I think that James May issues was that he could not access the 12v battery as he could not open the bonnet due to being unable to unlock the car. He had to take a number of parts off the front of the car to open the bonnet.
I have seen similar reports about Tesla's and I do sympathise with him. Its a ridiculous rig-ma-role to get to the 12 battery, There is no good reason to make it so inaccessible for recharging.
It also seems somewhat shortsighted to only monitor the High Voltage battery and ignore the 12V control battery's state of charge.
It also seems somewhat shortsighted to only monitor the High Voltage battery and ignore the 12V control battery's state of charge.
I did find this an informative report.Warning - Very long post alert!
Towcar - Polestar 2 LongRange Dual motor Launch edition. (300kW motors (408ps) , 78kWh battery)
Caravan - Bailey Unicorn Vigo S3 Max weight upgrade.
2 Passengers on way - me and SWMBO - 4 on return (daughters joined us mid trip).
Start - Towcester in South Northants. Destination Borrowdale cub site in the Lake district.
7:00am 100%
We left home on the Friday morning (22nd Oct) at about 7:00am Car was charged to 100% over night and preconditioned using mains power. Roads were damp but clear skys and about 8C. Our route planned was A43 to M1, M1 to M6, M6 to Penrith and then down to Keswick and the site. I had planned for two charging stops, the 1st near Stoke on Trent and the second around Lancaster.
We got going in fairly light traffic until joining the M1. When towing with the EV, I set cruise at 56mph, but as soon as I find a big lorry, I tuck in behind it for slipstreaming and follow it. If a faster lorry comes past, I will pull out and follow that.
Progress was fine with a minor slow down on the M6 near J3, and good all through Birmingam. From getting started, I was watching my economy (kWh/100miles is how the car displays it) and looking for a number below 67 (lower is better) - my target for the journey. By Birmingham the number was at about 60 and I was very comfortable with a 2 stop strategy. Unfortunately, as we drove we were getting reports of major congestion on the M6 after Stafford with major queues. While that would be good for the EV economy - not so good for arrival time, so we opted for an early pit stop in Stafford services.
9:00am 35%
Stafford Northbound has two new Gridserve chargers and I had already looked at the location in the carpark. Ignoring the "caravans here" sign, we headed for the main carpark and found a quiet spot away from the cafe area near the white vans that accumulate there. Unhitched the van in a space, and I drove the 50 meters to the charger. One was in use and I popped the car on the other, starting the charge at 9:09. After 2 hours on the road I was ready for a coffee and cheeky bacon sarnie, so Greggs did the job. My wife and I took turns to head in and use the facilities, while the other guarded the van (corner steady down, sat inside). I consumed my coffee and food, opted for a second bathroom break and then we were ready to go again. 40 mins of charging yielded 34.7kWh (half a battery) and 72%. The charge was pretty slow by my cars standard averaging about 40kW
9:50am 72%
We hit the road again and battled through the rest of the M6 hold up with some rain kicking in. While in Stafford, we had decided to stop at Crow Orchard, a new 8 station charging hub South of Charnock Richard or - if the battery would stretch - at Charnock Richard, and then again near Penrith. The 1st stop at Stafford was earlier than I had planned and a 3 stop strategy seemed inevitable. As the miles rolled on, slipstreaming another big rig, I realised my economy was around 57kWh/100miles - much better than I had hoped. A quick calculation and look at WhatsApp and ABRP, revealed the E.ON chargers at Preston East - an ultra rapid, and in reach of our destination in one go if we got a good charge.
11:35 16% 164 miles
We pulled in again to the Starbucks at Preston East. A big wide space, right next to the 2 chargers was sitting waiting to take the caravan. Quick unhitch and onto charge. Once again, we took turns to use the facilities, had a coffee, and decided to eat a bit of early lunch. A couple of other EVs came and went, with the usual chatter (Is that a citroen - no, its a Polestar; What's it like towing the caravan - great; is it fast - very.) 48 mins ticked by and we hit the 90% needed to get all the way to Keswick. In the time it took me to get out and ready to unplug we hit 92.
12:31 92%
The E.ON charger had been fast, 63kWh pulled in in 56 mins, still not as fast as the car can charge, but good. On the road one final time. We had a hard time finding a lorry to follow after ours inconsiderately left the M6 toward Blackpool, but did get onto one on the way up Shap. Economy suffered a bit, but not too badly, and I had built in a reserve. We left the M6 at Penrith, and headed down the A66. Back on the single lane section, it was much harder to keep the speed below 50. With the car set up to coast when my foot was off the accelerator, it would roll very easily over the speed limit on the down hill sections. Much attention needed.
14:30 11% 257 miles
We finally pulled into Borrowdale at about 2:30pm, having covered over 90 miles on the last leg, with 11% remaining. I paid for the pitch and paid for one nights EV charging from the post (£8). The wardens confirmed that we were the first full EV towing to use the site that they were aware of. We got set up and plugged the car in, with the car constrained to 8A to leave some headroom for the van appliances. By next morning we were back up to 55% and ready to head out.
Return Journey.
30/10/2021
8:40am 100% 7c Very wet 0miles
Again - we charged the car overnight on the Club site from the van, and preconditioned. The weather was poor, and had been for the last few days with the lakes making the national news due to rainfall. The lakes were high, rivers had burst, and the car had coped well.
We towed off the site, through Grange and gingerly headed back up toward Keswick, knowing there was at least one flooded section to drive through. Needn't have worried as the Polestar never missed a beat.
Heading up the A66 was miserable it was cold and wet and uphill all the way to Penrith. The target economy of 67 kWk/100m was nowhere to be seen with more like 85 showing. I told myself "its all up hill here, and Shap is downhill" and kept going. We joined the M6, and it was empty. Usually great for a holiday, but not if you want to follow a lorry. After a few mins we spotted on in the distance ahead and I eased the car up to 60 to catch it. We ducked into its stream and followed it to Preston. I shouldn't have worried as I was right; as soon as we were on the motorway, heading down hill and with a windbreaker lorry, the economy climbed and we were back below the target 67 by Kendal. Whilst we could have gone further on the battery charge remaining, we opted for the same stop as we had on the way up, as the driver and one passenger really needed to. Making the diversion into Preston East, we popped into exactly the same spot and charger as on the way up.
10:40am 17% 93 Miles
The sun came out, as we parked the caravan, this time with 4 of us. Coffee and hot chocolate, and a rapid charge. Target was 85%, but we hit 87% in 48 mins, loading in 60kWh. This time we had a two stop strategy in mind and I was aiming for Hilton Park services north of Birmingham.
11:30 87%
Back on the road, and the weather continued to improve. Following lorries all the way down, we got to Hilton Park services with no issues.
1:24pm 18% 187 miles
At Hilton park, the Caravan bays are separated from the main carpark by a low wall. We pulled into the caravan area and un-hitched. I then drove round to the charger and got started.
We manually turned the van round through 180, got a steady down and set up for loo stops and lunch. For whatever reason the new gridserve charger was on a go slow, delivering 51kWh in an hour. It didn't really matter as we ate lunch in the caravan, and had a coffee after. Our target was 80% and we left with 83% for the final leg home.
2:50pm 21% 260 miles
A stilly mistake as we came to the end of the M6, I got in the wrong lane, and ended up on the A14 east instead of the M1 south. Having chastised myself, we got of at the 1st junction and decided to head direct south through Northampton to home. A slightly longer route over all, but not as long as going back to the M1. We got home around 15 mins later than we would have hoped.
Take aways.
Average consumption
Outbound 57kWh/100miles;
Return leg - 60.6kWh/100m
(usually 34-36kWh/100m Solo)
1) The weather on the way back made a huge difference - wet more than cold impacts the economy.
2) We charged too much for the last section, I built in a good 15% more than I needed to, which was perhaps 15-17 mins of charging.
3) Planning really helps - knowing where you can stop, but not necessarily where you WILL stop. Gives you options.
4) Motorway services are not bad - just make up your own rules as to where you will park, and ask forgiveness rather than permission (not that I needed to).
5) Non-motorway services work really well too.
6) Longer distance caravanning works great in an EV if you are prepared to stop (like me). For those who want to do a 6 hour 300 mile tow in one go, not so much.
7) Would I trade in the extra range for going back to an ICE tow car? Emphatic no for me. The d EV6 would be on my list of tow cars though for the ultra rapid (18min 10-80%) charge speed.
But I am drawn to comment on "tucking in behind a lorry for a slipstream".
My comment is that this presents some extra driving risks.
1. Lack of forward visibility, hence relying on signals from the lorry driver.
2. Stones or even pieces of tyre thrown up by the lorry, risking windscreen or other damage.
3. Ice falling from the top of the truck.
4. Risk that the lorry will run over or straddle an object which is too high for your vehicle, possibly causing damage or accident.
5. Road grime encountered in the spray thrown up by the lorry.
6. Irregular turbulence behind the lorry.
I do not think this is a wise practice to achieve better range from an EV , in the same way as it is unwise for saving fuel or increasing speed with an ICE.
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Yeah - that’s what I meant by recharge point - the 12v jump location. I now realise, on an EV that is open to miss interpretation! 🤣😁👍
A fair observation. When I say “tucking in behind “, this is not slipstreaming in the motor racing, or cycling peloton sense. Trucks make a huge hole in the air that can be picked up as turbulence from many meters away just getting to within 2 caravan outfit’s length can make a significant difference to economy.
I am very aware of the potential danger of following any vehicle too close, having had debris fall from the back of a builders flatbed on the M1, which I subsequently hit damaging the diesel filter on my old XC90. An experience I definitely don’t want to repeat…
The recommended gap is 2 seconds, at 56 mph that's 50 metres - more than 4x caravan outfit's length.
We do the same. Sit behind an hgv .saves battling past them only to find more. Doesn't add a great deal to journey time and saves fuel. But I obey the fool and his two second rule rhyme.
I think if you are so far behind them that you can stop safely if they do that you will be too far away to get any real benefit from their slipstream. Not good practice to do this.
I think you might be surprised. If you watch formula 1 you will sometimes hear that cars can get a distant tow (apparently over 100mts or so ) which is often cited as to why a particular car does well in qualifying.
HGV's punch a much bigger hole than and F1 car, but the air flow may be less coherent.
I agree with the PRof-it may be subjective but we always maintain the 2 second rule law-I'm a motorcyclist and my bike has no abs-safe rather than sorry -- and yes the bike will usually stop far quicker than a car etc but try hitting mud or diesel spilt on the road! Whether you get better mpg or not-and I think you do-it simply saves endlessly pulling out overtaking then catching the next lorry your legally allowed to do 4mph more ! We usually find a 'quicker ie not loaded' lorry to stay with-but always maintain the rule of distance for safety. And sensible road positioning allows you to see in front on all but the straightest roads. Only on the way up to Glen Nevis in storm Brian a few years ago did we experience unpleasant buffeting from the lorry we'd chosen-and dropped further back as it was so windy!
I normally have the cruise control at 58mph which is the speed on the satnav and still end up having to overtake HGVs. When I do have to pass them I will increase my speed to 60mph to pass quickly and safely.
If only 25% of new concept EVs make it to the market place there are some good looking vehicles coming along. Over the last few years many cars have lost the “ don’t I look good in the car park” factor. An endless succession of SUV/Crossover clones. EV has released the designers talents.
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/...5-new-evs-2030-electrification-drive-pictures
But I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Off into my bunker now. 😄
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/...5-new-evs-2030-electrification-drive-pictures
But I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Off into my bunker now. 😄
At the mo I'm absolutely loving the Kia EV6 and the Porsche Taycan-what a stunner-imo and bunker time here for me by far the best looking Porsche ever-I never have been a Porsche fan but that is amazing-and even better in the flesh-sounds great too-clever little sound generator just burbles! Not so sure re the new BMW grill but maybe it'll be a grower ! AS you say lots of released designer imaginations-exciting times!
Those must have the ugliest fronts of any car on the market. The rest looks okay.
Good job then that with most of them it’s the back you see most of 😀but you’re right as even the current generation are bland at the front, with few marque identifiers that you can pick up in your mirror.
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I think it was a retrograde step down when MB went for the three star in the grille rather than the classy smaller one just above the bonnet line. BMW seem to be headed in that direction with their move from the classy and recognisable BMW grille to something resembling the mouth of a basking shark.
Totally agree Clive-Merc went backward-and as for the BMW guppy mouth-not impressed. AM a devout Mini fan and moderator of the f56 forum but I'm finding the new Mini drooped Mexican moustache a bit challenging too! May be just getting old but......
I enjoyed reading the trip report.
I would love to go EV, but prices are way way beyond my means , especially if we want to keep out current caravan.
Maybe in a few years when the kids stop wanting to come with us we can down size everything and go EV. But maybe hybrid would be the next step until we retire and can slow down a bit and take time for all the charge stops
I would love to go EV, but prices are way way beyond my means , especially if we want to keep out current caravan.
Maybe in a few years when the kids stop wanting to come with us we can down size everything and go EV. But maybe hybrid would be the next step until we retire and can slow down a bit and take time for all the charge stops
Agreed Raywood-some of the cars esp those with plastic instead of a grille, based on an ice vehicle look awful=lazy design maybe?
I am design lead and could not but any vehicle I can't look back on and love the appearance of. So given the choice Skoda enyaq to me looks classy VW id3 essentially the same car underneath it's Skoda all the way. Id3 to me looks cheap but as you say we're all different thank heavens.
I once had quite a heated discussion with my art-design tutor at Loughborough. She thought the Mini was an appalling design, on my side I really could not understand her liking for her car as it looked like three boxes. A small one at either end and a bigger one separating them in the middle. It was an NSU Prinz…….awful. Plus the Mini could tank around bends. Hers had a tendency for the rear end to try and catch the front end.
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