This summer our family of four took our longest EV road trip to date from West Sussex down to the Dordogne in France, via the Eurotunnel. We drove a Kia e-Niro 4+ (MY2021) with a 470L roof box attached.
Trip Summary
Overall the trip went very well, with only a few minor hiccups along the way. After some preparation, it was smooth and far more enjoyable than our last road trip to France 4 years ago in our hybrid Toyota Auris.
99% of the issues we encountered were due to human behaviour rather than charging infrastructure - there were more than enough charge points in each destination, however far too many drivers were waiting for their EVs to reach 100% charge, blissfully ignoring the long queue behind them.
The only faulty charge points we encountered were at Eurotunnel (both sides).
Trip Details
Efficiency
With the roof box we had to charge more often than usual, but got a solid efficiency of around 3.45 miles/kWh, giving a range of around 220 miles in the Niro.
We were probably over-cautious with charging, as the lowest state of charge we reached was 30% (~84 miles remaining), so next time I would push a bit further on that - particularly to increase the distance from the channel crossing before charging.
We took off the roof box when we arrived at our gite, which improved efficiency, though we didn't drive a lot outside of the main journey, so the average efficiency wasn't very different.
Driving Experience
Driving on the long highways in France was a smooth, easy experience, especially with the e-Niro's adaptive cruise control doing most of the work.
We had a slight issue at the Eurotunnel (both ends) where the multimedia system got confused and froze (outwards) and reset itself (return). Must be something to do with crossing a border - I blame Brexit.
Charging - Outward Journey
Stop 1 - Eurotunnel Folkestone
Our first attempt at charging was at the UK side of the Eurotunnel as we had an hour to kill. There are a few non-Tesla charge points that are free, but one was occupied and the others were in very poor condition and didn't work.
The Tesla Supercharger station was open to non-Teslas, but the cable was too short to reach without taking up 2 spaces and it was busy, so we decided to skip this one.
Stop 2 - Ionity, Aire de la Baie de Somme
This was our first charging stop in France and it was a bad experience - around an hour's wait in sweltering heat, mainly due to drivers waiting for a 100% charge. The Tesla Superchargers opposite were all but empty most of the time. At least everyone in the queue was patient and friendly.
This station seemed to be a mix of drivers charging straight off the Eurotunnel and those heading back to the UK - clearly a busy bottleneck and the one area where infrastructure (or a charge-per-minute tariff) was truly lacking.
Stop 3 - TotalEnergies, Allonne
Another slight disaster, due to one very inconsiderate VW ID.3 driver who couldn't figure out how to charge his car, and sat in a charging spot for 1.5 hours, ignoring anyone who tried to help him (including another ID.3 driver who was desperate to get to his Eurotunnel on time).
As there were only 2 charge points, this meant we had to wait another hour for the 2 cars ahead of us in the queue to charge.
Stop 4 - Novotel Orleans
The first AC charge points on the journey, with 2 charging posts and 4 sockets. Both posts were occupied when we arrived, and it seemed each post could only charge 1 car at a time. However in the morning they were available, and we managed to get 24kWh in before checking out.
Stop 5 - Tesla Supercharger, Blois
Empty on arrival - relatively easy to set up, although the Tesla app had forgotten my payment details.
Stop 6 - Ionity, Poitiers
An uneventful top-up at a service station with a big shop and cafe on-site.
Stop 7 - Tesla Supercharger, Champniers
Just outside Angouleme, this was our final charge stop before arriving. No problems - a rather random but quiet location behind a hotel.
Charging - During the Holiday
Getting around was no problem once we arrived - most towns we visited had a car park with 2 Mobive (previously known as Izivia) AC chargers that always worked well with our RFID cards.
The Lidl chargers weren't free, and the instructions on the charge post led me to try enabling charging via a website, which took a €30 deposit but didn't work. Switching to another charge point and using our Kia Charge RFID card solved it.
One slight issue we had was on a day trip to Bordeaux (~1hr away). There don't seem to be many out-of-town car parks with chargers, and we couldn't see anything at the Park & Ride we went to. When we arrived we noticed there were actually 10 chargers immediately at the entrance - however they were all Schuko 2-pin plugs for which we didn't have an adapter. We used a DC TotalEnergies charger just outside Bordeaux instead, which was fine.
Charging - Return Journey
After 2 weeks we pretty much knew what to expect; we topped up to around 80% from Lidl the day before setting off.
The petrol station at Jaunay-Marigny was mayhem, and several EV charge points were ICE'd (the only time this happened in the whole 2 weeks). But we grabbed a space no problem and charged whilst we had lunch, pitying all those queueing for petrol.
Following that we stopped at Aire de la Dentelle (TotalEnergies Valframbert), which was fine, although the chargers were pretty hidden round the back of the car park.
The one downside was we booked Novotel Rouen specifically as it had a car park and advertised EV chargers. We paid €12 for parking on arrival, only to be told the charge points required a 2-pin plug. This meant I had to make a dedicated trip to charge - around the corner there was a Freshmile station with 2 rapid charge points at an Audi showroom.
On the second leg, we used (with much trepidation) Ionity Baie de Somme again. The Ionity points were full and Tesla all but empty, with 4 of the 5 cars over 90% state of charge.
Our final charge was at Eurotunnel Calais. Several Engie chargers were available despite the peak-time crossing. The first 2 we tried didn't work, but the 3rd did, and we hit 80% just as we were called for boarding.
Preparation
A few key things we did before the trip:
- Legal requirements: UK numberplate stickers, warning triangle, family pack of yellow jackets
- Crit-air sticker: order well in advance - takes a while to arrive, and is needed for cities
- Route planning: ABRP subscription. Useful but the CarPlay experience is very poor - I'd probably just use the free version next time
- RFID cards: Octopus Electric Universe, Kia Charge, Shell Recharge, and Chargepoint. I considered a Chargemap card too but the €20 cost put me off
- Road tolls: Emovis tag for road tolls - great for saving time and you get a discount if you book through Eurotunnel
Trip Stats
- Miles driven: 1,655
- kWh consumed: 478.16
- Avg miles/kWh: 3.46
- Avg cost per mile: £0.12
- Total charging cost: £199.70 (£197.40 public charging)
- Estimated equivalent petrol cost: £313.85 (assuming 35mpg at 146ppl, the average cost in France for this period)
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