Anyone taken an electric car down to Penzance for a week

[Springsnowdrops]

Booked in over Easter
No chargers at property
Can only see 4 rapid chargers in whole area on zap map
The rest are 6 hour chargers ,but in supermarket car parks ,where if it's anything like home ,you can only stay for 2 hours ..
Starting to think this is going to be a disaster
Anyone successfully done a week in Penzance in an electric car

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

This. Cornwall council is broke.

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.

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.

Take all charging cables you have (3 pin plus type 2 to type 2) in case you can use.

Top up on fast charger on a30. Use google maps to search for chargers. There look like there are new ones in harbour car park which are 50kwh and not in zap map yet

We're having the same slight panic as I've planned a road trip in the middle of nowhere next week. Whilst we do have decent range in our car, it won't last the whole week. I think I will scoot off on my own to charge it in the evening in the towns Aldi/ McDonalds etc, I'll be ready for a bit of me time by then.

If your coming from Oxford stop at the services on the way down
stop in bristol
then Exeter
then Plymouth

all around an 90 mins apart

your going to have to stop with the dogs anyway and let them out for a wee

Pretty sure all the services have fast chargers

How many miles does your car do on a full charge? If I am going somewhere where chargers are likely to be thin on the ground I tend to do a full or almost full charge just before arriving, and it's surprising how long that can last, particularly if you're mainly driving short distances. And then as PP have said, a 2 hr slow top up whilst you're at the supermarket, and another when you are at an attraction like Eden Project, you'll be fine.

We travel to Cornwall frequently from Wiltshire so not much closer than you. There are fast chargers at most of the services on the way down. Cornwall services and Exeter services are excellent as there are loads and all different providers.
Tesco in Truro has podpoint I think. There are chargers in most of the bigger towns. it just takes a little more pre-planning.

I would fill to full at Cornwall Services (Victoria, Roche) or a bit further along at Fraddon. Camborne and Porthleven have slower chargers but Porthleven is great for a day out so you could spend a while there.

We don't drive, go to Cornwall every summer. Penzance is good for buses and trains and taxis are competitively priced

The ionity chargers at Bodmin are good. They are all 150kw+ I think

The harbour long stay car park in Penzance has fast and slow chargers

Tescos and Sainsburys have 7kw which isn’t terrible for topping up whilst you food shop

Exeter has grid serve and Tesla fast chargers if you need to stop near there on route. ( I think some are 300kw+ ), so a 10-15 min stop fine.

It will depend what car you have as range will make a difference in convenience and how many stops.

We’ve taken an electric car to Penzance and the highlands and it’s been absolutely fine. We didn’t have charging at any of the properties and planned charging on our way home from day trips.
In regards to our Cornwall trip we stopped at Camborne supercharger a few times which is about 30 mins from Penzance.

You'll be lucky to find petrol stns open past 6pm down in the wild West, let alone charging stations. Probably quite a few at the Eden Project. Could you spend every day of the holiday here ?

I live rurally and have driven solely electric for 4 year with no dramas!

Driven to Mevagissey and had no problems.

The good thing about EV chargers is that they tend to be open 24/7 because unlike petrol stations they don't need to be staffed.

Thankyou everyone
We had some other issues,so I very nearly cancelled the whole trip .
But I've resolved the other issues,so
I'm just having a bit of range anxiety I think
This is the car we have ,so we have to get on with it
I will report back after the holiday ( second week of Easter holidays)
Or during the holiday if it's driving me mad
Thanks again for all replies,much appreciated

Ignore the ICE naysayers! There is an evolt 50kW charger in Penzance.

I don't use zapmap anymore, get an electoverse account & the app (from octopus energy) add your bank card and also apply for their RFID card. It's my preferred way to charge now. You can use your account/RFID card to pay at multiple charge points with different owners. Just choose the chargepoint in the app and off you go. Also tells you if they are in use or broken.

I am doing similar 390 mile journey to Cornwall in a few weeks, not worried at all - my car didn't even come with a granny charger so I have to use public chargepoints.

Enjoy your break 😊

Out of interest
We got the car because having the electric charger installed and the cost of the car was less than a petrol one of the same age / make .
I was spending £25 a week on petrol
Now I spend £8 a week on electric
We've had it 6 months and this is the first time we are going anywhere long distance.
So I think I just need to get the hang of things and it will be ok .
Feeling much more positive now x

Au contraire, Cornwall Council is ahead of the curve when it comes to installing chargers (albeit it's a rather pathetic curve overall). Also, there's a greater percentage of people with their own drives round here, so easier to install a charger. Meaning that they can refuel at home- handy in an area where the nearest petrol station can be miles away. The only thing stopping more people from getting EVs down here is that we can't afford them yet.

Hire a petrol car?