THE SCENIC ROUTE

A road trip from the capital to Cornwall in an electric BMW wouldn’t be the same without a bit of ‘range anxiety’, says Simon Penwarden

With a rather splendid all-electric blue BMW i4 at my disposal, I decided to put it through its paces on a one-night road trip, driving to the furthest southwestern point of the UK: Land’s End.

My destination was the Old Success Inn at Sennen Cove, near Land’s End. Owned by Cornish brewery St Austell, it’s a very cute bed and breakfast on the seafront, 326 miles from my West London home. With 220 miles of electric juice in the tank, I was confident I had enough to get about halfway. Rather than follow my nose and hope to find a charging station en route (highly inadvisable when driving a fully electric car: you must plan) I set the satnav to a supercharging point at Cullompton, just north of Exeter.

I decided to add Stonehenge as a destination along the way, as it’s a mesmerising site to behold. Just make sure you keep your eyes on the road. Or, even better, stop and book a tour (stonehengetours. com). When I finally arrived at the charging point, 174 miles from the start,

I had almost zero mileage left. l ft This Th is where it starts to get annoying: the chargers were pumping out a fraction of the maximum power – which would have filled me up

in 45 minutes s or less; however, I was back b k on the road after about 60 minutes, with enough sparks to get to my destination. But another burst of irresistible pedal-to-the-metal driving meant only another two hours before having to find another charger. Thankfully, Google Maps found me a fast Shell supercharger and I was back in business. So, what should have been a five-and-a-half-hour drive was extended by over two hours of charging time. Not ideal if you’re in a hurry!

Finally arriving at The Old Success, I was greeted with a couple of delicious pints of St Austell Proper Job and a warm welcome from the staff. I then

enjoyed a walk w along the beach, h watching thi the surfers in their paradise. Then it was back for a delicious steak and red wine.

I highly recommend The Old Success Inn. It oozes charm, and the food and drink are first class.

After a fantastic night’s sleep, and breakfast on the Sunday, I was back behind the wheel, to do it all again, only in reverse order!

If you’re planning a long road trip for your holiday this summer, and thinking of going all-electric, there are positives: you’ll save money, especially with petrol prices soaring.

Just be prepared to spend a good few hours sitting in service stations while you could be on the beach.