Anyone taken an electric car down to Penzance for a week

I don't use zap map so no advice there. I use plugshare, it seems to get a lot of input from users which is useful. We use electroverse through Octopus for when there is not Tesla charger available and users can input if one is not working. I went to one in Sicily which was not working and the app updated straight away when I put that in.
Of course, it relies on people doing this and I'm sure it had been broken for some time - it looked like it had been vandalised.
I agree, it's very frustrating if you go to one and can't use it.

We had an older EV with a short range (130 miles) and a charge every couple of hours was the norm but newer models are much better. If you have an older car with a DC hook up that only takes 22Kwph then it’s a lot harder but sounds like you have more options. I’m sure it will be fine. We took our old EV to France and it was fine.

Zap map will often have info if it’s down but its users who report. Look at the feedback bit.

Also zap map will tell who the provider is and their own map on the app will tell you where other chargers are and if they are working or busy.

Again, you’re going off the stated mileage. You’re giving zero practical details as to the size of the battery, the car itself, driving style etc. completely useless. So I’m going to bow out as it is clear you don’t want any actual help for future long trips.

OP Zap Map isn’t always up to date on all the chargers. If you download the gazillions of apps for the different charging companies they tell you more.

The government should have been on this earlier. It’s been such a mess. It’s getting much better now. Unless you are on a DC slow charger it will be fine I reckon. Most places we go now there is loads of choice. Don’t know that area though. Sorry.

I live rurally and the charging infrastructure here is better than our nearest big city. Not an affluent area. It’s about decisions on what to invest in I reckon.

It makes a significant difference. And you’ve not outed yourself. But if you don’t want any actual assistance, but just to complain, go ahead. But you need to understand how EVs work properly, what your battery size is, and actual range, not stated.

You can tell in the apps whether it's 50kw or higher. I just set the filter and I don't even see the lower power ones. I don't know what you drive but with the Tesla we have it built into the sat nav but I also use a couple of apps on my phone for other chargers.
I love our car but I totally get that driving an ev isn't for everyone. I think it does require a bit more advance planning than just filling up with petrol and that's not what everyone wants. But I'm fine with it.

Also, an hour to 80% is a long time. Look for chargers which are at least 50kwh.
We do a lot of road trips (been as far as Poland / Sicily etc in our Tesla) and we never take more than 20 minutes to 80%. Sometimes we charge up to 95% if there is a long gap between chargers and that does take a bit longer but even then I can't remember ever waiting more than 35-40 minutes.

@Springsnowdrops what car do you actually have? Why is it so hard to tell us?

There's a Tesla supercharger at Camborne which is only 15 miles from Penzance.
According to plugshare there's 2 rapid chargers in car parks in Penzance as well. I prefer to plan for those with more than 1 charger as more chance of a spot.
Really we didn't find Cornwall a problem and we drove around a lot.

@LondonPapaUnfortunately your post describes how carefree motoring has gone out of the window and nerd driving has taken over. No radio? I’ve no idea what my miles per kw are. I actually don’t care. It’s this sort of calculation and driving style that puts people off. I don’t know what my battery size is either. I just want to get from A-B and I am Ok stopping once on my way to Cornwall and it’s 250 miles to my house there. I have a BMW iX3. Advice welcome.

my ds struggled on a journey to cornwall in an electric hire car

@TizerorFizz there’s no alright jack attitude. I’m simply trying to debunk some of the posts on here saying EVs are totally unworkable. Are they more hassle, yes a little bit but for me it’s far more important not to be burning petrol or diesel.

The difference is quite significant. The range is irrelevant as anything can impact range. Knowing the car, and battery size would give better options for advice. My EV has 250 miles of stated range (it isn’t), in reality, I may need at least 1 full charge on the way down, with a top-up closer to destination as I actually got 4mi/kWh on a 50.8kW (useable) battery - 203.2 miles, on the way down this time. I can get up to 7mi/kWh but to do so, I need to drive incredibly strict, and use no electrics such as radio, and it needs to be 20°c+ which it isn’t - yet!

Also, proper planning is essential. I haven’t experienced any broken, or improperly used chargers on either route up and down between Cornwall and London. It seems OP got screwed because they didn’t plan properly, and headed to the wrong places rather than dedicated charging stations as Cornwall Services was buggered.

@Notstrongandstable But neither is some of the Ev marketing propaganda accurate either. We have around 1/4 of the chargers we need. When chargers are occupied for hours or out of use (and they are!) it’s hugely time consuming to find another one. Great your car does 280. The OP’s doesn’t. Plenty don’t. It’s chippy all right Jack attitudes that really annoy me. You don’t have the OPs car!

Our car has range of about 320 miles. Journey to Cornwall is 270 miles from where I am. Charged to 100% before we set off and charged once en route with no broken chargers or queues. By the time we’d done a toilet stop and eaten lunch only had to wait about 5 mins to finish charging. Because we didn’t want to arrive with very low battery.
There are plenty of EVs out there that work very well indeed and lots of scaremongering on here that just isn’t every EV drivers reality