Polestar 2 LRSM 2025 – Road trip report: Kent to Catalunya

David M drove from Faversham, Kent to Tamariu, Catalunya, Spain in his Polestar 2 79kWh.

Introducing your road trip

We left home at 4:15 am for the 30-minute drive to the Eurotunnel. We checked in and were allocated a train an hour earlier than booked, so we drove straight round the terminal to passport control and onto the 5:24am departure. It left on-time and we arrived in Calais to drizzle. We wanted to avoid Paris so we drive down to Rouen and just outside Boulogne our autoroute toll tag worked at the first booth. It saves so much time compared to the passenger reaching out to take the ticket and then finding a credit card to pay at the autoroute exit. I’d also signed up to Tesla’s Supercharging Membership for £9.99 for a month.

We arrived at Val De Reuil Supercharger at 9:30 am. While charging, we had a hot chocolate and comfort break at the adjacent Mercure hotel and returned to the car after 35 minutes. We then took the N154 via Dreux to Chartres, where we stopped at the E.Leclerc hypermarket to pick up pastries for the journey down the A10/A71 autoroute to our next charging stop at Tesla Bourges. Here, we had sandwiches and coffee in the car and a comfort break at the Ace Hotel while waiting.

We continued along the A71 to Clermont-Ferrand and then onto the free A75 to Issoire. Just before Issoire we were delayed about 15 minutes by a section of contraflow around roadworks (our only delay on the whole trip!) We then stopped at the Carrefour supermarket for coffee and refreshments and topped up the charge on the Carrefour Energies 300kW chargers.

We continued down the A75 with spectacular scenery and the hills still covered in snow (mid-April ) to our Logis Hotel Les 2 Rives, just off the autoroute at Banassac. We had a lovely dinner, an excellent night’s sleep and a good breakfast. The hotel did have a 100kW charger but at €0.84 per kWh it was too expensive. In the morning the autoroute was deserted and it was a beautiful, sunny morning drive over the Millau bridge to the Tesla Supercharger at Le Bosc. We then rejoined the autoroute to Béziers, via the toll booth, to the A9 and then travelled along the Mediterranean coast to the Spanish border. The Pyrenees peaks were also snow covered! After 15 miles, we left the motorway at Figueres and took the local roads via Begur to Tamariu with 24% charge remaining. When we arrived at our destination, we plugged into our Rolec charger to charge to 90% using solar power.

Summary

Mileage: 812 miles & total cost of charging, €71.45
diesel in France was €2.40 per litre, petrol was €2.25 per litre.

Planning & preparation

I used ABRP (A Better Routeplanner) free app to plan the route. Use the filter to select chargers rated at over 150kW with Tesla as a preferred operator. The Polestar 2 uses Google Maps as the sat nav, so I inputted the charging stops from ABRP to the saved route in the car. Subscribing to the Tesla Supercharging Membership reduces the typical cost from €0.50 per kW to €0.34. As we do the trip 3 times a year we have a ulys autoroute payment tag which costs €2.20 per month used; it saves significant time at the toll booths. You also need a Crit’Air sticker for travel through the Rouen tunnel (and all other French cities with a population over 150,000 people). You also need to carry your vehicle registration certificate and your insurance documents. Also, don’t forget hi-vis vests for everyone in the car and a warning triangle (2 when driving in Spain).

Charging

We charged 4 times. Our preference were the Tesla Superchargers because they are quick and the cheapest. Membership at £9.99 per month reduces the cost from a typical €0.50 per kW to €0.34. The first charge on our trip at Val de Reuil cost €0.24 per kWh because that station had a reduced cost period from midnight to 10am. The Tesla app provides details of the costs at the respective charging station.

Charge 1 – Tesla Supercharger Val de Reuil: 56.4kWh @ €0.24 per kWh, total €13.53, time 41 minutes
Charge 2 – Tesla Supercharger Bourges: 54.6kWh @ €0.34 per kWh, total €18.56, time 36 minutes
Charge 3 – Carrefour Energies 300kW Issoire: 44kWh @ €0.52 per kWh (with 8% Electroverse discount), total €22.88, time 31 minutes
Charge 4 – Tesla Supercharger Le Bosc: 48.4 kWh @ €0.34 per kWh, total €16.45, time 30 minutes.

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

A71 free motorway from Clermont Ferrand to Béziers – the scenery was spectacular, the road was fairly quiet, and it includes the Millau Viaduct. Watch the speed limits as there are many changes from 130 to 110 kph and tunnel sections at 90 kph.

Polestar 2

The Polestar 2 is a superb cruising car: quiet, quick & responsive. I particularly like the adaptive cruise control and the ability to set the speed easily to match the speed limits.