With the installation of larger batteries in electric cars, many drivers also travel directly on vacation with their emission-free companions. If you want to drive to your holiday destination as stress-free as possible, you should set out with a few important tips. Proper preparation helps against unnecessary stress in the most pleasant time of the year. We at green car magazine inform you about the special features of a vacation trip with the e-car and valuable tips for planning a relaxed trip.
Start with the tour plan
Relaxed travel with the electric car starts with the tour planning. Apps and Google Maps help to find the optimal route. Diverse road trips are also recommended, especially for the planned travel routes in Germany. If you have some time left for the trip, you can choose between 150 holiday routes, and most of these country roads present a region or follow a special theme, from history to viticulture to fairy tales. It is worth planning on one of the scenic routes as a special highlight when driving to the stage destination.
Before the tour starts, we definitely recommend fully charging the battery so that the first stop at a charging station does not have to be planned too early.
power consumption
The planning of longer tours is also heavily dependent on the weather conditions. The outside temperature, and thus the use of the air conditioning and electrical consumers, is particularly decisive. While in summer at temperatures above 20 degrees high ranges can be achieved with a moderate driving style according to the manufacturer's promised information, in cooler seasons below 10 degrees outside temperature often only half the ranges are realistic. If you don't forego comfort when traveling and use feel-good features such as seat or steering wheel heating and air conditioning, you have to be prepared for significant reductions in range. Every additional consumer costs electrical energy. One advantage of the electric car is the current display with the change in the remaining range when activating or deactivating a feature. If you pay attention to this, you can adjust the charging station stops accordingly.
Travel in Europe
With the longer range of electric cars, vacation trips in Europe are possible. The network of fast charging stations is being expanded on the motorways. What about in neighboring countries?
In the Netherlands and Scandinavia, there are significantly more charging points than in Germany. In the neighboring countries of Austria, Switzerland and France, the infrastructure is comparable to the network in Germany. In contrast, there are currently fewer fast charging stations in the popular holiday destinations of Italy and Croatia. It is worth taking a look at the app in good time to find out more about the charging options along the route in advance. With the standardization of the Combined Charging System (CCS), the charging standard is set in Europe. The closest charging station is shown either by the navigation system or by a charging station app.
For Europe, the LEMNET website provides a Europe-wide, comprehensive electricity charging station directory with more than 140.000 charging points at 45.000 locations. It is coupled with a route planner. The search results are displayed on a Google Maps map, and users can load the route onto their navigation device as a GPX file. The route can be tailored precisely in the electric car route planner. For this, your own vehicle model with battery capacity and connector type as well as the average energy consumption must be specified. Based on this data, the site calculates appropriate loading intervals. The calculations assume that the journey is started with a fully charged battery.
Charging stations and payment
From the milk can to the full-service station, there are many offers on the route sections. The rule of thumb here is clearly the more charging stations and the better the range of services, the more charging current providers will be accepted. Unfortunately, it is still the case that there are hardly any charging stations in Germany's service desert where drivers can simply pay via NFC with a debit or credit card. The only remedy currently is the new federal funding program. All funded charging stations must be equipped with a debit or credit card statement.
Charging stops and breaks
Stopovers every three to four hours (4 to 300 kilometers) relieve drivers and fellow travelers. Charge the battery and take a break for everyone involved to create a pleasant atmosphere. The electric drive ignites the vacation right from the start and the moderate driving style within the framework of the speed limits that apply in practically all countries also increases the range. At a fast charging station, for example from Ionity, the battery can be charged to 400 percent within 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the model and charging connection. At a normal charging station, however, e-car drivers have to plan far more breaks. Time when children can let off steam and adults can have a picnic.
Service
We have had very different experiences over the past few years with service for everything to do with the Ladesäule experienced. There is hardly a charging stop that stands out negatively on longer journeys. This starts with the service for the toilets, continues with the possibility of having a snack or snack and ends with the non-accepted means of payment. The most important tip is therefore: Always keep 30 to 40 kilometers of remaining range in reserve before the actually planned stop. On our trips to Italy and back, we alone made use of the option of changing the charging station at the last moment twice. Once all the fast charging stations were not connected to the power grid and the activation for the charging station did not work at the other station. With the remaining range, we were then able to easily reach the next charging station.
Summary
Anyone who travels with an electric car should find out about options abroad from their mobility provider before leaving, as there is currently no uniform access and payment system. Sometimes a charge card is enough, sometimes an app has to be used. Sometimes the online payment service PayPal or contactless payment via NFC and mobile phone work. When abroad, you can often pay directly at the pillar with an EC or credit card. With these tips and hints, we wish all readers a relaxed trip on vacation.
Addendum
Cover picture - symbol travel - © Med Photo Studio - stock.adobe.com
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