Charging a model S in England: do I need a pass?

[Daniel 74]

Goodmorning to all of you. I have a question regarding the charging infrastructure in England. I live in the Netherlands and I'm planning to go to northern Spain (Asturias) this Christmas, via England!

The route is as follows: We will drive from Utrecht to Hoek van Holland (near Rotterdam), where we will take the carferry to Harwich. This trip is about 80 km. Before boarding the ferry we will top off the battery in Hoek van Holland. With our dutch carging card I can use all the public charging points in the Netherlands, so no problem there. From Harwich we will drive to Portsmouth, that a distance of about 270 km in a straight line. We plan to stay about three days in England, so we will drive more km.

In Portsmouth we will take the carferry to Bilbao (24 hours!). From Bilbao to Gijon is about 280 km.

I've found the website www.nextgreencar.com which has a map of charging points in GB. I see there are quite enough on the route from Harwich to Portsmouth which have type 2 mennekes connections, so that should be no problem. The thing I can't find out is whether I need a charging card. I assume I do, but how does this work in England? Where can I apply for a card? Do all cards work on all public chargers as they do in the Netherlands?

Kind regards,

Daniel

 

[hileyms]

Daniel, sorry no one has replied to your postings. I am not an EV driver yet (am researching the market place). The answer to your question is not straightforward. There are a number of companies that operate charging points (Ecotricity, Polar to name 2). Some points are free others charge others you need to pay a yearly charge. If you send me a Private message with the areas of England you are likely to be in where you need charging (ie Portsmouth etc) I will dig deeper and get try to get you detailed answers.

 

[jontracey]

all chargers except the zero carbon world ones and the odd fast charger (Abindgon) need cards, best option is let us know your planned stops and maybe someone can swing by and help you out.

For the service stations you may be able to get duty manager to come and set you up but its a risk

 

[Daniel 74]

Thanks for your answers. I was afraid there would be no single card. We plan to travel from harwich to Portsmouth via the east and south side of London.

On the map I saw two promising charge locations: the Ikea east of London and the charge station on the M25 south of London (can't remember for sure if the number is right). I got the impression these chargers don't require cards. Is this correct?

(My excuses for typo's, my iPhone keeps changing words into dutch!)

 

[hileyms]

Daniel, the Ikea ones are installed through a company called Ecotricity

Coming Soon - For The Road - Ecotricity

Link above is for their web site and the list of installed sites and ones to be installed. I sent them an email on Friday asking if you would be able to apply for one of their cards but I have had no response to that mail. There is a registration form on their web site but it seems to ask for a UK address.

If I get any response to my mail I will let you know. Otherwise hopefully one of the other guys can help you out.

 

[jontracey]

both of those need Ecotricity cards, try calling them the card is free they may send you one

 

[GSP]

all chargers except the zero carbon world ones and the odd fast charger (Abindgon) need cards, best option is let us know your planned stops and maybe someone can swing by and help you out.

For the service stations you may be able to get duty manager to come and set you up but its a risk

Take a look at the zero carbon world charger map:

ZeroNet - Zero Carbon World

This may be all that is needed for the OP's trip. I would also get a card for one of the UK networks for backup, espically if it was free.

GSP

 

[dpeilow]

Just replied to this over in the UK Community section.

My advice would be to get the Ecotricity card. Assuming you have a Type 2 cable for the Model S, you can then rely on Zeronet for the rest.


(The Ecotricity Coming Soon section linked above is out of date, by the way)