‘IsSpainreallyready?’ drove from St Albans to Portsmouth and then Bilbao to Nerja, Spain in his Kia EV6.

Introducing your road trip with your Kia EV6

We started from our home in St Albans and travelled to Portsmouth for the ferry to Bilbao. We travelled from there to Nerja via Zaragoza, Albacete and Almeria. For the return trip, we stopped at Manzanares, Tordesillas and Santander, where we eventually got the ferry back to Portsmouth and then home.

Planning & preparation

We used Kia Connect, Chargemap, the IONITY app and others via the internet before setting off.

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Charging 

I found IONITY fine but there were half a dozen fast chargers in Logrono and we couldn’t get any of them to work. They were either not functioning or wouldn’t start. As a result, we had to be rescued by a recovery service, see the jolly pic below. Dog had to ride with us in the lorry cab! But a smashing charger at Repsol in Zaragoza, along with a sound breakfast got us going again. It is vital that chargers are easy to find and reliable.

We had other problems in both directions with chargers not working or sometimes only working after calling the helpdesk. Out of a dozen or more chargers only four actually worked without trouble, with most not working at all. The one in Portsmouth on the way back worked just fine thankfully.

Reliability is a big issue in Spain and can anyone explain to me why we cannot pay for charging with a credit card in the same way we pay for petrol or indeed anything else??? Beats me and the multiplicity of apps and cards is ridiculous.

Did you encounter any great driving roads on your road trip? If so, where were they and why were they great?

Spanish roads are generally good.

The Kia EV6

Fine, not an issue. It is charger performance that matters!

Road trip conclusion

Still a good trip but reliability of chargers is key.

See other road trip reports here