Touring all Fast Chargers of The Netherlands with the Citroën ë-Jumpy (75kWh)
What a week came to an end. I jumped into the ë-Jumpy last December one morning and only got out during (fast) charging breaks and forest walks! My full report is here, find out if Fastned, Allego, Ionity, OrangeGas or somebody else takes the prize for best fast charging service in The Netherlands!
The pickup
Happy to head over to Amsterdam Zuidoost, to my surprise something is waiting (not for me) at Citroën Nederland: the ë-C4!
First ë-C4 spotted in NL (with French plates though).
Charging winner
Question is, will an ë-C4 charge faster than the e-Jumpy? It might not! I hope to find out, let’s see what the e-Jumpy has in store. It’s pretty barebones so much is clear from the start. No HUD (Heads up Display, the e-SpaceTourer on the parking lot had one!)
Also no backup camera (the screen has room for it so I’m guessing it’s an upgrade not fitted on this specific ë-Jumpy).
No assisted cruise control that will do any braking for me (or speeding up for that matter). Manual life it is!
Fast charging in The Netherlands, winter 2020
Many new charging spots are popping up all over the country, I’m very happy to have some time with the Citroën to go on a big tour, the first one:
OrangeGas
Near Nieuwendijk I visited the 100kW charger, you can check out the full experience on YouTube.
Might be worth it to get myself the E-flux charging card, because it’s the cheapest way of using these chargers: €0,30/kWh. That’s competitive even to AC charging!
Speaking of AC charging
The good news is that this Citroën is arriving to market with a three phase on-board charger. This means that it’s useful to connect whenever you have the possibility. For instance when I visited my dad.
Just an hour of charging can add nearly 11kWh to the battery. Driving around in the city that means 50km of range even in winter!
After a family trip with dog to the forest, I had to go out and check the newest fast charging hub near Amsterdam by DCB Energy. The chargers are put there by OrangeGas.
Comments on the charging plaza
Why no roof for electric drivers?
I really don’t understand this distinction. We want a roof. With solar panels.
Why no QR codes on the machines to easily download the cheapest app? (Hopefully still coming but I rather see this at launch).
Why are the charging cables too short? (And only supporting 200A!)
It’s cheap though (if you come prepared). I’ll check back in 2021 to see what happens.
Fastned
When you really need a charger, for example when no AC charging overnight was available there is only one company you can always trust: Fastned.
I visited the charging hub on a Friday afternoon, Tafelbergweg Amsterdam. What an experience.
Heading north
Drenthe is a province around 200km driving to the north east of Amsterdam. I had a great trip with my best friend heading there and we just stopped for a charge and a coffee on the way. Fastned had great business wherever we passed.
Since I couldn’t charge overnight and I picked up my friend off route we needed to go there was no way we would make it over the 200km+ highway ride with wind and cold weather. Luckily my friend loves a coffee and the combination with Fastned is easily made. To my surprise it was a crazy busy Fridaynight, where we stopped we also had company.
Hiding behind the BMW. 8 minutes at the 50kW charger for 6,5kWh and 9 min. at the 150kW charger for 11,5kWh.
Since we’re “racing” to be on time for dinner still, I want us to charge as little as technically possible. I know that when we get close to Groningen (we’ll pass) there will be plenty HPC options (most recently opened). It’s here where we try out Shell Recharge and now the battery is nice and warm! 250A!
While my friends grabs one more shot of coffee, I check out the charging session for three minutes and we’re on to the forest!
Our parking (charging) spot.
A ten hour overnight charging session with the schuko connector added around 70km of range to the vehicle. Just enough to get me to a 50kW charger during a new mission today!
Drenthe says hi! (And bye).
The chair mission (Emmen)
Getting to Emmen was easy, I spotted some car dealerships with proud e-mobility setups. I was out to help a friend, these chairs will go to a pretty new home soon.
Emmen, meet the chairs.
The local McDonald’s was rebuilding. Luckily I could reach the 50kW Vattenfall charger without issues. Even in The Netherlands when talking about 100kW+ charging, it’s not as widespread as one would like. Let's take a look at Chargemap!
Chargemap showing all 100kW+ charging opportunities between Emmen and Amsterdam (NL).
At Shell Recharge Zwolle (I barely arrive, GoM drops like a brick, I had 20km to spare that turns to 8 before getting there). 22 minutes of charging averaging 77kW speeds. (28kWh).
Fastned De Hackelaar
Again with a shredding range prediction by the vehicle I barely make it: 4% SoC left. This gives me the opportunity of a quick charging session: till 37% or 20,3kWh takes 14 minutes, averaging 87kW!
The ë-Jumpy, believe it or not, charging faster than a JAG!
What did I learn?
Cruising along the highway is very pleasant in the ë-Jumpy, but costly. Clearly the sizable profile of this vehicle driving it through the cold, windy season will easily get you to 300Wh/km consumption around 100km/h speeds. Without heavy load, no snow yet. That doesn’t surprise and I don’t think it’s a bad number. It does mean I’d recommend this 75kWh version to pretty much anyone considering this line of vans.
In the city the ë-Jumpy 75kWh will be a true range king. Imagine that I could easily get 220Wh/km usage at 55km/h in winter, summer might even drop below the 200Wh/km.
I have to talk about that Guess-o-Meter though: it’s a bit of a mixed bag. I do mind that these vehicles don’t show you a precise % SoC (State of Charge) during the ride. The analog meter is very old school. When the red LED comes up, I had to find out thanks to fast charging this meant I still have 10% SoC left, give or take 7kWh. Even though range prediction could be as low as 10km by then. With 10% left that doesn’t sound very logical. At 5% SoC the whole range prediction goes away at all. You’re on your own. I don’t mind, but I’m not the typical buyer of the vehicle. I’d like a hand finding me that fast charger.
Android Auto and Apple CarPlay have been flawless. Which to me is the biggest plus there is. That way one day that range prediction might be happening thanks to your phone. Even if you buy this vehicle today.
Since I experienced lots of rainy days there was an interesting lesson I didn’t expect. The vehicle itself is quite silent even though because the lack of sound proofing there is an “electric whirl” when speeding up. Still, it doesn’t compare to any Diesel van I ever tried. (Lots, I was the typical van driving help for my moving friends). The result is that when it rains, rain drops can come in at higher than expected volume from the back cabin.
Anybody up for a #BerlinChallenge with this one?