Renault Zoe ZE50 Iconic – Road trip report

Glen & Sadie took a road trip in their Renault Zoe electric car.

Introducing your road trip

Carbis Bay mid-week break, 200 miles into Cornwall and back with many chargers faulty on the route!

Planning & preparation

Sadie’s birthday break was four days at Carbis Bay Estate. We planned a top-up charge in Truro on the outward leg and again on the return at Bodmin as there were only Tesla chargers on site at the hotel. Zap-Map and Pod Point apps were used to locate usable chargers, before we left over 70% of chargers en route were faulty or out of service! I also have various RFID cards as back up, Shell, Be.EV, GeniePoint etc.

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Charging

Leaving Newton Abbot with a full charge, we reached Bodmin and decided to go to Tesco Extra at Redruth as it has four connectors and we had lunch for an hour or so whilst we charged via Pod Point 7kw free units. We arrived at our hotel with 75% charge. On leaving we stopped at Cornwall services where there was only one Ecotricity Type 2 connector which a Tesla was using. After a 20 min wait we plugged in and whoop it was on free vend, headed home after a full charge after eating a Cornish pasty each on St Piran’s Day.

Did you encounter any great driving roads on your road trip?

The A30 through Cornwall and Bodmin Moor is breath-taking on a sunny day, with many Heritage tin mine pump houses, wind turbines and solar fields…some great sustainable solutions going on down there.

The electric car

Zoe drove fantastic, we were in no rush, we drove at an average 4.5 miles pkWh at a steady 65mph. She is great on an open road, very comfortable and responsive. The lane assist mode is very good and keeps you from drifting.

Road trip conclusion

Yes a very successful trip, we avoided faulty chargers and didn’t pay a penny to charge! The hills and dips on the route are good for regen and the views over the Tamar and Cornwall’s mining history made It more pleasant.