SheilaD drove from Reading to Seaton Sluice (Northumberland) in her Nissan LEAF e+ 62kWh 2019 electric car.
Introducing your road trip
Reading to Seaton Sluice (Northumberland) on the hottest day of the year after returning from holiday in the USA.
Planning & preparation
My youngest son ensured the car was at 100% before driving it from his home (Basingstoke) to Reading Rail Link bus stop.
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Charging
I drove fairly carefully up to Oxford and onto the M40 and unless actually overtaking, I kept the speed to 65mph. Obviously, I had the air con going the entire trip as at one point on the M1 the temperature was flashing at 42c outside. I stopped to charge on the Gridserve Rapid on the M1 at Tibshelf services; the charge was really slow (guessing due to the heat) but got enough in 45 minutes to get me home. The car was flashing — miles left as I drove into my village! But I was so pleased with my LEAF’s performance on such a hot day.
Did you encounter any great driving roads on your road trip? If so, where were they and why were they great?
Very slow (but very pretty) drive on the back roads up to Oxford M40. It probably helped conserve power and keep the car from overheating.
The Nissan LEAF
Leafy performed like the star she is. The air conditioning kept us both beautifully cool. We had two adults and a month’s worth of luggage for us both, so pretty well laden but an absolutely faultless 300 mile drive on a blisteringly hot day. We saw many more cars than usual on the hard shoulder so I am guessing that the heat did for some of them at least.
Road trip conclusion
A great success all-round. I would happily do it again. As I usually do, I always stop at the charger BEFORE my range drops too far in case of being out of order or queues. Tibshelf services was not actually necessary, I could have gone onto one of the next two services but it makes for peace of mind and stops range anxiety.
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