Anyone taken an electric car down to Penzance for a week

Most municipal car parks don't have a two hour limit and you don't need to charge to full each time you charge anyway. Has your car only got a very limited range? Ours has a range of 200+ and I can't imagine wanting to spend that much time driving on holiday anyway. Buses are usually quite good in tourist areas - from one coastal town to another, for example. I love using buses on holiday - no time pressure, not having to find parking and you can just look at the scenery.

When we got our electric car, one thing we factored into the budget was petrol car rental for a week if we did a UK coastal holiday. It's pretty much the only scenario these days where planning charging is a faff.

This. Cornwall council is broke.

Mate, We've only just got electric chargers at all. I would have said a couple years ago it would not really be possible at all to rely on chargers to drive an EV down here

Why the lack of fast chargers , doesn't make sense
Two reasons, the National Grid is not in a fit state to power loads of new chargers, and any attempt to upgrade it is shot down by Nimbys who object to new pylons.

Secondly, public chargers are expensive to install and maintain, and local councils have more pressing needs to cover.

What on earth made you buy an electric car? There are few chargers in the country because people travel longer distances, often in worse weather and rely on their petrol and diesel cars. They don't have time to wait around while their car charges every couple of hundred miles. Honestly t think that electric cars are only useful in cities where you can just take a bus or train.

Penzance itself is a bit shit for fast chargers although there is now one in the Harbour carpark and one in Crowlas just before you get there. There are quite a few in Redruth and Cambourne which is less than 20 miles away (McDonalds have two, Morrisons have one and there are several carparks with fast charging.)
I tend to fill up at Cornwall Services (PL26 BUF) just off the A30 on the way down as there are plenty of shops and places to eat, and then just top up in PZ at Tesco or Sainsburys.

that said - i’d be very interested to know if you get there in one charge (esp if you’re coming from the home counties or further) as this is one thing putting me off an EV as i have to make the journey regularly.

Totally depends on the car - some of the newer generation ones are 350+ miles which is great. Mine is around 200 miles (4 years old) and its just never been an issue - on a long drive its safe to stop for a break anyway and then I just give a quick top up when parked.

stop at the last services on the way down and fast charge to full (do this in reverse on way home). If you are self catering then when you go or a supermarket shop have a quick top up - you don't need a permanently full battery at all times. You can also drive in Eco modes to extend range if you are concerned.

Most council car parks in towns/villages will have chargers, as will bigger supermarkets, you don't need access to fast chargers the whole time.

You''ll be fine - I've done the length and breadth of uk in my EV and its much better than it used to be - I'd never change back, but the range anxiety does wear off!

I live in a rural location too, no drama.

We did it last year (mousehole) was absolutely fine.. I do remember charging at lands end while we did the walks etc.

Sadly i think you’re seeing the reality of an economically struggling rural area - most people cannot afford a new electric vehicle so they are not common, plus people who live rurally have large distances to cover between their standard points (work, school, home, friends) so mostly don’t want to risk something that is such a time consuming risk to refuel so the uptake is even lower than it could be. With only a small market there is only a small provision.

that said - i’d be very interested to know if you get there in one charge (esp if you’re coming from the home counties or further) as this is one thing putting me off an EV as i have to make the journey regularly.

Do you always have to do a full charge though? Ie couldn't you just do a two hour charge every day/every other day instead of a six hour charge in one go?

OP, how much would it add to the cost of the holiday to hire an ICE car for a week?

OP has already said this isn't allowed.

We’ve done Cornwall in an electric car twice - if your cottage has parking outside, take an extension cable and the three pin plug charger as a back up - it is VERY slow but adds up.

That's a shame - I often use the zapmap app for locating chargers and find it to be quite accurate - might be worth a look?

Buses outside London, Manchester etc are generally crap.
Just takes a bit of planning with electric

Take a diesel generator just in case👍

Take the train

What a faff, who wants to be factoring in charging times and arrangements while on holiday, it would be bad enough at home.

I think there are good buses around and some good cycle routes. And trips from Penzance to other places by boat so you wont be stuck for things to do.