The best of times and the worst of times...
Discussion
Really don't post very much at all anymore, but wanted to break that tradition with a quick story about our journey north over the bank holiday weekend. The trip was Surrey to Glasgow and back again for a family celebration. We didn't want to do it in a single go so broke the journey both ways with an overnight stay.
For context, we have a 2022 Polestar 2 with the small battery (64kw) and single motor. On full charge the car says we should get around 220 miles of range. We haven't really done many longer trips in the car - it's mainly used for the school run, the supermarket etc. etc.
The good bits:
- Car was great, particularly on the motorway. Comfy and quiet(ish) - the Volvo seats are a real bonus.
- The Google enabled charger search really came into its own. Didn't use Zapmap at all - the car took care of everything.
- Only needed to stop to charge for a max of 30/40mins and only ended up needing one more charging app to add to the collection I think we all have on our phones
- Shout out to the public chargers at Porsche garages - particularly the one at Porsche Centre South Lakes (M6 heading south). A friend mentioned these as a bit of secret winner - he wasn't wrong!
The bad bits:
- Public charging in Scotland is a bit all over the place. It used to be free from the Scottish Govt. Now it's not. Fair enough, but it means that you end up dealing with the Charge Place Scotland website, which is crap. Got double charged at least once and having to challenge the charge via my bank.
- Be very careful about overstay charges. I tried to charge the car up in central Glasgow. Eventually managed to get the charger working and enter my credit card details. However, buried in the T&C's is a £40 charge if you try and stay for more than 2 hours. On a 15kw charger that doesn't get you much juice at all before you have to leave.
- And watch out for parking charges in Charge Place Scotland bays!
All of the bad bits came together when charging in Glasgow as not only did I get double charged, I also forgot to pay for parking (£30 ticket) and stayed over the 2 hour limit (another £40). All in I paid £135 for 29kw of charge. Some of that was my own stupid fault, but still, ouch...
Saying all that, will definitely be taking the car on long trips again. Family enjoyed the trip and the charging wasn't as tricky as I thought it might be
For context, we have a 2022 Polestar 2 with the small battery (64kw) and single motor. On full charge the car says we should get around 220 miles of range. We haven't really done many longer trips in the car - it's mainly used for the school run, the supermarket etc. etc.
The good bits:
- Car was great, particularly on the motorway. Comfy and quiet(ish) - the Volvo seats are a real bonus.
- The Google enabled charger search really came into its own. Didn't use Zapmap at all - the car took care of everything.
- Only needed to stop to charge for a max of 30/40mins and only ended up needing one more charging app to add to the collection I think we all have on our phones
- Shout out to the public chargers at Porsche garages - particularly the one at Porsche Centre South Lakes (M6 heading south). A friend mentioned these as a bit of secret winner - he wasn't wrong!
The bad bits:
- Public charging in Scotland is a bit all over the place. It used to be free from the Scottish Govt. Now it's not. Fair enough, but it means that you end up dealing with the Charge Place Scotland website, which is crap. Got double charged at least once and having to challenge the charge via my bank.
- Be very careful about overstay charges. I tried to charge the car up in central Glasgow. Eventually managed to get the charger working and enter my credit card details. However, buried in the T&C's is a £40 charge if you try and stay for more than 2 hours. On a 15kw charger that doesn't get you much juice at all before you have to leave.
- And watch out for parking charges in Charge Place Scotland bays!
All of the bad bits came together when charging in Glasgow as not only did I get double charged, I also forgot to pay for parking (£30 ticket) and stayed over the 2 hour limit (another £40). All in I paid £135 for 29kw of charge. Some of that was my own stupid fault, but still, ouch...
Saying all that, will definitely be taking the car on long trips again. Family enjoyed the trip and the charging wasn't as tricky as I thought it might be
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