'I took an EV on a 1,602 mile trip across Europe and learnt five vital lessons'
A committed football fan drove her electric car 1,602 miles to watch the Lionesses in Basel, Switzerland, and says the lengthy trip taught her a few things about EVs. Liv Cooper says she had 'range anxiety' before setting off on the trip, but says in the end the drive reduced her carbon emissions by 84% and saved 31% compared to fuel costs.
Liv drove 801 miles from Manchester to Basel, and another 801 miles back, to see the Lionesses face Spain and secure their second Euros trophy.
Although she'd driven her mum's EV a few times before, this was her first long-distance journey, and she admitted she still suffered from range anxiety, something that also deters more than a third of people from making the switch to electric, according to research from OVO.
Liv said: 'Petrol is expensive, the price of train tickets is sky-high, and flying is one of the least sustainable ways of travelling, so it felt like the right time to give a European road trip in an EV a go. Driving an EV all the way to the Women's Euros was so memorable. The trip was smooth, and the car - the Volkswagen ID.7 - was an absolute joy to drive.
"I was a bit nervous as it was my first time driving in Europe, but the car made it easy by showing speed limits in miles and kilometres and warning me of any roadworks ahead. Even navigating charges was simple as we used the OVO Charge App - making it easy to plan out our route and we were able to stop in places we wanted to visit along the way, without having range anxiety because we could plan ahead. I loved how travelling by EV gave me a guilt-free drive, but also made the entire trip feel like one big adventure.'
Liv has tips for anyone else wanting to tackle a road trip in an EV:
Start small
Start small - you don't have to go and buy an EV overnight. Take an EV for a test drive if you're looking for a new car, take public transport, or carpool. If you are driving an EV, plan ahead and build in a bit of flexibility – it can actually make the trip more enjoyable and you can find some incredible places along the way. And it's a brilliant feeling knowing you've lowered your carbon emissions while still showing up.
Research what car you buy, borrow or hire
I borrowed a Volkswagen ID.7 which can cover up to 436 miles on one charge, making it great for longer journeys like this. It really impressed me - it felt more like gliding than driving. It was smooth, silent, and seriously comfortable over long distances. The range was solid, and with a bit of planning, it didn't feel limiting at all. It used more miles when driving faster on the motorway or when charging phones/using maps, but it definitely met expectations, especially in terms of comfort.
Download an app to help plan charges and save money
Public charging is more expensive than charging at home. But I had discounted access to over 400,000 chargers across Europe. It was a total game-changer and took a lot of stress out of the trip. The app adjusted in real-time based on charging availability, which made it super easy to see where was best to charge. I especially liked being able to see live availability and charging speeds so there were no surprises when I pulled in. We found a lot of chargers didn't take UK cards or Apple Pay, but if you're using the OVO Charge app, you don't have this problem, and you don't have to be an OVO customer to use the app - it's available for anyone to use. We made sure to have a look at where we could fast charge en route before we set off, which was super convenient and meant we could be flexible with our journey. We also made sure to top up when we had the chance if we knew we had a longer leg of the journey coming up.
We had a tight schedule to make it to the final, so we had to be smart about when and where to stop. One charger in Belgium was slower than expected, which meant a longer wait. But having snacks and music ready meant we just chilled for a bit longer than planned before carrying on our way after charging - and luckily we made it on time in the end.
Make sure you take in your surroundings
Next time, I'd build in a few more scenic or cultural stops around charging points and turn them into part of the trip instead of just functional stops - there is so much to see and do, even around charging stations. You'd be surprised.
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