Winter 2021 road trip to Scotland

[B61]

Nice report again, and some very nice pictures. Wonderful to see the landscape. Reports like yours will help and encourage a lot of new EV drivers to dare to take some trips. Very much appreciated!

+1
thank you for your pcis and videos!

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[tigerbalm]

Day 7: Glasgow (Scotland) -> Liverpool (England)

Today is a transit day and not a very exciting one! First we had to get a COVID test to be allowed back into Ireland. We parked in the spacious Q Park at St Enoch which was 100 meters from the test centre.

Saw my first Ice Grey Taycan parked right outside the test centre. Configurator doesn't do that colour any justice.

We got our results quickly and thankfully both my co-driver and I were clear and got required travel certificate (required by Ireland in addition to full vaccination proof) very promptly.

As we were going back the same route as we arrived to Scotland – we decided we might as well have the same charging strategy. There is a lot of merit in using charging locations that were successful previously. So we headed out of Glasgow and onto the M6 for the long trip down south.

Stopping at IONITY Gretna Green for a short battery top-up before continuing along the M6. These four chargers were busy as always and a lovely Crayon/Chalk Taycan just nabbed the last free spot as we were pulling in! As I mentioned earlier in the trip – queuing at these stations is very disciplined – with a dedicated waiting area (rare) – and we were soon charging our own Taycan for a quick 13 minute charge to take in 21.5 kWh

After charging – we grabbed some food at the Welcome Break nearby. When we came out and unlocked the car - the PCM had stopped the active navigation. It had also decided to stop connecting to the cell service – though there was plenty of strong coverage. As our next charging stop wasn't on the "offline" POIs stored in the car and it had wiped the history – it was impossible to add the location as a waypoint when re-creating our route again.

This is a very, very frustrating issue with our car. It has happened way too often on this trip – car loses connectivity – and it makes road tripping much harder – plotting complicated routes and using the planner to gauge battery levels at each stop. Porsche needs to fix this and as our car heads for both its one year anniversary and first 30,000 km service – it has made me more resolved to insist on a fix and raise serious complaints about this issue.

It should be noted when this happens – I also lose Bluetooth, Wifi and CarPlay connectivity – making alternative navigation options outside of paper maps impossible.

This issue – including the randomness of it – really frustrates me.

As we are getting the ferry back to Ireland tomorrow – the plan was to have enough power for tomorrow to not require any charging stops – we also stopped in on MFG Crow Orchard – for a healthy charge closer to Liverpool.

We plugged in for 34 mins and in that time we pulled 64 kWh at a solid rate of 110 - 140 kWH from these 400V chargers. This is where the optional 150 kW DC charger (voltage converter) is worth it. Though 400V chargers are more common in Ireland than United Kingdom.

We now had enough battery power to get to our hotel in Liverpool and to the ferry in Holyhead the next day.

Pulling into our hotel for the night – Crowne Plaza Liverpool City Centre – we noticed an available Polar 50kW charger in the hotel car park.

Our road trip philosophy is to always grab charge – even if not required – if its easy and convenient – so we topped off the battery while we checked-in.

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Gretna Green	48%	80%	21.57 kWh	GBP £6.47	13 mins	10	32	DC 350 kW	IONITY
MFG Crow Orchard	27%	93%	64 kWh	GBP £25.00	34 mins	11.5	38	DC 150 kW	MFG
Crowne Plaza Liverpool	84%	100%	13.5 kWh	GBP £4.42	40 mins	10	34	DC 50 kW	POLAR

Today we did 358 km over 6:10 hours, with an average speed of 59 km/h, consuming 25.5 kWh/100km.

 

[ciaranob]

Day 7: Glasgow (Scotland) -> Liverpool (England)

Today is a transit day and not a very exciting one! First we had to get a COVID test to be allowed back into Ireland. We parked in the spacious Q Park at St Enoch which was 100 meters from the test centre.

Saw my first Ice Grey Taycan parked right outside the test centre. Configurator doesn't do that colour any justice.

We got our results quickly and thankfully both my co-driver and I were clear and got required travel certificate (required by Ireland in addition to full vaccination proof) very promptly.

As we were going back the same route as we arrived to Scotland – we decided we might as well have the same charging strategy. There is a lot of merit in using charging locations that were successful previously. So we headed out of Glasgow and onto the M6 for the long trip down south.

Stopping at IONITY Gretna Green for a short battery top-up before continuing along the M6. These four chargers were busy as always and a lovely Crayon/Chalk Taycan just nabbed the last free spot as we were pulling in! As I mentioned earlier in the trip – queuing at these stations is very disciplined – with a dedicated waiting area (rare) – and we were soon charging our own Taycan for a quick 13 minute charge to take in 21.5 kWh

After charging – we grabbed some food at the Welcome Break nearby. When we came out and unlocked the car - the PCM had stopped the active navigation. It had also decided to stop connecting to the cell service – though there was plenty of strong coverage. As our next charging stop wasn't on the "offline" POIs stored in the car and it had wiped the history – it was impossible to add the location as a waypoint when re-creating our route again.

This is a very, very frustrating issue with our car. It has happened way too often on this trip – car loses connectivity – and it makes road tripping much harder – plotting complicated routes and using the planner to gauge battery levels at each stop. Porsche needs to fix this and as our car heads for both its one year anniversary and first 30,000 km service – it has made me more resolved to insist on a fix and raise serious complaints about this issue.

It should be noted when this happens – I also lose Bluetooth, Wifi and CarPlay connectivity – making alternative navigation options outside of paper maps impossible.

This issue – including the randomness of it – really frustrates me.

As we are getting the ferry back to Ireland tomorrow – the plan was to have enough power for tomorrow to not require any charging stops – we also stopped in on MFG Crow Orchard – for a healthy charge closer to Liverpool.

We plugged in for 34 mins and in that time we pulled 64 kWh at a solid rate of 110 - 140 kWH from these 400V chargers. This is where the optional 150 kW DC charger (voltage converter) is worth it. Though 400V chargers are more common in Ireland than United Kingdom.

We now had enough battery power to get to our hotel in Liverpool and to the ferry in Holyhead the next day.

Pulling into our hotel for the night – Crowne Plaza Liverpool City Centre – we noticed an available Polar 50kW charger in the hotel car park.

Our road trip philosophy is to always grab charge – even if not required – if its easy and convenient – so we topped off the battery while we checked-in.

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Gretna Green	48%	80%	21.57 kWh	GBP £6.47	13 mins	10	32	DC 350 kW	IONITY
MFG Crow Orchard	27%	93%	64 kWh	GBP £25.00	34 mins	11.5	38	DC 150 kW	MFG
Crowne Plaza Liverpool	84%	100%	13.5 kWh	GBP £4.42	40 mins	10	34	DC 50 kW	POLAR

Today we did 358 km over 6:10 hours, with an average speed of 59 km/h, consuming 25.5 kWh/100km.

That connectivity loss would indeed be very frustrating - assume the effects of this disconnect no different anywhere else in the world! Will be interesting to see if this happens to us once we start some longer trips later this year - thx for the heads-up!

 

[Scandinavian]

This is a very, very frustrating issue with our car. It has happened way too often on this trip – car loses connectivity – and it makes road tripping much harder – plotting complicated routes and using the planner to gauge battery levels at each stop. Porsche needs to fix this and as our car heads for both its one year anniversary and first 30,000 km service – it has made me more resolved to insist on a fix and raise serious complaints about this issue.

It should be noted when this happens – I also lose Bluetooth, Wifi and CarPlay connectivity – making alternative navigation options outside of paper maps impossible.

Great report as usual @tigerbalm! Thanks for sharing. And very enjoyable to see with you photos.

your problems with the connectivity is something you also experienced on your Switzerland tour, isn’t it? It will be interesting to hear what, if the dealer finds anything. Since you loose all of your Bluetooth, WiFi and general connectivity, it is more than just loosing the cell coverage I would think. More like a faulty Gateway module??

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 8: Liverpool (England) -> Dublin (Ireland)

Woke to a good view of the River Mersey and Liverpool Bay.

We continue our transit back home, leaving our hotel in Liverpool with a 100% charge – heading almost directly west to Dublin via the Port at Holyhead, Wales.

We pass under the River Mersey via the Kingsway Tunnel – the only toll we've had to pay in the United Kingdom on this entire trip. With the Dublin Port Tunnel being the other toll back in Ireland.

We head for Holyhead along the A55 for the easy hour and a half journey to the port.

We get put into the quiet EV queue for the ferry.

And we're quickly charging.

Not the greenest source of electricity!




We left Holyhead right on time.




I did forget to put PVTS+ (Porsche Vehicle Tracking Service) into transport mode – so had to let the call centre know – as I got a theft alert shortly after underway.

Arriving into Dublin Port on time after a slightly bumpy crossing with a Force 6 wind on the Irish Sea. Unplug the car from the ship.

And we arrive back at home thirty minutes later.

The days charging stats:

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Ulysses Car Ferry	53%	74%	16.5 kWh	Free	3 hours 30 mins	11	27	AC 7kW	PodPoint

Today we did 214 km over 4:01 hours, with an average speed of 57 km/h, consuming 23.8 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

That's all folks.

Thank you for following along our latest road-trip. Not as long or as many countries visited as previous trips but still very enjoyable and rewarding. Scotland delivered a great experience – especially considering how hastily this was planned and booked – and I'm sure we'll be back.

Destination charging in particular proved to be very successful in Scotland (and England) with an overnight charge achieved at every hotel we stayed at.

 

[tigerbalm]

Hotels during our trip

Check-in	Check-out	Property Name	Location	Num of nights	Destination charger?	Notes
Dec 27	Dec 29	Radisson Blu Hotel	Edinburgh	2 days	TRUE	4 x 7kW AC chargers – easy availability – in hotel's public car park.
Dec 29	Dec 30	Ness Walk	Inverness	1 day	TRUE	9 x 22kW AC chargers and 2 x 50kW DC chargers – access managed by hotel welcoming team – in hotel's car park.
Dec 30	Jan 1	Dunalastair Hotel Suites	Pitlochry	2 days	TRUE	2 x 22kW AC chargers – nobody else used them during our stay – at rear of hotel.
Jan 1	Jan 2	Kimpton Blythswood Square Hotel, an IHG Hotel	Glasgow	1 day	TRUE	2 x 22kW AC chargers – public chargers right outside door of hotel run by ChargePlace Scotland – good availability when I was there.
Jan 2	Jan 3	Crowne Plaza Liverpool City Centre	Liverpool	1 day	TRUE	1 x 50kW DC charger – in hotel car park – available when I was there

 

[tigerbalm]

Trip Summary

From Porsche Connect Trip Control Screen

Day	Duration	Distance	Average Speed	Average Consumption
Dec 27, 2021	8 hours 46 mins	544 km	68 km/h	24.1 kWh/100km
Dec 28, 2021	No driving	N/A	N/A	N/A
Dec 29, 2021	4 hours 10 mins	258 km	63 km/h	23.6 kWh/100km
Dec 30, 2021	5 hours 59 mins	348 km	60 km/h	24.5 kWh/100 km
Dec 31, 2021	5 hours 54 mins	328 km	57 km/h	25.5 kWh/100 km
Jan 1, 2022	3 hours 16 mins	183 km	57 km/h	23.2 kWh/100 km
Jan 2, 2022	6 hours 10 mins	358 km	59 km/h	25.5 kWh/100 km
Jan 3, 2022	4 hours 1 mins	214 km	57 km/h	23.8 kWh/100km

Total distance: 2,233 km.

 

[tigerbalm]

First post updated with links to each day's report and summary data.

 

[Bluebeauty]

Thank you for posting about your road trip, Tigerbalm. Great read. Did much of the same route you described through Scotland a couple of years ago, in an ICE Audi. Would like to do again in an EV!

 

[TaycanRe]

Nice trip! Thanks for sharing ??

 

[tigerbalm]

Charging Summary

I converted any GBP£ charges into the actual Euro amount that hit either my bank account or that I was invoiced at.

Day	Location	Kind	Network	kWh	Cost (in €)
27 Dec 2021	Car Ferry	AC 7kW	PodPoint	8.3	€0.00
27 Dec 2021	MFG Crow Orchard	DC 150 kW	MFG	47.3	€17.65
27 Dec 2021	Gretna Green	DC 350 kW	IONITY	21.6	€7.77
27 Dec 2021	Radisson Blu Hotel	AC 7kW	None	59	€0.00
29 Dec 2021	Perth	DC 350 kW	IONITY	19.31	€6.94
29 Dec 2021	Ness Walk Hotel	DC 50 kW	Shell Recharge	47.54	€23.74
30 Dec 2021	Perth	DC 350 kW	IONITY	55.99	€20.14
30 Dec 2021	Dunalastair Hotel Suites	AC 22kW	Tesla Destination	30.05	€0.00
31 Dec 2021	Tesco	AC 7 kW	PodPoint	2.52	€0.00
31 Dec 2021	Grantown-on-Spey	DC 50 kW	ChargePlace Scotland	30.24	€0.00
31 Dec 2021	Dunalastair Hotel Suites	AC 22kW	Tesla Destination	46.2	€0.00
1 Dec 2022	Glasgow	AC 22kW	ChargePlace Scotland	48.5	€9.30
2 Dec 2022	Gretna Green	DC 350 kW	IONITY	21.57	€7.76
2 Dec 2022	MFG Crow Orchard	DC 150 kW	MFG	64	€23.96
2 Dec 2022	Crowne Plaza Liverpool	DC 50 kW	POLAR	13.50	€5.30
2 Dec 2022	Car Ferry	AC 7KW	PodPount	24.5	€0.00
Total				515.62	€122.56

A few observations:

• ChargePoint Scotland never charged for the call centre started charge in Grantown-on-Spey.
• I arrived back home in Ireland with a 71% state of charge – probably enough for a week or two's driving around Dublin. That charge is included in the figures above.
• A blended/average cost per kWh of 23.7 euro cent.
• IONITY costs for the speed of service delivers great value so long as you are getting the Porsche Charging Service discounted rate.
• With a total distance of 2,233 km – the energy cost per km was 5.4 euro cent. A little less considering I arrived home with a 3/4 full battery.
• Travelling on this road-trip I had to use a lot more charging services – compared to continental Europe where it was either destination chargers at hotels or IONITY.
• We need more IONITY in the UK.
• Where hotels provide paid destination charging – it tends to be pretty expensive – but I think if we want great destination charging facilities – we need to support the hotels that provide them.

 

[W1NGE]

Charging Summary

I converted any GBP£ charges into the actual Euro amount that hit either my bank account or that I was invoiced at.

Day	Location	Kind	Network	kWh	Cost (in €)
27 Dec 2021	Car Ferry	AC 7kW	PodPoint	8.3	€0.00
27 Dec 2021	MFG Crow Orchard	DC 150 kW	MFG	47.3	€17.65
27 Dec 2021	Gretna Green	DC 350 kW	IONITY	21.6	€7.77
27 Dec 2021	Radisson Blu Hotel	AC 7kW	None	59	€0.00
29 Dec 2021	Perth	DC 350 kW	IONITY	19.31	€6.94
29 Dec 2021	Ness Walk Hotel	DC 50 kW	Shell Recharge	47.54	€23.74
30 Dec 2021	Perty	DC 350 kW	IONITY	55.99	€20.14
30 Dec 2021	Dunalastair Hotel Suites	AC 22kW	Tesla Destination	30.05	€0.00
31 Dec 2021	Tesco	AC 7 kW	PodPoint	2.52	€0.00
31 Dec 2021	Grantown-on-Spey	DC 50 kW	ChargePlace Scotland	30.24	€0.00
31 Dec 2021	Dunalastair Hotel Suites	AC 22kW	Tesla Destination	46.2	€0.00
1 Dec 2022	Glasgow	AC 22kW	ChargePlace Scotland	48.5	€9.30
2 Dec 2022	Gretna Green	DC 350 kW	IONITY	21.57	€7.76
2 Dec 2022	MFG Crow Orchard	DC 150 kW	MFG	64	€23.96
2 Dec 2022	Crowne Plaza Liverpool	DC 50 kW	POLAR	13.50	€5.30
Total				515.62	€122.56

A few observations:

• ChargePoint Scotland never charged for the call centre started charge in Grantown-on-Spey.
• I arrived back home in Ireland with a 71% state of charge – probably enough for a week or two's driving around Dublin. That charge is included in the figures above.
• A blended/average cost per kWh of 23.7 euro cent.
• IONITY costs for the speed of service delivers great value so long as you are getting the Porsche Charging Service discounted rate.
• With a total distance of 2,233 km – the energy cost per km was 5.4 euro cent. A little less considering I arrived home with a 3/4 full battery.
• Travelling on this road-trip I had to use a lot more charging services – compared to Europe where it was either destination chargers at hotels or IONITY.
• We need more IONITY in the UK.
• Where hotels provide paid destination charging – it tends to be pretty expensive – but I think if we want great destination charging facilities – we need to support the hotels that provide them.

Shame your trip wasn't this week as the snow has just arrived!

 

[tigerbalm]

Shame your trip wasn't this week as the snow has just arrived!

Pix or it didn't happen! ?

 

[MrBeanPT]

Great post. Thanks! I did a road trip in Scotland a few years ago and I visited most of the same places as you, as you can Imagine.

I'm happy to see that you could do your trip without major charging issues. I'm a bit surprised at the final power consumption on the 23-25 kwh/100km range. I was expecting it to be slightly lower, especially considering that you were driving at very high speed on highways all the time. I was expecting something in the 19-21 range.

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