David M drove from Faversham, Kent to Tamariu, Costa Brava in his Polestar 2 78kWh Long Range Single Motor 2022.
Introducing your road trip
Faversham, Kent to Tamariu, Costa Brava (812 miles) with an overnight stop at Clermont Ferrand. We have travelled this route many times. From the Channel Tunnel we go down to Rouen, across country on the N154 to Chartres then down the autoroute to Clermont Ferrand, Milleu bridge, Beziers then along the Med into Spain. Tamariu is 55 miles south of the border.
Planning & preparation
I’ve completed this journey many times but this was only the third time in an all-electric car. Planned route on ABRP app, selecting Tesla & IONITY as preferred chargers. I subscribed to Tesla charging to get the lowest price (I will cancel subscription when we return in 3 weeks). Downloaded the route (with charging stops) to Google Maps in the car.
Charging
- 1st charge with IONITY, Aire Baie de Somme – used Electroverse card and charged to 85% (24kW), 19 minutes (time for coffee and comfort break) = £11.12
- 2nd stop Tesla Supercharger, Chartres – phone signal weak so it took 3 attempts to connect, 35 minutes to charge to 87% (59kW) = 17.7 euros
- 3rd stop Tesla, Vierzon – failed to connect (phone problem) gave up after 10 minutes and drove to next services. Used IONITY with Electroverse card, gained immediate connection (30.7kW), 17 minutes = £13.91
- 4th stop Tesla Supercharger, Clermont Ferrand – charged to 99%, (65kW), 1 hour = 22.10 euros
- 5th stop – Tesla Supercharger, Le Bosch – again unable to get phone to connect. Drove 10 miles to Freshmile fast charger at Clermont-l’Herault (44.9kW), 20minutes = 20.82 euros.
Arrived at Tamariu with 11%charge & 32 miles of range.
Did you encounter any great driving roads on your road trip? If so, where were they and why were they great?
The A75 over the Milleu bridge is fantastic. Around St Cloud there had been snow overnight and the scenery was picturesque with snow covered trees and fields although the snow had been cleared from the autoroute.
The Polestar 2
The Polestar 2 is so quiet and responsive. In spite of heavy rain on day 1 with the wipers on most of the trip, I still enjoyed driving the car and was still relaxed when we stopped for the overnight stay.
Road trip conclusion
I’ve previously completed this trip without any issues at the Tesla Superchargers. On checking, I think the problem was the phone was trying to connect on non-existent Wi-Fi. I will make sure it is turned off next time so I can connect via mobile data.
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