Latest news with #roadtrips
The Sun
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Sun
True cost of driving 10 of UK's favourite Bank Holiday road trips & how to drive Lake District Loop for under £3
NEW data reveals the significant savings UK drivers could enjoy by switching to an electric motor – with the cost of some of the country's best road trips being remarkably low in an EV. Experts at OVO have calculated that nine of the UK's top 10 most popular road trips cost under £3 in an EV. 4 4 4 4 Even long routes like the North Coast 500 come in £54 cheaper than petrol - when factoring in one home and one public charge. Ahead of the May bank holiday, many Brits are likely musing with the idea of a sunny spring road trip. In a recent survey, it comes as no surprise that the Lake District and Peak District claimed the top two spots on the list, while the breathtaking Jurassic Coast – stretching majestically from East Dorset to Devon – secured third place. Their data also found that Brits' top motivations for getting out on the open road were to soak up the surrounding scenery (40%), discovering parts of the UK not seen before (38%), and the desire to feel a sense of freedom and adventure (37%). Yet while 50% of drivers are planning to hit the roads for either a road trip or staycation, only a third (33%) of those will get behind the wheel of an electric or hybrid set of wheels . Indeed, the majority (63%) will drive gas-guzzling cars - which can cost substantially more. Ovo's findings are perhaps not as surprising as how motorists can save up to 88% on their travel costs by swapping to an EV, with charging at home on a cheaper EV rate a great way to save money. Top 10 scenic UK road trips and cost savings with an EV 1. Lake District Loop (150 miles) Highlights: Circles through the Lake District, passing key towns and lakes. Cost in an EV: From £2.63 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £23.18 2. Peak District Scenic Drive (60 miles) Highlights: A circular route through the Peak District, covering scenic dales and charming villages. Cost in an EV: From £1.05 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £9.27 3. Jurassic Coast Drive (95 miles) Highlights: Follows the UNESCO-listed Jurassic Coast from Exmouth to Swanage. Cost in an EV: From £1.66 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £14.68 4. Yorkshire Moors Coast Loop (130 miles) Highlights: A route along the rugged Yorkshire coast, including Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay. Cost in an EV: From £2.28 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £20.09 5. The Cotswolds Circuit (102 miles) Highlights: A circular drive through picturesque Cotswold villages and rolling countryside. Cost in an EV: From £1.79 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £15.76 6. Snowdonia & North Wales Explorer (75 miles) Highlights: A loop through Snowdonia National Park, including Llanberis and Capel Curig. Cost in an EV: From £1.31 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £11.59 7. North Coast 500 (516 miles) Highlights: A breathtaking circular route through the Scottish Highlands and along the north coast. Cost in an EV: From £34.33 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £54.42 8. South Downs & Sussex Coast Loop (100 miles) Highlights: A scenic drive from Arundel to Eastbourne, following the South Downs and Sussex coastline. Cost in an EV: From £1.75 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £15.45 9. East Anglia Coastal Drive (120 miles) Highlights: A picturesque coastal route from Hunstanton to Southwold along the East Anglian coast. Cost in an EV: From £2.10 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £18.54 10. Causeway Coastal Route (120 miles) Highlights: A stunning drive from Belfast to Londonderry, featuring the Giant's Causeway. Cost in an EV: From £2.10 Savings vs Petrol: Up to £18.54 Alex Thwaites, Director of EV at OVO, said: 'The issues that plagued EV drivers five years ago are being tackled by improved tech and charging infrastructure. 'Public charger installations increased by 37% in the last year alone and you can travel up to 300 miles on a single EV charge now - more than double the amount of miles of the majority of the UK's favourite road trips. 'Last year my family took a road trip from Warwickshire to the beach town of Weston-Super-Mare, we stopped for a hot chocolate treat for the kids and a speedy 20 minute charge on the way home and that was it. 'A 250 mile round trip made simple, and more affordable, thanks to OVO's Charge Anywhere.' By combining that with OVO's Charge Anywhere, you can get discounted public charging and avoid wasted time at the curbside, as you'll see if a charger is available before you stop off.
Auto Express
20-05-2025
- Auto Express
May Bank Holiday traffic chaos expected with 18 million trips planned across the UK
With the May Bank Holiday and the start of half term in many parts of the country almost upon us, the RAC is predicting huge numbers of cars on the road this weekend. Working with transport analyst INRIX, the motoring organisation reckons almost 18 million road trips are being planned for the Bank Holiday weekend, with the worst traffic chaos likely to be on Friday 23 May and Saturday 24, with 3.4 million trips expected to be made by car on both days. The number of car trips will dip a little to 2.7 million on Sunday 25 May, before rising again to 3.0 million on Monday 26 May for the Bank Holiday itself. Advertisement - Article continues below On top of these numbers reflecting journeys already planned, the RAC thinks a further 5.4 million journeys will be undertaken on still-to-be-decided dates across the long weekend, with drivers unsure when they'll hit the road. If you want to do your best to avoid the other 17,999,999 weekend road-trippers, the RAC advises making a very early start, or waiting for the rush to die down each day. It says that 68 per cent of drivers plan to travel between 5am and mid-day, but the bulk of them expect to leave after 8am. If you leave your journey until after 7pm, you'll be sharing the roads with just 3 per cent of drivers planning road trips. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below As usual, London's orbital M25 motorway – the UK's busiest – is expected to suffer some of the worst congestion, and on Friday you can expect delays of 45 minutes around the Dartford Crossing, or around 35 minutes if travelling anti-clockwise in the evening rush hour between Cobham Services and Clacket Lane services in Surrey (Junctions 10 to 6). The RAC also predicts heavy traffic on major West Country routes, with delays on the A30 towards Okehampton, the M5 near Bridgwater and the A303 at Stonehenge. Looking further ahead, drivers returning home after the half-term break on Friday 30 May are also expected to face journey times that are 35 per cent longer. Of course, it's not just motorways and A-roads that could cause you grief – and electricity provider OVO has compiled a list of the UK's 10 most popular Bank Holiday road trip destinations. The Lake District tops its survey in first place, followed by the Peak District in Derbyshire second, and the Jurassic Coast in Dorset third. Fourth and fifth are the Yorkshire Moors coast and The Cotswolds, with places six to ten occupied by Snowdonia and North Wales, Scotland's North Coast 500, the South Downs and Sussex Coast, East Anglia coast, and the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. OVO's interest is reminding drivers that most of them would cost less than £3 in electric power on their Charge Anytime domestic rate, but that will be of little comfort to the 63 per cent of road-trippers it says will be relying on gas-guzzlers without a plug. Are you planning a trip away this May Bank Holiday weekend? Tell us how you avoid the traffic in the comments section below... Find a car with the experts Kia is returning to its 'Keeping It Affordable' roots Kia is returning to its 'Keeping It Affordable' roots Mike Rutherford thinks new cars are simply too expensive, but some manufacturers are starting to do something about it Best electric cars 2025: the top 10 best EVs you can buy Best electric cars 2025: the top 10 best EVs you can buy Thinking about making the switch to an electric vehicle? Here are the EVs that should be on your shortlist, and why… Best cars & vans 14 May 2025 Car Deal of the Day: Sacre bleu! The Renault 5 keeps getting cheaper Car Deal of the Day: Sacre bleu! The Renault 5 keeps getting cheaper The modern-day Super Cinq comes with a super price. It's our Deal of the Day for 14 May
Wall Street Journal
17-05-2025
- Wall Street Journal
Here Comes the Summer of the Scaled-Back Vacation
Summer vacation is getting a makeover. Americans are planning to take time off this summer, but their concerns about the economy are prompting them to swap air travel and extravagant holidays for road trips and shorter vacations.
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
A husband and wife kiss in a doorway: Baldwin Lee's best photograph
When I began my project photographing in the southern states of the US, I'd only recently developed the confidence needed to take effective portraits. Speaking publicly or talking with people used to make me very nervous. But I was mainly photographing architecture – I knew I wanted to change and make people my subject. So I simply forced myself to endure the anxiety. I picked locations where people gathered in public, such as beaches or parks, and would make myself walk up to them and ask for permission to photograph them. If you do anything long enough, you start to get good at it, and eventually I turned myself into a very assertive photographer. I'm not an intimidating person – I'm small in stature – and generally speaking people like me. On any given day, if I were to ask 20 people to pose for me, 19 would say yes. I'd moved to Knoxville in 1982 to teach photography at the University of Tennessee, and during the first exploratory trip from my new home I really did not have a specific objective. But when I got back and processed the film, the results confirmed what I'd started to realise as the trip had gone on – that my pictures of Black Americans were the most interesting. Over the course of a number of summer road trips throughout the decade, I continued to visit Black communities across the American south. During each trip, my first stop after checking into a motel would be the local police station. I would pull out a map of the town, explain that I had some very expensive photographic equipment and ask an officer if he would circle the places I should avoid. I knew those were the places I needed to be. I would walk around with my heavy, large format 4:5 camera already mounted on its tripod, in search of opportunities. When I sensed the possibility of a photograph, I'd approach the subject and explain that I thought he or she was somehow special, that this person was, as in the theatre, clearly the star, and that what I wanted to photograph was their star quality. As an Asian man showing up in predominantly Black areas, I was clearly an anomaly, and often people were surprised I didn't speak Chinese or broken English. Having the camera on a tripod allowed me to avoid a certain predicament that would occur with a handheld camera that you would hold in front of your face. In that instance, the subject feels as if they are undergoing a medical exam. They're being looked at, objectified, and the photographer has all the control, whereas the ability to stand beside the camera levels the playing field. It allowed me to have a direct conversation, and invite the subject to be a participant. Posing the subject was when the process became very interesting. The person I was asking to photograph was not a professional actor, nor was I a director. Whatever I asked them to do, they would interpret individually and do something different, often displaying themselves in a surprising and revealing way. That's what I wanted – to make a photograph of something that was a mutual discovery. This particular picture was taken either in Augusta or Valdosta, Georgia. I saw the woman in her yard, began a conversation and took several pictures of her outside, then asked if she would mind if I also photographed her inside. She invited me into her house and her husband was there. I asked them to stand next to each other in that doorway, then I asked them to kiss. I made a series of them together and this one turned out to be, I think, the best. I wanted a dialogue between the couple and the plaque you can see on the wall beside them, which is a relief carving of a man and a woman in a similar pose. I didn't ask about the hats – that wasn't the kind of questioning I engaged in. I just included objects that might allow the viewer to imagine possible scenarios. At the end of the process I would write down my subjects' addresses and send them a print. Sometimes I saw participants again on later trips, and they would show me where they'd put my picture up in their homes. On one occasion a woman tore the photograph to pieces in front of me. The majority of times, though, they were very pleased with the results. Born: Brooklyn, New York, 'With Minor White at MIT and Walker Evans at Yale.'Influences: 'Minor White and Walker Evans'.High point: 'Having been plucked from obscurity.'Low point: 'I thought I was retired but instead have been busier than ever!'Top tip: 'Teach yourself to have courage.' Baldwin Lee's photographs are on display at the David Hill Gallery stand, Photo London, 15-18 May.
Gizmodo
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Gizmodo
Anker's USB-C Car Charger Is Now 45% Off on Amazon, Nearly Free Since Tariffs Are Gone
When you're on the road, having a dependable car charger is more important than ever. The Anker USB-C Car Charger PowerDrive III Duo is a perfect example of a device that can make your daily commute and road trips much more convenient. Currently available on Amazon at an all-time low price of just $15, down 45% from its usual $29 (45% off), this charger is a must-have if you rely on your devices while driving. See at Amazon Keep Your Devices Charged One of the biggest challenges with modern mobile devices is keeping them charged throughout the day, especially when you're away from home or the office. Whether you're using an iPhone, Samsung phone, tablet, or other USB-C devices, the PowerDrive III Duo offers fast and efficient charging thanks to Anker's signature PowerIQ 3.0 technology. This means you can quickly top up your phone or tablet while on the go which saves you from the frustration of a dying battery. What makes this charger especially useful is its dual USB-C ports which allows you to charge two devices simultaneously at high speed. This is a game-changer for families who travels with multiple gadgets. Imagine being able to charge your phone and your passenger's device at the same time without compromising on charging speed. You'll also love the fact that's it's small enough to fit easily into your car's power outlet without blocking access to other controls or cluttering your dashboard. This makes it an unobtrusive addition that blends seamlessly with your vehicle's interior. Plus, this Anker's device sturdy build ensures it can withstand the bumps and jolts of everyday driving. Safety is a top priority with Anker and the PowerDrive III Duo includes their exclusive MultiProtect safety system: This protection guards against overheating, overcharging, and short circuits, which gives you peace of mind that your devices are safe while charging. This is especially important when you're relying on your phone for navigation, communication, or entertainment during your drive. Users consistently praise this charger for its reliability and performance: It has over 7,000 reviews averaging 4.8 out of 5 stars, which is absolutely great for such a device. Whether you're charging the latest iPhone 16 or an older device, this charger adapts to provide the optimal power output. See at Amazon
