Holiday on the Isle of Wight - first time using public charging points!

[EV1980]

I'm off on my little hols to the Isle of Wight next week and it will be the first time I've ever needed to be reliant on public charging.

I'll be leaving home with 100% charge and plan to top up again at the Antelope Retail Park, using either the 50kW or 120kW chargers they have there. ABRP suggests I would arrive with 42% charge remaining - can anyone give me a rough idea how long would it take to charge back up to 100% using either of these charging speeds? (I have two young boys who will be very impatiently waiting while we charge up!!)

My aim is to fully recharge before getting on the Ferry and then see how long I can last before needing to find a public charger on the IOW. Has anyone got any knowledge of chargers on the IOW (or a better suggestion for Southampton) to help a newbie out. Also any advice that I need to be aware of with using public chargers (other than don't assume all chargers will be available or even working when I need them!)

I have the standard range Model Y.

 

[UkNorthampton]

I'm off on my little hols to the Isle of Wight next week and it will be the first time I've ever needed to be reliant on public charging.

I'll be leaving home with 100% charge and plan to top up again at the Antelope Retail Park, using either the 50kW or 120kW chargers they have there. ABRP suggests I would arrive with 42% charge remaining - can anyone give me a rough idea how long would it take to charge back up to 100% using either of these charging speeds? (I have two young boys who will be very impatiently waiting while we charge up!!)

My aim is to fully recharge before getting on the Ferry and then see how long I can last before needing to find a public charger on the IOW. Has anyone got any knowledge of chargers on the IOW (or a better suggestion for Southampton) to help a newbie out. Also any advice that I need to be aware of with using public chargers (other than don't assume all chargers will be available or even working when I need them!)

I have the standard range Model Y.

I think anything above 80% would be painfully slow.

I use Tesla Superchargers or a few I've researched near holiday destinations, just use while shopping or overnight.

There are hopefully better sources - but could try Map of electric charging points for electric cars UK: Zapmap

Where are you staying? Lots of holiday parks have 2 podpoints or similar. You might be able to charge with granny cable (see other posts about staying safe, dial down the max amps as max load for many hours isn't ideal for some electrical installations, possibly don't do unattended).

Only filter applied is public access, randomly chosen faster charger (50kW) - I'd hope locals/regulars can suggest better -

Some destination chargers as well (some say to phone ahead).

 

[Adopado]

(I have two young boys who will be very impatiently waiting while we charge up!!)

The trick is to not just "wait" if the charging is going to take a while. Plan to do something away from the car (you can look at the app from time to time to see how things are progressing). Charging at your accommodation, even if very slow, is always a great option once you arrive at your holiday destination if that can be available.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Charging at your accommodation, even if very slow, is always a great option once you arrive at your holiday destination if that can be available.

Is Granny charger and find a 13AMP socket an option?

PlugShare has recently added a kW filter. I tried 150+kW - nothing on the island, but some nearby on the mainland that may give you before-you-go choices. If you want to know how much you might use getting to/from the island, and running around, you could try ABetterRoutePlanner and concoct some daily journeys simulating your stay

Also tried 50+kW on the island (I get far fewer than @UkNorthampton and basically you probably need to use both PlugShare and Zap-Map to get a comprehensive view, and to see whether anyone has left recent "Not working" feedback, 'coz I doubt anyone is going to bother to do that on both of them!)

 

[Mrklaw]

we drove down and probably would have been ok for charge to get back to the mainland but on the island there isn't much int he way of rapids. We were near Ryde on one day and popped to the instavolt there - only two chargers and both were in use but one car moved pretty quickly. Wasn't super fast but it was raining and we spent maybe 20 minutes to top up?

if a 50kw charger you can probably charge to around 90% and it won't slow too much - it'll max a 50kw to about 85% I think. But be realistic about how much you need and when youc an charge on the way back

 

[djtaylor]

What I can tell you from a recent trip to Switzerland is that from 39% starting point, the car gets to 70% faster than I can visit the loo, order a burger and fries and starting with the fries, not complete regular fries before the car is ready.
I had to bump it up to 90% (it got to 85%) to give me time to finish the burger.
In every instance of public charging where we planned to stop and eat, the car was ready well before we were and increasing the charge level was the only way to make the car take longer. These were minimum 150kWh chargers.
Just be aware that with the Model Y, if the SOC is already at 30% or more, there's no benefit of anything over 150kWh anyway as the curve is tailing off at that point.

 

[djtaylor]

The trick is to not just "wait" if the charging is going to take a while. Plan to do something away from the car (you can look at the app from time to time to see how things are progressing). Charging at your accommodation, even if very slow, is always a great option once you arrive at your holiday destination if that can be available.

haha, me at a v3 supercharger in France to my wife: "NO NO you haven't got time to faff around changing your shoes, you need to use the loo first and then if you have time after that, *then* you can change shoes!" The car will be ready first.
Isle of Wight, maybe there's time to change shoes?

 

[Planky]

There are a few rapid chargers on the Island but as the island is quite small most Islanders charge at home and don’t use them.

The fastest chargers on the Island are only 50kW.

Quite a few MER chargers have been installed recently, mainly 22 kW but there are a couple of rapid changers (Ryde and Newport).

The BP (7kW) chargers at the ASDA store in Newport are currently free.

Don’t bother going to the charger In Morrisons in Lake I am not sure it has ever worked.

 

[Masklin]

For possible future info Wightlink have two 50kW chargers I think, never used them but walk past them frequently, at their Portsmouth terminal.

I think the closest charger to Red Funnel in Southampton is a BP Pulse 50kW in the car park of the almost adjacent to the terminal Holiday Inn.

Filling up on the way at either Winchester or Havant superchargers is probably best idea for any charging close to ferries on this side of the water though.

Enjoy holiday!

 

[squarepeg77]

My aim is to fully recharge before getting on the Ferry and then see how long I can last before needing to find a public charger on the IOW.
Also any advice that I need to be aware of with using public chargers (other than don't assume all chargers will be available or even working when I need them!)

I was on the IoW back in October 2021, out of season, and had a tough time with the public charging. Hopefully it has got better since then.

The stupid BP chargers at Asda Newport took an age to start the charge from the app and then wouldn’t release my cable. After about 20 minutes of messing with the app, it finally let me have my cable back.

The MER chargers I tried were in public car parks and were often occupied by a car that wasn’t charging. Some of them were electric cars. There’s some sort of electric car share scheme on the island. I never managed to charge at one of the MER chargers.

I made it through most of the week - the island is quite small - but eventually I went to the BP 50kW at the Fishbourne ferry terminal early one morning. It is inside the loading area, on the left hand side, so you have to ask to be let through If you are not boarding at the same time.

My advice would be to arrive on the island with as much charge as you can and charge as much as possible whenever you get a working charger.

 

[TechnoWatch]

I would recommend topping up at the supercharger in Winchester on the way to the ferry. The IoW is not that big, so you are not likely to use much battery if you turn off camera based sentry. You may only need to charge once or twice while on the island. If you are coming back via the Southampton ferry, you will easily be able to get to the Winchester charger on 10% for a fast charge on the way home.

 

[Drew57]

We had a four day break in the IOW two weeks ago and only used Tesla SuCs, charging to 100% at Amesbury (16@250kWh) beforehand and 100% at Winchester (12@250kWh) on the way home.

Neither will use a great deal of range to-from the Ferries & for @EV1980 coming from Bedfordshire, the Winchester SuC is closer & a shorter distance to the Ferries (Wightlink in our case). We drove right round and across the island during our stay but never needed local charging.

Winchester SuC is 25 miles from Ferry at Portsmouth
Winchester SuC is 27 miles from Ferry at Lymigton

Amesbury SuC is 36 miles from Ferry at Lymigton
Amesbury SuC is 47 miles from Ferry at Portsmouth

Winchester SuC was a good experience, with coffee & toilets as it is at the Service Centre & the staff were very friendly, very fast charging speeds also mean delays can be minimised. Amesbury is also fast & next to a new Co-Op with three porta-loos opposite.

 

[Planky]

You could all vote for the island to have a supercharger installation!
(there is an option for Newport IOW)

Supercharger Voting | Tesla United Kingdom

Learn more about voting for new Supercharger locations.

www.tesla.com

 

[WllXM]

You could all vote for the island to have a supercharger installation!
(there is an option for Newport IOW)

Supercharger Voting | Tesla United Kingdom

Learn more about voting for new Supercharger locations.

www.tesla.com

Just did but tbh there’s no real need for a supercharger. It’s not like we need to do a short stop on the way to something.

Instead, having plenty of overnight 7kW destination chargers near hotels, accommodation and campsites would already be great! I find Wight extremely lacking in that regard, especially west of the island.

 

[page3]

A lot of the destination chargers seem out of order or removed. Used to charge at the Garlic Farm, Brading Roman Villa and Cow Co Tapnel farm.

Definitely staying somewhere that allows granny charging is the answer.

A hub somewhere like Newport would be a great idea and would serve the whole island. There are some new Mer chargers scattered around but I’ve not tried them.

Tesla are also trialling mobile service last Wednesday of each month. The ranger seemed pretty enthusiastic when I spoke to him last weekend at the Going Electric show on the island.

Perfect place for an EV. Have fun.

 

[Adopado]

When were in IOW a couple of years ago we charged for free at the Co-op in Freshwater ... no longer available for free and it's now transformed into a Tesco. I was prepared to charge at our accommodation using the UMC but there was no access to the consumer unit and I didn't want to risk tripping a breaker and not being able to reset. (I would always keep a note of kWh used and offer appropriate payment if using power.)

 

[connectjunkie]

A lot of the destination chargers seem out of order or removed. Used to charge at the Garlic Farm, Brading Roman Villa and Cow Co Tapnel farm.

Definitely staying somewhere that allows granny charging is the answer.

A hub somewhere like Newport would be a great idea and would serve the whole island. There are some new Mer chargers scattered around but I’ve not tried them.

Tesla are also trialling mobile service last Wednesday of each month. The ranger seemed pretty enthusiastic when I spoke to him last weekend at the Going Electric show on the island.

Perfect place for an EV. Have fun.

Tapnell Farm (the Cow restaurant) has removed their Tesla destination chargers (one of which was 22kW) and replaced them with two VoltShare 7kW chargers. No longer free (and not shown in ZapMap at the moment) but they are there.

 

[Mad Professor]

As I live here on the island, I can tell you public charging can be very hit and miss.
As already said we have 7kw AC slowly popping up, now seeing upto 22kw AC, and we have few rapid upto 50kw DC.
Over here is a mix of BP Pulse, Pod Point, InstaVolt, and Mer, there might be others that I am not yet aware of.
I can't really add much to what has already been said.
But don't forget to do the Tesla wave as you go past.

 

[WannabeOwner]

As I live here on the island, I can tell you public charging can be very hit and miss.

Opportunity for you to monetise your driveway

 

[EV1980]

Just wanted to reply to this thread and say thanks for all the responses! It seems like ages since I was on the Isle, but we had a great time and it's been busy since arriving back on 'the mainland' hence my delayed thanks!

There were 11 of us staying in a big house and I contacted the letting agency to enquire if it would be ok to charge at the house. The first person I spoke to was unclear that this was even an option as he kept repeating that the house doesn't have a charging point! Once this confusion had been cleared up he said he would ask the owner who initially agreed, provided the additional cost would be covered , However, a few days later the owner came back to the agency and said no to the request - I think he might have spoken to someone and been scared off! In hindsight I should have asked for forgiveness rather than permission, but I still feel it was the right thing to do.

With charging at the property ruled out, I was considering my options, hence my post for advice. Initially I had planned to get to Southampton and charge down there, but instead I took the advice to plug into a supercharger at the Tesla showroom in Winchester. Despite being superchargers, I only got about 35kw/h, possibly due to 8 or 9 of the 12 stalls being used? In any case, after about 40mins I was back at full charge and on the way to the Ferry.

Having charged up fully on the Thursday afternoon, I managed to get through to the following Wednesday when I took advantage of the available 50kw charger at Ryde/Appley Beach at 38%. Within no time at all I was back at 100%.

Overall, I had no issues with waiting or connecting to the charging units, it was about a stress free as you could imagine!