Beano drove from Hertfordshire to Cumbria and back in his Hyundai Kona Ultimate 64kWh 2021.
Introducing your road trip
Hertfordshire to North Sea Coast to Cumbria and back.
Planning & preparation
We had accommodation all booked for the outbound journey, up to a week near Barrow-In-Furness. I had my Zap-Map and WattsUp all ready to go, checked the tyre pressures, loaded up and got under way.
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Charging
The vast majority of charging stops were at InstaVolt, one stop at a Fastned & one overnight on a destination charger. Most of the InstaVolts were at Booths supermarkets in Cumbria. Incredibly handy for the loo, coffee and a bit of shopping. Only one required queuing, for just under 10 minutes on a Saturday lunchtime, while all four stalls were occupied. We routed through Norwich Gridserve on our home bound journey that took in North Norfolk and the Suffolk coastline.
Other InstaVolts, on the east side of the country from Lincolnshire to Yorkshire were at coffee chains and were just ideal for refreshment stops and leg stretches. Apart from a couple of times finding all stalls were occupied there was absolutely no issues in getting charge.
Did you encounter any great driving roads on your road trip? If so, where were they and why were they great?
Buttertubs Pass (and other Dales roads) in Yorkshire and the great roads in the Lake District. The latter I suggest using very early in the morning to get the best enjoyment! I went on various hikes, hence early morning starts! All were ideal for ‘bimbling’ around at moderate pace in peace and comfort, with a great feeling that you were contributing nothing to the detriment of the environment.
The electric car itself
The Kona is not the biggest car, of course, but this was just for two people. With some spirited and moderate driving the range was more than adequate. At several points the GOM showed 300 miles, once after an overnight destination charge it was at 329 and the Kona is confidence-inspiring at delivering the GOM figures reliably. We could honestly forget about worrying on the range with plenty in reserve for detours and whims.
Road trip conclusion
The car was faultless, just leaving the journey to be enjoyed. Couldn’t recommend the ease of an EV road trip enough.
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