‘Cardiff Road Trip’ unsurprisingly drove from Fife, Scotland to Cardiff in his Nissan ARIYA Engage 87kWh 2023.
Introducing your road trip
Travelling from Fife, Scotland to Cardiff in my Nissan ARIYA to see our new granddaughter (three days only).
Planning & preparation
I used the Zapmap app to source charging stations. You get a free premium subscription free for the first three years via Nissan. I took the M90 to Edinburgh then the B702 to join the M74 at Abington (15-mile detour near Biggar though!) then onto the M6 to the M5 West and finally the M50 to Cardiff.
Charging
First stop for refreshments and charging was Moto Services Lancaster. There was no queue, I plugged straight in and the GRIDSERVE charger worked faultlessly. It was charging around 70-80kW costing £42. The ARIYA was at 25% charge when we started and 90% when we left one hour later.
Next charge was at ‘Blue Diamond Three Shires’ for an allegedly quick charge. We had 30% charge left and probably could have made Cardiff but were just playing it safe. It took five different chargers and two calls to MER and then an app download before charging actually started. Their contactless part of the equipment failed. I was able to charge via the app and charging went seamlessly after that. It was drawing 75kW costing £19 for 25 minutes.
Next charge was at Freemans Parc, Cardiff using ESB Energy – 1 hour charging, £32 and charging at 70-80kW. Faultless.
On the way home we stopped at Welcome Break Charnock Richard North Services, Chorley. I used AppleGreen Electric drawing 90-100kW with 20% charge left in the car. I charged to 95% for one hour totalling £47. Excellent chargers.
Last stop was at Roadchef Annandale Water M74 for a quick charge. I used a GRIDSERVE charger costing £13, taking 15 mins. Faultless again.
Did you encounter any great driving roads on your road trip? If so, where were they and why were they great?
No, just the usual drive to Cardiff!
The Nissan ARIYA
The car performed faultlessly, averaging 3.5 miles per kW. I had the cruise control set to 65 mph for much of the journey and the heating was on 50% of the journey too. It was my first time driving a long distance with this car and it was very comfortable.
Road trip conclusion
The trip was very successful particularly as I got to see my granddaughter. Apart from the small glitch at Blue Diamond I will be repeating the same journey many more times now that I’ve done it in the ARIYA. There have certainly been more charging stations installed on the M6/M74 motorways over the last year and long may it continue!
See other road trip reports here
