Great posts, @gothitjulie.
Echo your comments re the app.
I’ve just come back from a few days in Scotland. 900 miles of free charging! Easy…anything but. Lots of problems with the CYC app not working. Lots of chargers not working. They all have lcd screens but it seems beyond them to have an out of order message. Getting soaked when it pelts down trying to get the charger to work while trying to get through to Chargeplace Scotland isn’t exactly a stress buster!!
Ullapool to Callander – the first two chargers tried not working.
Callander to Eyemouth – app shows the perfect charging point at the harbour car park in Eyemouth. Brilliant! I decided to check on ZapMap and there’s a user uploaded pic showing that the car park is closed! Decided to stop elsewhere to charge before arrival. Sure enough, when I got to Eyemouth the car park was completely fenced off. I could see the EV charging point but no way to access it!
To summarise, whilst rapid charging is free in Scotland, the infrastructure is poor and none working charging stations are commonplace. Don’t rely on the app, get the Rfid card. Expect to have a plan B and C ready.
Motorway running – my DS3 Crossback E-Tense would have managed approx 150 at best on the worst day, doing around 60mph. This was quite cold, belting down, with heating, demisters and headlights on. Obviously, on the motorway, there’s really no regenerative braking putting charge back into the battery.
At home, around the doors, I can manage the equivalent of 210 to 220 so a big difference. Really cold winter weather will reduce these figures but I’m unlikely to do many motorway miles then too.