Een vriend van mijn vader en fervent Maserati QP rijder sinds jaren(nee niet Peter SZ) stuurde hem enthousiast onderstaand verslag.
Driving the Tesla s through Europe!!!
A challenge?
My Tesla S was delivered on sept 2- 2013 in Winterthur Switzerland.
After leaving the service location after 2 Km I got a speeding Ticket for driving 1 Km too fast!! Yes this is Switzerland remember!
I arrived at home and put the delivered standard 240 Volt connector in the wall in my garage and it said charging-time 22 hours!!
So I immediately phoned my friend from Mobility Home and ordered 2 wall boxes for 400V 32 Amps and they were delivered 2 days later and my local electrician connected it.
The second one in the trunk for our vacation-home in France.
So for the short distances we were organized, but after my back surgery on Sept. 11 the car was only used for small trips, as I had to recover from the surgery.
On Oct. 16 however, we decided to travel from Lenk to Berne and then go on to our vacation address in France 820 Km away included the loop to Bern.
After I got the validation from the back surgeon we started in Berne to drive to a Hotel near Lyon in France, as we looked at the estimated reach of our car during the first hour drive in the direction of Geneva we became a little bit nervous whether we would make it to the hotel which was about 410 Km, so I looked on the internet to find the head office of Nissan Europe in Rolle.
We left the highway and within 2 Km there it was!
We reported at the front desk and a beautiful and friendly girl came with us to the charging station, but none of our plugs were the right ones, so we were sent to the garage and there was again a 240 Volts 10 Amp socket which gave us 12 Km per hour extra distance, but that would not solve our problem, so when we were back on the highway at 16.00 hours with pouring rain we had the same load as before we stopped for the charge. So we called the service centre of Tesla in Tilburg, very friendly guys, but no solution, in the mean time we were stuck on the highway in a bad traffic jam.
So we had no alternative then to proceed our trip and hoping for the best.
We passed the French border and went on the highway to Lyon and when we looked at our reach we noticed it would be very tight, but OK.
So I followed in the slipstream of some big trucks with 89 Km/h so save energy and it helped a lot.
We arrived at 19.00 hours in Chateau de Bagnol with 17 Km left on the counter and we were directed to the charging connector…. Again 240 Volt 10 Amp but no ground or neutral wire so the car refused to load
So what now??
We discussed for 5 minutes with the hotel manager and she said “do not worry we will come up with a solution”!
After one hour the electrician of the hotel came and said to me “ can you drive the car in the main festival hall because there I made a 3 phase 400 volt connector 5 pins”?
So we did and we could load the car standing in the middle of a dining hall on a marble floor charging with 16 Amps for 6 hours and 20 min.
The next morning I set the GPS for our destination and saw directly that we would not make in one charge, too risky. So I start looking in the car to a Renault dealer in Clermont-Ferrand 160 Km ahead, and I found Bony cars a Renault dealer.
We arrived there 2 minutes after noon and that is killing in France, because at 12.00 they all leave for food!
But I found the backdoor of the workshop still open and the manager and he told me that it was no problem because they had a lot of sockets with 3 phase for the heavy equipment, we drove the car inside the workshop, but could not find one socket which fitted ours, all with 3 pins or 4 pins not anyone with the European standard 5 pins.
I put the car on charge again in 240 Volts 12 Amp socket and it loaded with 12 Km/h. On the other side of the street was a restaurant so we went for lunch. In the mean time I phoned to Tesla service in Tilburg and they gave me the name of Mark Gemmel, a client who lived in Madrid and had just received his car in Tilburg and drove it with his complete family from Tilburg to Madrid, so he probably would know where to load the car in France. Mark called me immediately and asked me if we could find a Renault dealer in the neighbourhood because they had charging systems for the Renault Zeo and the socket of our car should fit…Type 2.
“But Mark, we are at a Renault dealer, but they don’t know that, I am sure…” Well go back and ask them!!!
So I finished my lunch and went back to the garage and yes they had charging equipment for Renault Zeo, so we were driven around the corner on the other side of the garage and there they were! But a different connector in the charging station again.
They brought us however a cable which fitted both sides and yes we could start charging again at 16 Amps, we needed 100 km extra charge so that was 2 hours time extra , but very happy.
At 15.00 we left the Renault dealer for a drive of another 275 KM and we arrived in our holiday house at 18.30 with 19 Km left.
What a relief!!!
As long as we stayed near our house the car performed fantastic it is really a very nice car to drive and a lot of interested people for this new technology all apologizing for France not being ready for this.
As we had to go to the Netherlands for a short visit I started planning the trip and I had taken the decision to plan my trip very carefully.
Besides that I had ordered on the Internet several cables with type 1 and type 2 plugs and they would be delivered in Holland.
We decided to drive 350 Km the first day to the surroundings of Chateauroux in the middle of France. A good friend of us has a big farm there and he has 3 Phase 400 volt power-connectors but the French type grey with 5 pins but a totally different model, and I had prepared this one.
We ended up in a pig-stable with 10 inch of mud but we could charge the car overnight.
So the next day to the Westin hotel near the place de la Concorde in Paris. They assured us they had a socket to load our car.
So we ended up in a garage nearby with a 240 Volt 12 Amps socket loading time 29 hours. I was fed up with the situation and asked the hotel if we could stay 2 nights, no problem, expensive, but Paris is fun and we could visit an art exhibition in the Grand Palais.
The second morning the car was fully charged for 400 Km typical.
We planned to visit a friend in Brussels on the Av. Winston Churchill and I would then try to find out where a Renault dealer could help us.
Then I found out we passed a distribution station of Tesla in Zaventem and there was a nice restaurant nearby.
So I delivered my wife to the restaurant and drove on to the Tesla service station.
The man, not very friendly, asked me ”what do you want?”
I said, “Can I charge my car here?”
“Did you make a reservation?”
“Yes sir your colleague from Paris sent you a mail!!”
“I did not get any mail”
“Well if you would be so kind to look in my I-phone then you can see it!!!”
“OK well I did not check my mail!!”
“Well can you help me or not?”
“Ok we will charge your car during lunch OK with you ?”
“OK can you bring me to the restaurant, no sir, but I can call you a taxi sir.”
“Well OK thank you very much”.
But we can only load by 26 Amps because you got a software update, and the charging power is blocked to 26 Amps now. We cannot change this today.
We loaded for 2 hours and then went to our friend nearby with about
200 Km left, but only 20 Km to drive.
The same evening I found a Renault dealer in Brussels only 3 Km away from our friend and yes we could charge there, so I put it on the charger for another hour and then I went for dinner with our friend.
My friend had also informed himself and around the corner there was a Total filling station with all the options, but as we found out, no cables, you had to bring yourself, but I did not have them yet.
The next morning we drove to Tilburg where we got serviced very well and loaded with the supercharger within the hour and we drove to Bloemendaal. (apparently the supercharger does works at max load)
For the next few days in Holland we had no stress because there are chargers everywhere and so you can drive as with a normal car, no fear of getting out of power. (1760 chargers in Holland)
Now we had to go back to the Dordogne and I wanted to have it right now. So a lot of Internet and tel.-calls with Mark Gemmel to ask his advice.
He gave me the impression that you had chargers at every IKEA also in France. In Holland yes they are there and work no problem at all. I checked it in Haarlem.
So I phoned to IKEA Lille and the confirmed me that 2 Nissan quick-chargers were there, and functional! So they said!
I looked on Google maps and so there was no problem what so ever 320 KM distance so we were safe!!
We arrived at 14.00 in Lille and found quickly the IKEA. The loaders were dead!
Sorry, but they are not yet in function and not yet connected to the grid sir.
We had planned to drive from there to Paris where we found the Nissan quick-charger from the community Paris at the address: 1 Boulevard Victor Arrondissement 15 at a BP filling station. We had called them and yes it was connected and somebody was just loading there so we were welcome to come and load there. What a relief! Only 260 Km from Lille, but no charger in Lille, yet .
I looked on the internet and found a Nissan dealer in Arras 30 Km south, stupid of me of course because it would have been better to look for a Renault dealer in Lille, but the other problem was that we had only 60 Km left to drive, so I was afraid to go around Lille in a traffic jam and finding out that they could not help us.
The Nissan dealer had a charger of 25 Amps. and we had the right plug and cable but it turned out to be a one Phase connexion only 12 Amps load. So that was no solution for us.
Oh yes but you can charge at the Auchan shopping mall for free! Only 3 Km from here!
OK we go to the Auchan shopping mall and we found on the parking deck 6 chargers for scooters, our connector did not fit.
We passed a Euromaster tire-centre in Arras and people had told us that he had 3 Phase power.
He had 3 phase power but no ground or neutral wire connected so the car refused to be charged.
He did however have …,now it is 18.00 hours and dark, ….a normal 10 Amps socket. I asked the boss if we could leave the car during the night in his workshop and then we could charge 14 hours and get the next morning to Paris
We found a lovely small hotel in Arras, famous for the First World War battlefield cemeteries, and stayed there overnight (Hotel d’Angleterre)
Next morning I was on 08.00 o clock sharp at the garage because they needed the space for another car.
300 Km to spent we saw, so OK for boulevard Victor in Paris and we phoned again top be very sure that thing were working. Were we?
Yes sir no problem….
We arrived at noon in Paris raining cats and dogs and 5 degree C.
We found the place and we connected the car we bought the ticket and the machine said, ”a mishap happened during charging”
We thought, no problem we made a mistake ? And bought another ticket but the same happened.
So we asked the “manager” what is going on…Oh sir I do not know how this thing works, there was a car yesterday but I am not sure that the car was charged, might be he used it for free parking, you know!!!
I could have killed him” La pauvre France”!!!
I start calling the city responsible to find out (0800……)
No help whatsoever, a lot of people on the streets, were looking at out beautiful car and start asking what the problem was.
Some phoned immediately to the nearest Renault dealer and they had a supercharger for the Renault Zoe. So we thanked him and went to the Renault dealer Boulogne Paris. There my wife used all her charm to convince the manager of sale Mr Paul Trindade. To help us. “No problem” he said, “of course we help”.
Please get in car with me and I will tell you where to drive to get to the charger.
Unbelievable ! We drove into an underground 3 stories garage with about 500 new cars, they had to move cars fore and back to get there and we plugged it in and it loaded with 32 Amps. At a real quick charger you
can !!!
It needed 3 hours to a full load so we did and had lunch.
(Late lunch 15.00 h), and waited until 18.45 to get the car. Gave the man a bottle of champagne (more expensive then a full tank of gasoline) and drove on to our friend the Farmer near Chateauroux where we arrived at 23.00h totally exhausted.
The next morning the car was completely loaded and after some visits at friends we start driving to the Dordogne.
We would have made it, but we saw on the map that there is a Nissan dealer in Brive la Gaillarde, only 1 Km from the highway, so it was good to investigate for future trips, if he had a charger and what kind of charger.
It was a Renault charger with the Renault plug, but that’s the one I had in the car, but only 12 Km/h charge (same as in Arras) so not really what we were looking for.
So we went on to our house and came home with 35 Km left.
In the Dordogne the car is also nice to drive, because we have our wall box loader and no big distances to go.
2 Days ago I had to go to Madrid and so to drove to Toulouse 157 Km from our home.
I had a flight at 11.05 to Madrid so I left home at 07.30 h with a fully charged car and preheated when I loaded the last minutes before I left, that makes a lot of difference in reach.
It was minus 8 degrees C in the morning and that cost a lot of distance.
So I arrived in Toulouse with 226 Km left to go.
When I came back the next evening at 19.00h the reach was down to 209 Km. I do not understand what is the cause of this, we never have that problem with the Nissan Leaf!! You can park it for 3 month and no loss of charge!
When I drove back home it was about minus 1 degrees C and I arrived with 26 Km to go. So 2 X 157= 314 Km – 399 typical and 17 Km reach lost during parking makes a real reach of 357 Km and not one more Mr Musk!
On Nov 30 I had to drive back home to Lenk in Switzerland and I planned the trip well regarding the previous experiences.
So I phoned to the Renault dealer in Clermont Ferrand …Bony Automobiles and asked if I could come and charge my vehicle on Saturday morning at 09.00 in the morning, further I found out that there is a charger in the Port authority in Lyon with a Quick charger from Nissan, on the internet it shows a Tesla being charged.so what can go wrong??
Well it needed a Kiwhipass to open and close the charger. Where the hell you can get that.
After several phone calls I spoke to the manager, very kind person, who promised me to call me back and organise for one time a wikhipass so I could come any time on Saturday to charge the car.
Even then, I calculated it, would be very sharp to reach Lenk, and I had to drive around the mountains, because no snow chains are still available and the winter tires were ready in Lenk.That means 80 Km plus, total of 365 Km but with a lot of altitude to gain. So I found the roadside restaurant Gruyere near Bulle on the highway to Berne. I phone there and yes I could charge the car but I had to arrive before 21.00 h at night.
If not the restaurant and hotel would be closed.
I thought, no problem, because I will make that.
I should leave at 06.00 in the morning in Les Miaillottes and then be in Clermont Ferrand at 09.30, load for 2 hours to get to Lyon 1 hour and 50 minutes drive, charge there for 3 hours (quick charger!!!) and leave Lyon at 18.00 hours, drive to Bulle in Switzerland load for 1 hour and then home in Lenk at 21.00 the same day traveling 835 Km with a fully electric car!
But after I left the Dordogne and entered the Auvergne, it started to snow heavily and I ended up behind a snow-shuffle with a speed of 30 Km/h for 45 minutes, so I arrived in 10 inch of snow at 10.30 in Clermont Ferrand, and when I arrived the guy with the pass for the charger was not available.
So the men of the workshop invited me in to have the car loaded inside, but again only with 26 Amps, although Tesla promised us they would upgrade the loading-power in the next software update and apparently they did not, so I could only leave partly loaded up to 230 KM at 13.00 hours. But I went walking around during charging and I found out that the neighbours, part of the same company, Bony Automobiles, were Nissan, and I started to talk to them as I have also a Nissan Leaf. The sales manager came to look at my Tesla and they offered me to use their quick-charger next time I visited Clermont Ferrand.
I arrived at the harbour site in Lyon at 15.00 hours sharp and everything looked well, I got the pass, started the charging session and saw it was 4 hours and 10 minutes (only 26 Amps), so I knew it would not be possible to arrive before 21.00 in Bulle for the last charge-session. But OK that is life!
I asked the warden where I could sit in a Restaurant for the time being and she sent me to a place 50 min. walk. As I had time enough, this I felt was not a problem, I have the Tesla app. So I can monitor the charging.
After I arrived in the restaurant I started to order from the menu and looked inside in my Tesla app. The charging had just stopped!! I tried to start it up again through my app., but no success.
So I cancelled my order and started running, about 30 minutes later
I arrived at the spot and restarted the charger; it said, “power cut”, so I decided not to go back to the restaurant but stay at the McDonalds 100 meters away. As I just had my first coffee the charger stopped again, the same reason. This happened 2 times more.
As I could not arrive in time in Bulle I decided to look for another option on Chargemap in Switzerland, and found “grand hotel du lac” in Vevey.
I made a phone call to the hotel and they confirmed they had loaded Tesla’s before!
When I arrived on the parking of the hotel at 22.00 h, I could not find a charger, as I found out later it consisted of a 3 phase 5 pin 32 Amps red CEE socket.
Well that is not standard for Tesla s so I do not know how they could have charged a Tesla there, however it appeared to be a Tesla sportscar.
Of course I had made a conversion cable with on one end a 16 Amps plug and at the other end a 32 Amps plug, we plugged it in and the main fuse of the hotel disconnected immediately. What the hell is going on?
My French electrician had made a mistake and had miswired the second plug, and my charge cable was gone “short circuit” .I was very upset a and the Frenchmen should be happy he was not there at that moment.
I still had 108 Km to so no problem Bulle was only 36 Km away. I just hoped and prayed that my car had no damage!
The next morning I found out I had only 88 Km left, but still enough I drove of at 09.00 h and arrived in Bulle at 10.00 h and the lady at the reception given me the id-pass to start the charging session. The first time it refused and said “quick charge not possible”.
With the situation of the night before in my head, I was sure my car had broken down, but after the third trial the blue charging lamp went on and it said “4 hours and 15 min. to go”
I calculated that I needed 230 Km again to have enough load to get home and at 12.30 h I left for my last etappe, of 135 Km
I arrived in Lenk at 14.30 h.
Conclusions:
After Driving 9000 Km in 6 weeks
I think the Tesla S is a beautiful car, and I am happy that I took the change of buying it.
It is a lot of fun driving it when you are sure you are within range.
The real reach of the car if you want to drive normally is 370 Km that means if, you drive with the flow of the rest of the traffic, 50 in town 90 to 110 Km/h on the highways.
Driving slower then 90 Km/h means big trucks overtake you all the time and the speed difference with the rest of the traffic makes it dangerous.
It is of course strange to drive a Ferrari like an old man with a speed of 95 Km/h on the highways in Europe and that is no fun also !!
If you drive long distance the fear of not getting there is major and between your ears.
The unreliable information and lack of information of Tesla has made things worse.
To sell the car even mentioning 480 Km reach is a Hoax!
Typical you cannot load the car for more then 400 Km, which you can only make if you never go faster then 85 KM/h.
Tesla should deliver the right plugs and cables when the car is delivered and let this not leave the problem to the customer.
The help-centre in Tilburg is very polite and willing to help but they are very bad prepared and not fit for the job. (Oh you are in France? But you bought the car in Switzerland, how come you are in France?)
The charging power is still limited in many places to 26 Amps, Why…?
Chargemap should put photo’s of the existing plugs on the websites so you can see whether you can connect, now it is a gamble.
