BoMW
Well-known member
I did the most craziest thing yesterday, transport myself, a passenger and 45 kilos of luggage to Perth, Scotland in my Rex!
I tried to plan this trip with minimal Rex operation but sadly I didn't quite work out that way. The good news was that Ecotricity are installing one CCS station every week and I benefited from a freshly installed station at Washington services. The bad news is that 70 miles north of Newcastle, as the battery dwindles there's no opportunity of recharging before you reach Edinburgh .
My trip started in Nottingham then heading up the A1 to Wetherby services, had to have Rex running for approx 12 miles. At Wetherby a CCS station gave me a 85% charge in 25 mins. I then headed for Morpeth with a planned stop at Northumbrian county council to use their CCS station. Fortunately a quick phone call to Ecotricity revealed a new station at Washington. I filled up with 85% charge and 9 litres of fuel together with 4 litres in a can in the boot. With this capacity I drove up the A1 and managed to crawl into Edinburgh city centre. The plan here was to head for The Exchange, Morrison Street where I was told that there is a Chargenow CCS. Having wasted 20 minutes looking I eventually gave up, couldn't find anything, I now had to quickly look for a petrol station to avoid break down. Once filled I was able to head for Perth without any issues. I arrived at 1530 having departed Nottingham at 0800. Motorway driving was done at 70mph in ECO, reduced limits were at 55mph in ECO PLUS.
Unfortunately my return journey that same evening was more arduous. I failed to charge the car completely on a 13amp socket so had a range of 40 miles. I also added a 12 mile detour from a sat Nav error so I used the Rex all the way to Washington services. This time I really crawled in with 2 mile TOTAL RANGE! I loaded up with 80% charge and petrol and headed for Wetherby services. Charged up again to 80% (about 23 mins), fuelled and carried on for the remaining 90 mins.
I arrived Home at 0620 having departed Perth at 2235. Would I do this again? Doubt it, Perth is an extreme which seemed to have annoyed my passenger! the 90 mins of stoppages were too much but I'm very comfortable driving up to Newcastle which can be reached on battery thanks to ecotricity CCS stations.
I also found out that Leicester Services on the M1 has a newly installed CCS station. It just needs a newly installed station at junction 14-15 then the M1 would nearly be covered.
I tried to plan this trip with minimal Rex operation but sadly I didn't quite work out that way. The good news was that Ecotricity are installing one CCS station every week and I benefited from a freshly installed station at Washington services. The bad news is that 70 miles north of Newcastle, as the battery dwindles there's no opportunity of recharging before you reach Edinburgh .
My trip started in Nottingham then heading up the A1 to Wetherby services, had to have Rex running for approx 12 miles. At Wetherby a CCS station gave me a 85% charge in 25 mins. I then headed for Morpeth with a planned stop at Northumbrian county council to use their CCS station. Fortunately a quick phone call to Ecotricity revealed a new station at Washington. I filled up with 85% charge and 9 litres of fuel together with 4 litres in a can in the boot. With this capacity I drove up the A1 and managed to crawl into Edinburgh city centre. The plan here was to head for The Exchange, Morrison Street where I was told that there is a Chargenow CCS. Having wasted 20 minutes looking I eventually gave up, couldn't find anything, I now had to quickly look for a petrol station to avoid break down. Once filled I was able to head for Perth without any issues. I arrived at 1530 having departed Nottingham at 0800. Motorway driving was done at 70mph in ECO, reduced limits were at 55mph in ECO PLUS.
Unfortunately my return journey that same evening was more arduous. I failed to charge the car completely on a 13amp socket so had a range of 40 miles. I also added a 12 mile detour from a sat Nav error so I used the Rex all the way to Washington services. This time I really crawled in with 2 mile TOTAL RANGE! I loaded up with 80% charge and petrol and headed for Wetherby services. Charged up again to 80% (about 23 mins), fuelled and carried on for the remaining 90 mins.
I arrived Home at 0620 having departed Perth at 2235. Would I do this again? Doubt it, Perth is an extreme which seemed to have annoyed my passenger! the 90 mins of stoppages were too much but I'm very comfortable driving up to Newcastle which can be reached on battery thanks to ecotricity CCS stations.
I also found out that Leicester Services on the M1 has a newly installed CCS station. It just needs a newly installed station at junction 14-15 then the M1 would nearly be covered.