Diary of a Charging Addict #2

Welcome back to my new series!

Today we're following Hugo Bos on his way to Spain. Just days ago he embarked on a ride with his IONIQ5 to Dénia, where he will take the ferry to Ibiza. A Better Routeplanner recommend him to take a small detour, I thought it would be fun to visit the brand-new LIDL shown below... Only he was one day early, the red carpet was rolled out 24 hours later.

Thanks to Sébastien Krimm, we know that Hugo would've been better off 24 hours later(!)

Nowadays, Lille is not the Charging Desert it once was, and nearby Hugo encountered a LIDL with a single "120 kW charger". In the app I used to start his session though, it's listed as 150kW Per Plug. 60kW seemed to be the hard limit. (Alone). It was cheap though! (€0,25/kWh)

Nearby this charger Hugo spotted a couple of parking spots with signs announcing future chargers(!)

Continuing his ride as soon as he could (while shouting at me, he didn't get a #chargingmonster to receive 60kW of course)... he spotted this Fastned #construction site!

Won't be long! (Phalempin) A1 south of Lille direction Paris.

Soon, electric drivers will be able to choose: Fastned along the toll road, or IONITY just beside it: they are building a huge site at "Seclin", Denis SCHOELENS gives an impression what to expect there.

"Seclin (nearby French A1 south of Lille) IONITY fast charging station, #incoming".

Could it be 12x350kW right from the start? Let's see early 2023!

With Engie at Ressons-Ouest being nearly done but not quite, Hugo had no choice but to continue. How close is Engie to launch "big" in France? VERY close:

Engie, Ressons-Ouest, early Dec '22, photo by Paulin Debra

When Hugo arrived at IONITY Saint-Witz there was just one (Tesla!) taxi charging up.

IONITY Saint-Witz (A1, France, north of Paris) on a regular winter week day afternoon

I've been asking IONITY since they opened this station half a year ago when they will put in the promised 12x350kW and I really hope this will happen before next summer. What I also hope is that Novotel one day realizes this is now a public location, as they keep closing the entrance gate and it's a horrendous experience. Most of these vehicles came in right at the same moment, because they had been queueing for a while outside. Nothing worse than queuing BEFORE plugging in when chargers are available.

From here on out, life is just Parisian traffic jams. Hours later Hugo contacted me about his last stops of the day, for example at the brand-new Aire du Bourbonnais, we passed it back in October when it was still closed. Now he could enjoy the chargers right in front of the food place. Interesting detail: the red LED means nothing, according to Hugo all chargers were up & running! (Oh yeah and for the people in the back, see that ZOE? Connected to AC for over two hours...)

Aire du Bourbonnais, brand-new, Tesla chargers nearby, not "open to all".

Finding a place to sleep in "rural France" after driving till late, Hugo booked a place, dark, deserted and closed when he arrived. Took him around the Saint-Flour neighborhood a bit until he eventually found something, 20km away in another town, but with a noisy 50kW fast charger next door, poor Neighbors.

Day Two!

Very easy drive to Spain, Hugo knows the A75 well from all our previous endeavors. He even meets a Swedish IONIQ5 at IONITY "Village Catalan" just before entering Spain. Look at the difference between the morning in France and the afternoon in España:

Early morning #HighPowerCharging in France at IONITY

"Village Catalan" just before entering Spain.

Passing by Barcelona, you're entering a new world. Or should I say the old world? Something weird is going on with the Tarragona area and further south. Real fast charging infrastructure is a scarcity, and it's where an EV like the #IONIQ5 will show its true colors: it needs infrastructure! As all EVs do. But it also needs to match the audience.

Zunder L’Aldea station: one HighPowerCharger (two plugs)

In the early days they were still called EasyCharger, I'll never forget those 50kW sites. Here from where the photo was taken Hugo could also use their 50kW machine. But the Ingeteam #HighPowerCharger has only two plugs, of course one is in use by a Dutch Renault driver, and the other is being tested by the local VinFast team.

Supercharger (V2) L’Aldea not “open to all”, early December ‘22.

This is at L'Aldea by the way, and the local Tesla chargers looked like this. What I love about this photo is the harsh reality. Every week I'm sending these Supercharging Pricing updates into the world. Here's Hugo 1500 km away from home, looking at these stalls in a country where Tesla even recently opened more plugs than before. Yet, there's nobody. And the site doesn't show up in the Tesla app, which means without a Tesla you cannot use it.

Welcome to Electric Mobility in Europe, 2023. How will you explain that situation to an outsider?

Parking garage in Dénia (ES)

Don't get me started on Spanish parking garages. Hugo shared just one photo. Only one local app will let you start the chargers. And the app doesn't work. With the 3G signal inside, it’s hard to do anything on a phone at all.

Local Dénia fast chargers, no qr, no credit card reader. What to do?

If McD Spain can do this (years ago) - then why is France not moving?

By now, Hugo is safe and sound on the ferry. AND CHARGING! Happy holiday season everybody.

Dénia to Ibiza. Powering up (2,5h “ride”).

Years ago, with Hugo’s previous vehicle, the one and only #windknife (classic IONIQ 28kWh) we managed part of this same trip (to Begur, ES), in summer though, with very different infrastructure along the way. That ride is up on YouTube for you to enjoy, and what happened since is simply huge.

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