Going to Bordeaux on Friday - Eurotunnel there and ferry back. Will report back after, but currently things I got were:
- GB magnetic sticker to go on back (free from friend)
- Reflective vest to go in glovebox (free from work)
- Crit'air application (€4 inc postage)
- Toll tag (bip&go.. have referral if people interested)
- Headlights aligned at service centre
So had a lovely first trip driving to Europe in my RWD - posting in case any info helps reassure / advise anyone in future.
1100 miles, avg 250Wh/mi, total charging cost £55, tolls were £60. Worst part was the 3h delay at the chunnel and taycan / Audi's double blocking Folkestone supercharger.. otherwise was a breeze.
Had all aforementioned gear except bip and go toll tag did not arrive in time, so went to a feu vert garage in coquelles and bought a ulys tag for €4 (no tolls to get there).
If anyone does similar I'd advise subscribing and setting up ulys account in advance as they do not do anything at weekends so we could only activate and use it on the way back!
Route was Folkestone chunnel, from Calais to le mans with one stop at bourg achard supercharger. Stayed overnight in beautiful le mans country club with 4 EV chargers, then continued down to our destination near to sainte foy le grand with a single charge at Poitiers sud.
Used autopilot for almost the entire journey, which was excellent at reducing fatigue. SWMBO had very interrupted sleep being woken for toll booths...
Also noticed every supercharger we went to there was a mcdonalds no less than 300yds away.. not quite french cuisine I was hoping for but definitely efficient!
Where we stayed is a relative supercharger "blackspot" compared to the abundance in France. Found a 320kw IEcharge for €0.30/kWh 10 mins down the road thanks to the chargepoint app - would definitely recommend for EU chargers. Contactless refused to authenticate on one post but worked perfectly on the other.
On the way home went via Poitiers sud and le mans superchargers to Le Havre. Ulys tag was great, SWMBO slept the entire way. Got stuck in a bit of traffic and seemed to have had a very heavy right foot to make up for it to spoil the otherwise ~220wh/mi trip.
I guess other things to mention is display didn't automatically switch across to km/h but very quick and simple, and we had zero issues with headlights - truth be told I forgot to check if they "adjusted" when there but no angry french flashing.
As mentioned before to avoid sticking things on windscreen I put crit'air and ulys stickers onto the fabric part at very front left of dash, all worked well. If I was going again I wouldn't bother with breakdown and use ulys breakdown option instead!
All in all for first experience of driving in RHD car across France and back, and first time in the M3 abroad, it was great. The car is ideal for touring, had no issues with charging (despite many saved backup ABRP plans), and it all went very smoothly.
My biggest complaint remains the car charges too damn quickly so when you try to not get McDonald's and get some healthier lunch a 5 min walk away - the cars already back at 90%!