North Wales charging.

[Steely]

Any recommendations for charging in North Wales?
I’m due to be around Porthmadog for a few days and looking at the usual apps show very few options.
Anyone experienced in this area ?

 

[UkNorthampton]

Never been there but I agree, it doesn't look great on zap map. Best bring granny charger. Where are you staying? Relatives / B&B / hotel you can plug in?

I wanted to visit Wales, but charger availability put me off - Flint, Aberystwyth and M4 seems very poor. No instavolt nearby.

Good luck, there must be someone who knows the area - or is there a Wales thread/sub-forum?

VERY old (2017) - Rapid Charger suggestions for Mid/Wales Wales

I can't see anything better on plugshare

AtTheVan said:
Hopefully the new Lidl at Porthmadog will have some charging. If they're thinking logically it would make sense.

Agree, however Wales (including Porthmadog) is already quite well served with 7Kw destination chargers. Mainly thanks to the National Trust and Zero Carbon world. Wales is quite well served with 7Kw destination chargers.

It's specifically RC's that we're lacking in mid-wales. Currently making north to south journeys impractical.

I guess I'm just not looking hard enough, most of the 7kW posts on Zap-Map seem to be quite distant (a 40 mile round trip) to Barmouth/Porthmadog or marked as permanently offline. The ones in Porthmadog seem to be part of hotels.
Is there a better resource for finding where they are?

I use Plug Share, much prefer it to zap map. It's better and more updated in North Wales. Yes, the one's in Porthmadog are connected to hotels. However they will let you charge for free if you buy at least coffee. I've charged at Royal Sportsman in the past. However sadly they have replaced their type 2 with a second Tesla destination charger therefore it only leaves a 3-pin plug for us mortals. The NT points in Craflwyn and Nant Gwynant are free and in stunning locations.

 

[M1tch]

It’s not much better in South Wales either. A real struggle to get a fast charge anywhere. Even worse now work have banned charging off works premises.

 

[Jason71]

I saw the title and thought, this will be a short thread.

 

[DeejUK]

I was hoping for good news, would love to drive to and climb Snowdon with the eldest. Ended up going to Scafell Pike instead (which was a much longer drive) owing to the better charging infrastructure.

 

[Adopado]

Good luck, there must be someone who knows the area - or is there a Wales thread/sub-forum?

This is the appropriate Wales forum ... part of the UK after all! Most of the Welsh contributions seem to bemoan this very issue ... it's a bit of a charging desert in some areas.

 

[NewbieT]

North Wales and Charging arn’t words I usually associate. Tesla Flint is the only ultra rapid charging. Everything else is patchy 50kW. Destination charging is your best bet. I just think they don’t want a tourism industry now.

 

[73henny]

It’s not much better in South Wales either. A real struggle to get a fast charge anywhere. Even worse now work have banned charging off works premises.

You can only charge at work?

 

[Cilonen]

North Wales and Charging arn’t words I usually associate. Tesla Flint is the only ultra rapid charging. Everything else is patchy 50kW. Destination charging is your best bet. I just think they don’t want a tourism industry now.

Admittedly more mid-Wales (coast), but there are Superchargers at Aberystwyth (250kW) - situated at the Park Lodge hotel

Porthmadog has 2x PodPoint 7kW at the Tesco Superstore

Basically - take the granny charger!

 

[M1tch]

You can only charge at work?

No, I live 179 miles from work so used to 3 pin plug charge during the week to get me home at the end of the week. That’s now banned so going to have to drive 30 mins to the nearest charger and wait for however long it takes for a 3rd party 50kw charger to do its business so I can make it to sarn park SC.

 

[Lord Farquad]

On holiday around there last summer (in our old ICE car) I saw a few Tesla’s, iPace and Kia’s. So it’s manageable. But I agree you’ll need to granny charge every night and travel local.
Instavolt have started to build a bank of 8 120kw chargers on the A5 near Bala (mid N Wales), but I can’t see any opening date advertised anywhere.

 

[MkPotato]

As EV use increases, they’re going to have to improve the infrastructure in North Wales, otherwise there’s going to be a lot of people potentially stranded. There’s Flint and Aberystwyth, but really there needs to be fast-charging facilities for people who want to get around the Snowdon/Glyder/Carnedd areas. Somewhere like Llanberis would be very handy (and it’s not like there isn’t a power station nearby!). I guess somewhere off the A55 Is more likely.

It’s not really great in the Lakes either. There needs to be fast chargers (150kw+) in the main Windermere area.

 

[Jason71]

As EV use increases, they’re going to have to improve the infrastructure in North Wales, otherwise there’s going to be a lot of people potentially stranded. There’s Flint and Aberystwyth, but really there needs to be fast-charging facilities for people who want to get around the Snowdon/Glyder/Carnedd areas. Somewhere like Llanberis would be very handy (and it’s not like there isn’t a power station nearby!). I guess somewhere off the A55 Is more likely.

It’s not really great in the Lakes either. There needs to be fast chargers (150kw+) in the main Windermere area.

It was reported somewhere that there is there is lack of grid infrastructure in parts of Mid and North Wales to support many rapid chargers. In which case Govt investment will be required. with the switch to EV's well under way its going to start to have a noticeable impact on their tourist industry soon.

 

[Jason71]

This is the appropriate Wales forum ... part of the UK after all! Most of the Welsh contributions seem to bemoan this very issue ... it's a bit of a charging desert in some areas.

Uhh. You provincials are so sensitive

 

[Steely]

Looks like it’s going to be the granny charger then. Careful driving, minimise journeys and don’t take anyone for a “fun run”…

 

[NewbieT]

Plenty of HV pylons & old nuclear power stations (Trawsfynydd, Wylfa) in North Wales. Someone might just need to pay for a substation or two. £££. As for the A55, there really is no excuse. St Asaph & Bangor have to be fairly easy connections.

Open Infrastructure Map

Map of the world's electricity, telecoms, oil, and gas infrastructure, using data from OpenStreetMap

openinframap.org

 

[Adopado]

Uhh. You provincials are so sensitive

I think it's "we provincials" if you're in Shropshire!

 

[MkPotato]

Plenty of HV pylons & old nuclear power stations (Trawsfynydd, Wylfa) in North Wales. Someone might just need to pay for a substation or two. £££. As for the A55, there really is no excuse. St Asaph & Bangor have to be fairly easy connections.

Open Infrastructure Map

Map of the world's electricity, telecoms, oil, and gas infrastructure, using data from OpenStreetMap

openinframap.org

It was reported somewhere that there is there is lack of grid infrastructure in parts of Mid and North Wales to support many rapid chargers. In which case Govt investment will be required. with the switch to EV's well under way its going to start to have a noticeable impact on their tourist industry soon.

Yes, sounds like the Welsh government need to get their hands in their pockets. Surely it’s good for tourism and good for the environment if they provide decent charging infrastructure for people to get around Snowdonia.

What would be really a good idea is to combine charging with the park+ride spots. Two birds, one stone.

 

[73henny]

No, I live 179 miles from work so used to 3 pin plug charge during the week to get me home at the end of the week. That’s now banned so going to have to drive 30 mins to the nearest charger and wait for however long it takes for a 3rd party 50kw charger to do its business so I can make it to sarn park SC.

I see. So has your employer banned it for H&S reasons or just doesn't want to pay for the juice?

 

[Jason71]

I think it's "we provincials" if you're in Shropshire!

How dare you! I'll have you know I had 4G at one point last week! 3 bars!