7 Countries/2000 mile road trip in an SR+ - Observations from the continent

[Medved_77]

Trip was compliant with covid regulations in the UK and the European leg was permitted due to compassionate exemption.

1. Car details

• 2020 TM3 SR+
• No heat pump
• No aero covers
• 3rd party mud flaps front and rear
• Tyre pressures ~45 PSI
• 2021 Maps.
• 2021.4.18.2

2. Route Map
Scotland > England > Wales > England > Netherlands > Germany > Poland > Czechia > Slovakia

The detour to Pembrokeshire was for a wedding. As expected, this was the hardest part of the journey in terms of charging, however after fiddling with some engenie and podpoint account setup it wasn't too tricky.

3. Charges

4. Observations

I didn't make any alterations to my usual driving style, so no attempt at hypermiling or being cautious with the acceleration. I managed to have some fun on the auto-bahn. I've done similar trips in a BMW E39, E61, Audi A6 (all estate) and Jaguar X308 so they're a point of reference for my observations.

• The car knew I was in NL and the LTE signal was active before I'd disembarked the ferry. I'd read about the need to reset the car when arriving on the continent but this was not required.
• Being able to quickly switch the display from miles to KM was really useful.
• Autopilot seemed a lot more confident, far less jerky compared to the UK. I don't enjoy using it in the UK but did around 20% of the trip with it in Europe.
• No phantom breaking issues occurred. I passed loads of curtain sided lorries and when passing noticed they jumped away from the car on the visualisation rather than toward the car.
• The speed sign recognition and map speed is dangerously wrong, especially in Germany. Many issues of no speed limit enforced where it was actually 120 and failure to recognise reduced speed limits due to roadworks. It's often hard to know what the speed limit is when in a foreign country, especially if the limit is enforced when certain conditions apply, and you don't understand the language that's written below the speed limit. I'll probably setup waze for the return leg, just to handle the speed limits.
• Speed limits aside, the navigation was spot on, It's really clever how it works out which superchargers you need to visit and for how long.
• The leg between Dresden and Wroclaw was probably the tightest for range, I was advised to charge to 100% to arrive with 6%. I was also told to keep my speed under 120kph, I did this for the first 10 minutes, the warning then went away, and ultimately I arrived with 21%, far more than the 6% forecast.
• I was flashed once by an oncoming vehicle when my lights were dipped, so not sure if that was just a friendly local or if the lights would benefit from some adjustment to driving on the right hand side of the road.
• Many of the superchargers visited were on the forecourts of petrol stations (Gulf, Shell, Orlen). This makes sense to me yet not something I've seen in the UK yet.

Overall I found the SR+ to be a comfortable and competent tourer compared to my previous rides. Most of the time I was ready to stop and take a break when I needed to charge. I suspect with the LR or P I would have been able to reduce the charges stops/time charging and make the journey a bit quicker.
The EU leg took around 19 hours including stops, by the time I got to Poland though, I think I was probably the slow factor rather than the car as I'd already been driving for around 14 hours at that point.

I'm due to drive back in a month, fingers crossed the FSD/EAP subscription is active then as I'd love to activate that for the return leg.

Many thanks to @spdpsba and @noelebob as your Tesla Referral miles covered this trip, ultimately I spent around £30 to do the 1985 miles.

 

[Mr H]

I've been considering a drive down to Spain now we've got parole but the 3 test requirement is stopping me, maybe they'll lift the rules a bit more later on

 

[Mr Miserable]

Thanks for posting this.
How were the border crossings? Were you delayed for COVID checks etc? Did the Dutch search your car for ham sandwiches? (Blame the Daily Mail for this question!)
I ask because I have a similar journey to Hungary in the planning stage at the moment.

 

[Medved_77]

Thanks for posting this.
How were the border crossings? Were you delayed for COVID checks etc? Did the Dutch search your car for ham sandwiches? (Blame the Daily Mail for this question!)
I ask because I have a similar journey to Hungary in the planning stage at the moment.

Long story short I showed my negative PCR test to the Stena ticket man, my passport to the Dutch border control and was wished a pleasant trip.

I researched for weeks the various rules for the countries I was transitting which of course all changed the day before I was due to leave. I prepared a note with many translations for the purpose of my visit, my intended route, letter from the family doctor, marriage certificate, vaccination status etc. None of it was required.

The only border control I came across after arriving in Holland was between CZ > SK. They waved me through and then stopped the local who was behind me.

I think there are now forms that you can complete to exempt yourself from quarantine in some countries so look into those and print before departure.

Also, regular PCR tests are valid for 72 hours from the time of test but 48 of those hours are spent awaiting results. I used a same day service with Vivio, taken in a hotel near Heathrow, test was at 3pm, results guaranteed same day and got the all clear at 8.30pm which meant I could get the ferry that evening and still have plenty of time to transit.

Let me know if you want any more details about the testing company and good luck for the trip.

 

[ACarneiro]

Trip was compliant with covid regulations in the UK and the European leg was permitted due to compassionate exemption.

I don’t think this preamble was required. Your circumstances are your own and none of our business.
All my best wishes for whatever your compassionate reason for travelling was.

 

[speedyranger74]

Very impressive!
From 16th August will be my turn for a long trip, the second time, from near London -Folkestone - France - Belgium - Germany - Austria- Hungary - Romania some where to Black Sea (hopefully the Sun will be in place hahaha).
On the previous trip, FSD was active almost all the time and except for (maybe) 15-20 phantoms braking was brilliant. This was on May 2020. So, expecting the trip to be a lot better because I don't experienced the phantom braking from November 2020 (beta 9 i don't think will land here in mean time... but I wish).
All the best!

 

[BMW740iL]

The speed sign recognition and map speed is dangerously wrong, especially in Germany. Many issues of no speed limit enforced where it was actually 120 and failure to recognise reduced speed limits due to roadworks. It's often hard to know what the speed limit is when in a foreign country, especially if the limit is enforced when certain conditions apply, and you don't understand the language that's written below the speed limit. I'll probably setup waze for the return leg, just to handle the speed limits.

I can recommend the free of charge Flitsmeister app for iOs and Android. It is by far the best community driven early warning system. Enjoy your ride back home!

Flitsmeister.com - Real-time traffic information for your car

Use Flitsmeister together with over 2,6 million other drivers and eliminate frustrations in traffic.

www.flitsmeister.com

NB You dont need to use the paid Pro subscription although I also recommend to support Flitsmeister as they will save you lots of money in speeding fines

 

[Medved_77]

I can recommend the free of charge Flitsmeister app for iOs and Android. It is by far the best community driven early warning system. Enjoy your ride back home!

Flitsmeister.com - Real-time traffic information for your car

Use Flitsmeister together with over 2,6 million other drivers and eliminate frustrations in traffic.

www.flitsmeister.com

NB You dont need to use the paid Pro subscription although I also recommend to support Flitsmeister as they will save you lots of money in speeding fines

Thanks for the tip! Installed now, I like how it starts up automatically based on movement.

 

[spdpsba]

Long story short I showed my negative PCR test to the Stena ticket man, my passport to the Dutch border control and was wished a pleasant trip.

I researched for weeks the various rules for the countries I was transitting which of course all changed the day before I was due to leave. I prepared a note with many translations for the purpose of my visit, my intended route, letter from the family doctor, marriage certificate, vaccination status etc. None of it was required.

The only border control I came across after arriving in Holland was between CZ > SK. They waved me through and then stopped the local who was behind me.

I think there are now forms that you can complete to exempt yourself from quarantine in some countries so look into those and print before departure.

Also, regular PCR tests are valid for 72 hours from the time of test but 48 of those hours are spent awaiting results. I used a same day service with Vivio, taken in a hotel near Heathrow, test was at 3pm, results guaranteed same day and got the all clear at 8.30pm which meant I could get the ferry that evening and still have plenty of time to transit.

Let me know if you want any more details about the testing company and good luck for the trip.

Yes I would like some more info regarding the testing Adam. Hope you are all ok.

 

[Medved_77]

Very impressive!
From 16th August will be my turn for a long trip, the second time, from near London -Folkestone - France - Belgium - Germany - Austria- Hungary - Romania some where to Black Sea (hopefully the Sun will be in place hahaha).
On the previous trip, FSD was active almost all the time and except for (maybe) 15-20 phantoms braking was brilliant. This was on May 2020. So, expecting the trip to be a lot better because I don't experienced the phantom braking from November 2020 (beta 9 i don't think will land here in mean time... but I wish).
All the best!

The Romanian part of that trip sounds really interesting. Not driven in Romania but suspect the motorways are reasonably well maintained. I have driven in Serbia and would avoid any routing through there as those are probably the worst roads I've driven in Europe and their border guards are particularly fierce.

I had a quick look at the Supercharger map and it seems that you can get to the black sea using superchargers exclusively:

Constanta for example is only 140 miles from the SuC in Bucharest.

You can see there's been a good amount of thought been put into the locations of the superchargers. From the UK it looks like (even in an SR+) you could get as far North East as Moscow or South East as Istanbul, without needing to use non-Tesla chargers. With more sites due to open in Turkey that'll soon join the dots all the way to the Red Sea!

 

[Medved_77]

Just to follow up with the return leg:

Split over 3 days this time (had the kids with me) so overnight in Germany then got the ferry to Newcastle from Amsterdam which cut out a a significant chunk of miles.

Didn't have to queue for any super chargers en route, all worked flawlessly as I've come to expect:

The double charge at Nossen was due to changing stalls to allow an e-tron owner to access the only working (non-Tesla) stall which was adjacent to a supercharger, but due to cable length and the position of his charge port being in the front wing meant that he couldn't use his stall if a Tesla was charging in the adjacent stall.

Overall I think this car is an awesome tourer. Wouldn't hesitate to do this length of trip again.

 

[dziny]

Thanks for sharing (from a fellow slovakian) living in Edinburgh! I've considered doing the trip this summer in my LR M3 (2021) but Ryanair tickets were too cheap for it so my car is waiting for me in the garage...

 

[Medved_77]

12 countries, 3,200mile road trip booked for this summer.

 

[spdpsba]

12 countries, 3,200mile road trip booked for this summer.

View attachment 935437

Why M69, M6 instead of M74, A1M - is it just to avoid Gretna green etc.,?

 

[Medved_77]

Why M69, M6 instead of M74, A1M - is it just to avoid Gretna green etc.,?

I haven't planned the trip around avoiding specific superchargers so this is just google suggesting the quickest route.

First leg heads across the channel from Newcastle, so need to go down the east side. Typically, heading up the west coast from the South of England is much quicker although a longer distance. I much prefer the M6+M74 vs the A1(M) and A1. Getting stuck behind caravans on a single straight carriageway built by Romans makes it tricky to overtake as they weren't known for building around hills. Plus they seem to have installed speed cameras on any stretch where you can actually see far enough to assess whether the road is clear!

 

[Mr H]

We try to do a long road trip each year but this time we're going to the Land of the Rising Sun so it will be 200mph trains instead.

 

[spdpsba]

12 countries, 3,200mile road trip booked for this summer.

View attachment 935437

Hi
Have you done this long trip? I am planning something to Italy this summer so was wondering whether I can check with you regarding the charger bits of information in Europe?

 

[Mrklaw]

Hi
Have you done this long trip? I am planning something to Italy this summer so was wondering whether I can check with you regarding the charger bits of information in Europe?

we drove from windsor - eurotunnel - through france/switzerland to basically the mont blanc tunnel (stayed in switzerland though). It made me think about doing an Italy road trip. We had a toll pass RF thing and stuck to the main roads and it was great. I planned stops based on when we might want to stop but there are so many aires in France and lots of charge points I almost think you could do the whole of Calais-Swiss border without even planning anything. Perhaps try and do stopovers at hotels with destination chargers or nearby rapids which helped us a lot. but the on-road part was piss easy.

Mostly superchargers but also did a fastned which just happened to be at a service area we stopped at to save time and that was contactless payment so didn't use any apps or RFID cards etc.

Don't know about Italy though but at least getting to it should be stress free.

 

[Medved_77]

Hi
Have you done this long trip? I am planning something to Italy this summer so was wondering whether I can check with you regarding the charger bits of information in Europe?

Leaving on Monday!

I've not done Italy in an EV but have driven there quite a bit in a few ICE cars. For charging on the main route, I'd suggest just not worrying about it and letting Tesla do it's thing. On my last trip across Europe I'd planned out the stops meticulously with ABRP, that plan was just unnecessary and quickly became inconvenient to remember where I'd pre-planned to stop. I followed the Tesla nav suggestions instead. It'll have a better understanding of local conditions on the day than ABRP, IMO.

Charging at/around the destination may take a bit more forethought. If you're planning to use the UMC, Italy seems to have 3 variants of the Schuko. Type C being the standard you'll find in Europe, Type F with the earth clips on either side, then they also have the Type L, which is 3 horizontal round pins. Tesla sell an adapter for this in their store (as well as the regular Schuko), you may want to pick it up if you think you can charge at your accommodation (and reach the socket), otherwise, public chargers support type 2 and CCS.

I'm planning to use Octopus Electroverse for local public charging. The idea of having a single card that's operable with many providers that gets billed back to your home electricity bill is really appealing. Eastern Europe has surprisingly good coverage, worth checking if the same for Italy.

Feel free to send a DM if you'd prefer.

 

[Medved_77]

Octopus Electroverse map for Italy:

Electroverse | Charge point map

A map of all EV charge points in the Electroverse

electroverse.octopus.energy