Crossing Europe in an EV
Learnings from our record-setting drive across Europe in an electric car
Back in December 2019, a team from Auto Today set out on a rather ambitious journey driving across Europe in an electric car. While that is quite a challenge in itself, we were also attempting to establish a world record for the shortest time taken to drive from the northernmost point in Europe to the southernmost point. The experience gave us a deeper understanding of what it’s like roadtripping in an EV and just how prepared developed nations are to tackle the global shift from ICE vehicles to ones that run on electricity.
SOME PLANNING REQUIRED
Needless to say, an attempt of this magnitude required copious amounts of planning before we even landed in Europe. We has at our disposal a Hyundai Kona Electric in its long-range form with a 64kWh battery pack good for a claimed range of around 470km. Since we’d be solely relying on the public charging network, it was imperative to keep in mind that fast charging would allow us to charge quickly only up to 80 per cent each time. Plus, we’d primarily be driving across highways and freeways averaging around 80 to 100kmph thus, depleting the battery quicker. With those things in mind we charted out a route with the aim of covering around 300km between charging stops. Initial impressions with respect to the availability of chargers were positive with an ample number available including backups in case the one we had planned to use gave trouble.
MILE MUNCHING
Starting from Nordkapp in Norway, Europe’s northernmost point accessible by road, the start was slow and steady owing to slippery snow-covered roads through most of Scandinavia. Although we had to spend a fair few hours waiting for roads to be cleared up while on
our way to the starting point, mercifully, we did not encounter any road blockages post the start of our drive. Hat tip to the local authorities for acting swiftly and keeping the roads clear. Once in Sweden, the conditions improved and highways got wider allowing us to up the pace and that set the tone for the rest of the journey – wide open highways with average speeds of around 100kmph. In all, we covered 5,754km from start to finish including an occasional detour or two to get charging stations.
CHARGE UP
As impressively ample as the charging network was across Europe, for the most part, I did find the lack of consistency in terms of payment methods a bit bothersome. The Bee charging network in Sweden relied on tags purchased over the counter to initiate charging, while Repsol’s public chargers in Spain had us struggling to navigate the app that did not seem to have English language support. For me, in terms of the condition of chargers and ease of use, the best was Ionity’s network spread across Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands to name a few. Backed by the likes of Hyundai, Mercedes
Benz, VW Group and BMW, Ionity chargers had a fairly straightforward scan and pay setup for one time users and an app-based setup for regulars that even allows you to reserve a slot. Plus, we were charged a flat rate of EUR 8 per session irrespective of duration and units consumed. Also worth pointing out is the charger we used in Denmark near Copenhagen airport that a free to use plug and play setup, targeted mostly at the extensive BEV taxi fleet. Although, there is mutual understanding between users to vacate the spot once 80 per cent charge has been achieved and we were told off by a cabbie waiting in queue for letting it run beyond that and understandably so. For context, fast chargers work at the highest possible rate of charge only until 80 per cent. Post that, the rate slows down drastically with 80 to 100 per cent
DRIVING WAS NONSTOP SAVE FOR CHARGING BREAKS THAT ALLOWED US TO CATCH A FEW WINKS AND CHARGE UP WITH FUEL STATION FOOD AND COFFEE
taking the same amount of time as 0 to 80 per cent. Thankfully, we never had to queue up to charge thanks to the relatively lower number of EVs on the road and the fact that most owners charge at home. There was one instance in Stockholm where a gentleman who pulled up in a swanky Audi e-tron had to use the slow AC charging and wait until our Kona was done with the faster DC charger.
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Aside from the overall challenge of driving an EV across Europe and in record time, we had to deal with plenty of metaphorical speed bumps along the way. Driving through snow-covered roads warranted careful throttle, steering and brake inputs and for me, personally, the fact that it was always dark through all of Norway and Finland owing to the regions geographical and climatic conditions was a strange sensation feeling like a long, unending night. This being a record attempt meant that driving was non-stop save for charging breaks that allowed us to catch a few winks and charge up with fuel station food and coffee. No hotels, no beds, just a few hours of sleep while the other drove. France threw up non-functional charging stations while on multiple occasions in Spain charging stopped abruptly. The lack of a protective shade in most cases had us standing in the rain operating our phone to commence charging which wasn’t ideal either. Driving along speed limit free autobahns in Germany proved challenging as we had to resist temptation and stay under 120kmph to conserve battery.
Despite all the challenges and a few heartstopping moments along the way, we along with the Hyundai Kona Electric were successful in registering the record we had set out to achieve and realised that long distance driving in an EV isn’t as distant a dream as we’d thought it to be.