Electric car long distance journeys - real life experience?

[BewareTheBeardedDragon]

I have to change cars and looking at electric. Having a wobble as a dealer (admittedly one who doesn't sell electric) has been telling me horror stories and suggesting they aren't good for long journeys.

The vast majority of my driving is short distance but I do do a long drive to holiday (2-300 miles) in the summer every year. I thought, with fast chargers at service stations and a bit of forwards planning, this would be doable and not a nightmare.

Are they ok actually, or is it awful? He was talking about journeys that should be 3 hours taking 11, pack of chargers, chargers vandalised or otherwise not working. Was he just trying to put me off so I'd buy a petrol car from him?

I’ve had electric cars for a few years now, but am reluctantly changing to a PHEV (hybrid) next month due to all the reasons people have given here. It’s a pain on longer journeys or when travelling in the cold. I’ll move back to electric when the infrastructure is better.

We have a Tesla. 360 range (although rarely get that much). Biggest benefit of a Tesla is the supercharge network. With the current infrastructure I wouldn't get anything other than a Tesla. Fully charged at a supercharger within 50 mins. I've never been to a supercharger bank not been able to charge.

My brother and SIL (and two kids) have one and it's a constant nightmare. Having to stop and charge the car and find somewhere to go. Broken chargers or all in use. Or wrong type of fitting. Most recently - a fault on their car meaning it won't actually charge.

Had one about 6 months and love it! My husband regularly drives 100s miles for work and we like weekends away and only once had an issue with charging at a service station (only slow charger available but still possible to charge). My advise on long journeys would be to start thinking about stopping with 40miles range still to go - then if all fast chargers are taken, or out of order there is no drama - just move on to the next services without even getting out the car, minimal time lost! The people who struggle are those who limp into charging stations on single figures who then have to sit and wait etc. Just be proactive and give yourself multiple options to stop

Nobody is forced to buy an EV yet - and realistically it's going to be a long time until ICE vehicles cease to exist. Obviously for those who have bladders of steel, are happy to eat and drink on the go and either have multiple drivers in the car or think they are safe to drive for hours without a break and hence never stop on long journeys then a fully EV would not currently be a good choice.
However, most of us don't drive like that do we? Most of us break long journeys for a rest/leg stretch something to eat and a toilet break. If you do this, then driving an EV need be no more problematic than driving an ICE car really.
They have their pros and cons like everything of course and you do have to change your thinking and behaviour to some degree, but plenty of people are getting on just fine with EVs. Not everyone wants one obviously but if you do, then longer journeys don't have to be a reason not to get one. If you are willing to use the techology and make a few changes to your habits then go for it. If not, don't.

I can recommend a self charging hybrid though - we rented one on holiday and the driving range was enormous!

@Minfilia i have a self charging hybrid, there is no ‘range’ with these, the battery assists the petrol engine, so the car will run as long as there is fuel in the tank?

I've had an EV for 6 months and never had a major issue. Prior to that ExH had one for 3 years and we never had an issue, though we did once crawl home with less than 5 miles of range but that was because he refused to do a top-up stop on way home. I have a charger at home. I have a dog and teenagers so when we do long journeys and need to stop, it's not a five minute in and out anyway. You do need to plan ahead a bit. I always make sure I'm fully charged before starting a long journey and am aware of where I can stop and a backup just in case. I wouldn't go back to petrol, I love my car.

Over 12 hours to drive 500 miles to Scotland? I’m not surprised you don’t want to stop and add time to your journey.
In the 37 years we’ve been doing the journey first from London to Scotland (420 miles) and latterly from the south coast to Scotland (450 miles) it’s never taken 12 hours. Not even on days like Easter Monday! In either an ICE or an EV.
Our last trip home in the EV took us just over 7 hours. Second stop on the way back is usually short as we are happy to arrive home on 10% battery as we can just plug in once we’re parked at home.

We've used ours to do longer journeys and it's been fine. We plan in advance, with a couple of stopping options where needed. A decent charge gives us time to have a coffee, breakfast or lunch and a toilet break. We've had the very odd time when we've turned up and the chargers have been full even though the app says ones free. But we either wait a few minutes if there isn't a queue or we drive to our next planned stop. The apps can be pretty good and there are increasing numbers of fast chargers now.

I don't like doing long journeys without a stop anyway. It's safer all round if people plan in a rest break every couple of hours of driving, regardless of electric or petrol.

Range is improving in electric cars all the time. Some do well over 200 miles on a charge. My little fiat 500 can do over 150 miles, especially when the weather isn't really cold.

Well lucky you. What was the point of that post exactly?

Which car did he have that having the radio on made such a difference to his range?

I don't think I've ever turned my climate control off, but driven without radio or car play on! In the winter I always have heating on and heated seat on. In the summer I always have air con on. It makes negligible difference to the battery ime. There is normally a display setting that lets you view what your battery is doing in real time. Those things use tiny amounts!

it took him nearly 9 hours to get home due to only finding slow chargers that weren't broken

He couldn't find one fast charger between Essex and Harrogate? Really? How odd.

We fairly regularly drive up and down the M1 and/A1 to Essex (and other places down south) from Yorkshire and there are fast chargers in many places the whole way! The apps will show these and, often, if and where they are available - as well as any comments from people using them, reported issues, etc.

He must have been extremely unlikely to not find a single fast charger on his journey!

Well the obvious point is that you are trying to tell people that driving an EV means that you have to make long stops and that adds significantly to the journey time and yet it’s taking you way longer to do a similar journey. Maybe it’s all the faffing around pulling in every two hours to switch drivers.
I’m left wondering what the point of your posts have been given that the OP asked for real life experiences of a long journey in an EV and you’ve never done it.

All the comments about having to use apps to charge puts me off.

I feel like the increased numbers of EVs on the road enforcing stops will indirectly make the roads safer. You can't power on feeling a little bit tired if you have to stop and charge the car, so all the drivers will have more breaks. Add in that the car goes less far if going fast will make the motorway network much safer!

I've definitely been guilty of going further than I should between stops on a long journey and having to stop grudgingly to rest. I've not had an accident but definitely would have had slower reactions if something had happened!

Yes, having to have all the apps.
Having to 'plan carefully', what a bore.

What about the cost? Some of these public chargers seem to cost nearly as much per mile as a petrol car, and that's alongside what you've paid out for a car that costs 50-100% more than the petrol equivalent and don't forget all this coffee and food you're buying (at service station prices!) while waiting for the car to charge.

Might seem like a good idea for anyone who is affluent and time-rich but for the average person, who needs to get to places on time and/or stick to a budget/make sensible financial choices, there's a long way to go yet.

@randomsabreuse So those who share driving are forced to take unnecessary breaks?

Why are you being such an arsehole. I havent told anyone that there are long stops, my posts were in response to someone setting out that they have 2 45 min stops.

Once set up it's really easy to use.
Some chargers, increasingly so, don't need an app - you can just do contactless pay.

The apps that let you see charger availability is similar to a map app. The car's map usually will show chargers too p but not usually availability in real time, Can use without the apps - but the app just lets you get more information.

So don't get one if it doesn't work for you then.
It'll be a while yet before it's enforced,

You’re the arsehole. It was me that said we have two stops often around 45 minutes. Depends on the charger speed.
Anyway if you can’t see that you’re the arsehole there is no point in trying to discuss it with you.
oh and wtf are you driving that takes you that long? A milk float? Oh no wait that would be electric 😂

I hope by the time it happens the infrastructure and charge speeds will be much improved.

I agree with this, we also have a Tesla and the Supercharger network is a god send. The insfrastruture isn’t in place for cars that cannot access the Supercharger network yet.

also, the person who said about people buggering off for hours after they’re done charging…lots of places charge a standing fee if you do not return to your EV within 5 mins of it being done charging, which sounds harsh but does mean people charge and move straight on.

We got from 30% to 100% in about 15 mins at a Supercharger last week.

The vast majority of driving while impaired incidents happen with solo drivers - little will change the macho attitudes... other than the car making you stop because no more power...

If your current car works for you, don't change to electric. We've still got (and will be keeping long term) a Euro6 Diesel estate for long journeys because DH wants/needs a car that can do a long distance in one hit if something happens to his aging parents. Also some of our holiday choices wouldn't work well with an electric car yet. We've been debating for a while and a lot of our journeys with the ICE would have been the same with the electric because the kids consistently need to stop after 2 hours, regardless of how much further we've got to go. Any attempts to stretch more than 5 minutes beyond 2 hours tend to end up with a wet seat or tears...

I've done trips with 3/4 adults in a car (3 drivers) and 3-3.5 hours tends to be the absolute limit for bladder capacity - there's usually one person who is desperate by then.

We have an Tesla and have had no problems. We have got to know where the superchargers are on long journeys, although I’ve regularly done Birmingham - Sheffield return and Birmingham - Manchester without needing a charge. Much more likely to need to top up if the motorway is quiet and we drive a bit too quickly.

Other thing I would say, is I find it odd how people focus on the queues etc at motorway services. Drive a mile off most junctions and fast chargers are usually accessible in supermarkets, pubs and more. Much cheaper than the ones in the services as well.