Electric cars are gaining momentum and since getting ours in September last year, we have noticed how popular they are becoming. It could just be the phenomenon when you buy something, you suddenly see the same thing everywhere, "Frequency Illusion" I believe it is called, anybody know if there is any other names for it? Maybe you are nodding in agreement and have also experienced this?
Destination charging
Quite a lot of public EV chargers tend to be found in public car parks, service stations, fast food outlets, hotels and a few other places along those lines. You tend to stay with the car whilst it charges or not venture off too far.
There are few places I've discovered (yet) where you can park and charge at the same time for free and leave your car alone to gather it's electrons whilst you do something else that you enjoy. Like taking a nice long walk or have some lunch with friends.
The RHS
This is why we were delighted to find on a recent trip to RHS Wisley in Surrey, that they have chargers! Eight of them.
Is this something we may find at other RHS gardens? I tried to find out but couldn't confirm for definite. Wisley has recently undergone an incredible revamp with a brand new visitor centre, shop and garden centre. So I suspect the EV chargers were introduced as part of this expansion.
Tina set up the account with EV Charge Online, which is entirely web based, requiring card details in order to add credit. It is then a case of connecting the car to the charger, please note you will need your own cable, to connect to the Type 2 connectors. We always keep ours in the boot or if you have a "Froot", that's a good place to keep one too!
National Trust
The National Trust are also introducing charging points at a number of their properties and considering they own more than 200 historic houses, 41 castles and chapels, 47 industrial monuments and mills, the sites of factories and mines, 9 lighthouses, 56 villages, 39 public houses, and 25 medieval barns - that will take a little bit of time and investment!
In the meantime take a look at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/electric-vehicle-charging-points to find out where you could visit and charge your car whilst getting your dose of history, culture, art, fresh air, tea and cake.
UK Holiday Cottages
More and more holiday cottages up and down the UK now come equipped with EV charging facilities which is more than worth thinking about if booking something. Especially if your journey from the south of England to, let's say Anglesey in North Wales, is around 300 miles. Our car has a range of approx. 250 miles. I suspect a couple of pitstops along the way to top up a little bit, whilst stretching legs etc would be in order.
Once on Anglesey, you could charge at your cottage as often as required to explore the island and nearby Snowdonia.
Are we planning a trip up that way? Quite likely, yes.
Exploring the Zap Map
Zap Map is an indispensable tool and integrates with both Apple Carplay or Android Auto, so if you are hunting for a charge whilst on the road, you can find one and then use Waze (or any other mapping app) to navigate your way through the streets. Hopefully before running out of electrons!
I kind of fancy trying out some of the chargers in unusual locations, maybe a charge with a view?
Source: Instavolt
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I'm seeing more chargers around generally. My work just got some new ones. I think previously they had a few that people could use for free, but they will be charging from now on. That seems reasonable to me. I expect a lot of venues will add it as a service that could encourage visitors and potentially get extra income too.
!PIZZA
I was in Winchester recently and saw some chargers that were built into lamposts and bollards along a residential street. I had heard about these and that was the first time I saw them for real. We charge ours at Tina's (Mrs Lewis) office, they have a basement carpark and the office is around the corner from our house. Free at the moment but charges will be introduced, heavily subsidised though. I've actually not used a public charger for around a month or so now.
!hivebits
I'm hoping that by the time we get an EV then there will be more options. It's interesting to get your experiences in the meantime.
!BEER
I shall keep on producing more content like this, perhaps even taking on a few challenges such as going on a really long trip. The options are increasing all of the time, with the introduction of exclusive EV forecourts. I am keen to try one of these out and that could form part of a longer road trip experiment.
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