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....and an exercise in being "cheap"!
Mrs LV426 planned to cycle the Way Of The Roses from Morecambe to Bridlington over three days - initially with a friend. He backed out and so she decided to go anyway - alone; I like riding a bike, but there are limits; there's no way I'm doing three days of 60+ miles each, all very hilly.
I had already agreed to provide luggage transport, and the companion would have done any maintenance (like, puncture repairs) had be been there. In his absence, I agreed to drive myself such that, whilst I wasn't merely following her, I'd never be too far away in case of need. In other words, it was to be a trip with plenty of spare time in it.
Now, do I take the old diesel for ease, or the EV for the planning exercise? The EV, of course.
First bit: home to Morecambe. 118 miles which is just within the theoretical range, so could have done it in one, but there isn't any charging infrastructure there; the closest is a bunch of 7kW points at Lancaster Uni. It would have taken 4+ hours to refill there from about empty, so instead we called at
(Charge 1: ) - a LIDL store in Stockport. Free rapid. This stop was done so as to save a tiny bit of cost at the next stop, and to provide a degree of contingency in case that wasn't available. Had the LIDL charge been unavailable, we'd have carried on to the next stop anyway.
(Charge 2: ) - a hotel car park somewhere near Preston. 10.8ppu Rapid. This stop was made primarily to save hanging about time at the next stop. 9.3 units; cost about £1.
Then to Morecambe where I dropped her and her bike and waved goodbye. The two stops added about 50 minutes to the trip, including the extra time taken to get to them off the direct route.
(Charge 3: ) - I then went to the University where I walked the campus for the 1hr 40 it took to fill up completely at 6.6kW. For free. (Had I not done a top up in Preston, this would have taken twice as long).
Our first night's stop was at an inn near Skipton - about 50 miles from Lancaster Uni. I took a slow drive over a similar (but not identical) route to the bike route, but never saw her on the way. I got to the inn about an hour before her.
(Charge 4: ) - The owner allowed me to plug into a caravan hook-up outlet (Schuko socket) in the car park. I carry a 13a adaptor for this very purpose. Full again by morning.
Next day, she carries on riding; I delay setting off, take a less direct route, wait for her at an intermediate point or two, and then carry on to York. We are booked in an apartment more or less in the centre.
(Charge 5: ) - I park in a P&D park right next to Clifford's Tower. Free parking for anyone charging an EV (bonus!) so I plug it in to the sloooowww point (13a) so as to maximise this benefit. 7.9 units at 10.8ppu - 85p.
I move the car to somewhere else before it's full in fact, because it was opportune to do so. I wasn't leaving it overnight and monopolising a charger for long after it would have finished. Next morning, off she goes; I set off a short while after and decide to finish the top up so I go to
(Charge 6: ) a Park & ride site in the direction I'm heading anyway. 6.6kW charge, 3.5 units, say 38p.
Meet her en route, stop at another location and then carry on to Bridlington.
(Charge 7: ) Parked in a municipal P&D car park where, once again, parking is free for EV chargers - and in this case, so is the 7kW power. Extra bonus. It's going to take over two and a half hours, so I'm grateful I can have two and a half hours free parking.
It's enough time for her to arrive in fact. Exactly. We got back to the car with 5 minutes remaining. And so her trip ends. She wants to go visit her Mum in Pickering before we go home, and stay the night. There is no parking at all at Mum's, but we have an arrangement with someone nearby to use a garage with a power outlet in it.
(Charge 8: ) In the garage. We pay them £5 a night for this privilege. So - cost £5, even though it was probably only going to take about 8 units (£1.20 worth, say) but that's the deal.
And then the next day, 81 miles back home. Guesses it will want about 20 units at 13.8ppu so, say £2.80.
About 390 miles driven. The car calculated an average of 5 miles per unit. It had been higher (without any trying) until I burned it on the motorway for the last 40 miles of the trip home.
Fuel cost £0 + £1 + £0+ £0+ £0.85 + £0.38 + £0 + £5 + £2.80 = about £10 - half of which was that private garage. And it takes no account of the benefit of free parking in York and Bridlington which I didn't cost out. Arguably, I should deduct that......
Charger issues: all points were available and working on arrival, except at Bridlington. There, initially both were occupied. So I placed the car elsewhere nearby. Just as I was getting out, the Leaf owner returned so I hung about until he left and plugged in. This is a Pod Point outlet and you have to activate the session on a mobile app, otherwise it cuts out after 15 minutes. Although it helpfully said "charge confirmed" on the app, it hadn't "flowed" right and so I wasn't trusting it. Maybe I followed the Leaf too quickly; I don't know. Anyhow, I went back 20 minutes later and, yes, it had cut out. So I tried again with the same result. A quick call to Pod Point and they rebooted the outlet and all was then well.
Interesting experience, planning to minimise cost and maximise contingency - bearing in mind much of the trip was in rural north Lancs and Yorks, an area devoid of charging stations.
It's also the first time I've done a long spell in the driver's seat and I must say, the driveablity of the thing is utterly delightful, especially on country lanes, corners, hills up and down, and making full use of the regenerative slowing down and brisk acceleration.......
Mrs LV426 planned to cycle the Way Of The Roses from Morecambe to Bridlington over three days - initially with a friend. He backed out and so she decided to go anyway - alone; I like riding a bike, but there are limits; there's no way I'm doing three days of 60+ miles each, all very hilly.
I had already agreed to provide luggage transport, and the companion would have done any maintenance (like, puncture repairs) had be been there. In his absence, I agreed to drive myself such that, whilst I wasn't merely following her, I'd never be too far away in case of need. In other words, it was to be a trip with plenty of spare time in it.
Now, do I take the old diesel for ease, or the EV for the planning exercise? The EV, of course.
First bit: home to Morecambe. 118 miles which is just within the theoretical range, so could have done it in one, but there isn't any charging infrastructure there; the closest is a bunch of 7kW points at Lancaster Uni. It would have taken 4+ hours to refill there from about empty, so instead we called at
(Charge 1: ) - a LIDL store in Stockport. Free rapid. This stop was done so as to save a tiny bit of cost at the next stop, and to provide a degree of contingency in case that wasn't available. Had the LIDL charge been unavailable, we'd have carried on to the next stop anyway.
(Charge 2: ) - a hotel car park somewhere near Preston. 10.8ppu Rapid. This stop was made primarily to save hanging about time at the next stop. 9.3 units; cost about £1.
Then to Morecambe where I dropped her and her bike and waved goodbye. The two stops added about 50 minutes to the trip, including the extra time taken to get to them off the direct route.
(Charge 3: ) - I then went to the University where I walked the campus for the 1hr 40 it took to fill up completely at 6.6kW. For free. (Had I not done a top up in Preston, this would have taken twice as long).
Our first night's stop was at an inn near Skipton - about 50 miles from Lancaster Uni. I took a slow drive over a similar (but not identical) route to the bike route, but never saw her on the way. I got to the inn about an hour before her.
(Charge 4: ) - The owner allowed me to plug into a caravan hook-up outlet (Schuko socket) in the car park. I carry a 13a adaptor for this very purpose. Full again by morning.
Next day, she carries on riding; I delay setting off, take a less direct route, wait for her at an intermediate point or two, and then carry on to York. We are booked in an apartment more or less in the centre.
(Charge 5: ) - I park in a P&D park right next to Clifford's Tower. Free parking for anyone charging an EV (bonus!) so I plug it in to the sloooowww point (13a) so as to maximise this benefit. 7.9 units at 10.8ppu - 85p.
I move the car to somewhere else before it's full in fact, because it was opportune to do so. I wasn't leaving it overnight and monopolising a charger for long after it would have finished. Next morning, off she goes; I set off a short while after and decide to finish the top up so I go to
(Charge 6: ) a Park & ride site in the direction I'm heading anyway. 6.6kW charge, 3.5 units, say 38p.
Meet her en route, stop at another location and then carry on to Bridlington.
(Charge 7: ) Parked in a municipal P&D car park where, once again, parking is free for EV chargers - and in this case, so is the 7kW power. Extra bonus. It's going to take over two and a half hours, so I'm grateful I can have two and a half hours free parking.
It's enough time for her to arrive in fact. Exactly. We got back to the car with 5 minutes remaining. And so her trip ends. She wants to go visit her Mum in Pickering before we go home, and stay the night. There is no parking at all at Mum's, but we have an arrangement with someone nearby to use a garage with a power outlet in it.
(Charge 8: ) In the garage. We pay them £5 a night for this privilege. So - cost £5, even though it was probably only going to take about 8 units (£1.20 worth, say) but that's the deal.
And then the next day, 81 miles back home. Guesses it will want about 20 units at 13.8ppu so, say £2.80.
About 390 miles driven. The car calculated an average of 5 miles per unit. It had been higher (without any trying) until I burned it on the motorway for the last 40 miles of the trip home.
Fuel cost £0 + £1 + £0+ £0+ £0.85 + £0.38 + £0 + £5 + £2.80 = about £10 - half of which was that private garage. And it takes no account of the benefit of free parking in York and Bridlington which I didn't cost out. Arguably, I should deduct that......
Charger issues: all points were available and working on arrival, except at Bridlington. There, initially both were occupied. So I placed the car elsewhere nearby. Just as I was getting out, the Leaf owner returned so I hung about until he left and plugged in. This is a Pod Point outlet and you have to activate the session on a mobile app, otherwise it cuts out after 15 minutes. Although it helpfully said "charge confirmed" on the app, it hadn't "flowed" right and so I wasn't trusting it. Maybe I followed the Leaf too quickly; I don't know. Anyhow, I went back 20 minutes later and, yes, it had cut out. So I tried again with the same result. A quick call to Pod Point and they rebooted the outlet and all was then well.
Interesting experience, planning to minimise cost and maximise contingency - bearing in mind much of the trip was in rural north Lancs and Yorks, an area devoid of charging stations.
It's also the first time I've done a long spell in the driver's seat and I must say, the driveablity of the thing is utterly delightful, especially on country lanes, corners, hills up and down, and making full use of the regenerative slowing down and brisk acceleration.......
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