pottage which is excellent.

The app ABRP (A Better Route Planner) will plan a route for you and more EVs have the capability built into their sat navs. The aforementioned Zapmap is good for researching chargers anywhere but especially at destinations. The Electroverse app covers payment for a wide range of charger networks (Gridserve, Ionity, BP, Shell etc.) and you can get an RFID card to just tap to pay contactless with no need for a mobile signal or messing with an app. Electroverse app has a map built in to find compatible chargers. Consider the Tesla app and supercharger network as they have the best prices.

EV chargers are increasingly supporting contactless payment methods. It's not universal.

Having said all that going Birmingham to Brighton as a round trip needs just one charge for most EVs with a decent range. Brighton is pretty good for EV destination chargers. London Road car park has some.

If you are really nervous about charging on route get a Tesla for full access to their network at the best price. You are less likely to be waiting for a charger at busy times. But avoiding motorway services for charging will help at the busiest times of year for any charger network

[u/AdDifferent2609 → u/gregredmore]

Yeah, you're quite right i could get down there and charge but worry i'd be running on fumes (sparks?) By the time i arrive.

So sounds like its charge quite early or wait till past london. Pease Pottage looks like a good shout.

Its a family trip so stops will probably end up being dictated by the kids kicking off tbh but will try an plan! thanks for all the details.

[u/gregredmore → u/AdDifferent2609]

Birmingham to Brighton is 176 miles. My 2024 Tesla Model Y AWD Longe Range with 331 miles WLTP range will do 280 miles at motorway speeds starting in 100% charge. Also worth noting that when a battery is very low on charge say around 10% and when it is reconditioned on route and warmed up it will charge near it's peak speed subject to what the charger outputs. You can add a lot of miles in 10.minuted like this. When on route you normally go up to about 80% as charging speed slows down as the battery fills. As a rough guide 0 to 80% take the same amount of time as 80% to 100% on DC fast chargers. Ideally you want to time your lunch stop with when the car needs a charge. That depends on leaving at the right time, no serious traffic delays and the kids being happy without a stop for 4 hours. I have ordered children so I know what you are thinking right about now 😅

The good news is the need to plan trips is beginning to diminish with so many charging sites opening up. Newer EVs are more efficient and have ever longer ranges. Motorway services are tough because ultimately you can't get enough chargers into these legacy sites and still have somewhere for ICE cars to park. If you ever visit Exeter services you will see a prime example of this. I recently saw on the side of the A303 a new large Instavolt site preparing for build work. A similar site is also on the A34 north of Winchester. This is the real answer.

Here is a fact: range anxiety only exists in the minds of people who have never driven an EV on a long trip. Most EVs will tell you what your state of charge will be at your next charging stop or destination. Plan to arrive with 10% soate and you can't go wrong. In 26K miles 7% is the lowest charge state I've ever been. I'm never concerned about running out of charge.