Road trips from Ireland to the UK and mainland Europe

Just on the tolls, you will ideally need someone in the passenger seat to pay them since you're on the wrong side of the car to be able to reach out to tap or drop coins in. Some countries have automatic tolls (like here) - Portugal is one that I know of, so check if you can get a toll tag if going there.

The other issue is overtaking on national roads. Not the easiest to do, but again passenger can help with this.

You will also have to check your headlights since these are asymmetrical and you may need to apply tape to the left hand headlight (or both) to avoid blinding oncoming drivers. Other options are a manual adjustment to the height and possibly no need to adjust at all. So check your vehicle to see what's required.

In France (and maybe some other countries) you are obliged to have a spare set of light bulbs in the car. This could be a problem with LEDs (haven't checked if there's a special dispensation for these). Also you need to carry high-vis vests for each occupant in the car (not in the boot) and warning triangle(s).

Best to check the requirements for each country you are visiting.

I've done it the other way round. Santander to Rosslare. That was in 2021 and it was basically a Ro-Ro ferry with minimal facilities on board.

Edit: Actually I tell a lie. It was from Bilbao with Brittany Ferries on the Connemara. I think they've changed that ship now, so might be a better class of ferry.

Not sure who (if any) are doing Santander. When you check BF website, it only comes up with Bilbao.

If you're going to southern Portugal (Algarve), the usual route from Bilbao is on the E-80 through Burgos and Salamanca (which is a stunning city). Charge points along that route aren't great (mostly 50kw). Worth checking Plugshare and other apps for details.

Edit: You can take the A62 from Salamanca into Portugal, but then you hit the Portuguese tolling which is automatic and expensive. I stayed in Spain for as long as possible.

As an addendum, I'm still receiving toll charge letters from 2019 when the hire car was supposed to have had a tag, but didn't. Studiously ignoring them. 😂

+1 for using A Better Route Planner, it takes all the thinking out

One bit of advice would be to set any networks you have better pricing with to preferred so the app prioritises them

I'd also put the locations of the charging stops into your car's satnav. Data roaming can be a bit slow and I've found my phone's GPS can be a bit erratic while driving, so having the onboard satnav as a backup is a smart choice

Check your insurance coverage and roadside assistance to see if they cover your destination. I had a flat tyre in the UK and had to wait for the AA van to come out and then bring the car to a tyre repair place. In the end I missed the ferry because of the delays

In that respect, I'd strongly recommend leaving yourself with a relatively short drive to the ferry on the way home. I had to cover 900km so any delay was going to make it difficult.

It wasn't a disaster in the end because I just got the next ferry a few hours later, however when the next ferry is over a day away then that would be a bigger hassle

If you're handy with cars you might consider bringing a spare wheel or something decent puncture repair supplies. Be aware that the majority of EVs don't carry a spare wheel and don't have space for them. They often have the repair gel kits but they're pretty useless and ruin the tyre, meaning it can't be repaired

In any case, be aware that any repair kits or spare tyres are typically only rated for 80km/h, so you'll be visiting a tyre shop in short order anyway

One other thing to bear in mind (if you intend to use your granny charger anywhere on the continent) is that your normal three pin travel adaptor will likely not work at all (no earth pin) and definitely will not be rated to carry the load.

The only solution I can find is from Tough Leads in the UK. Maybe somebody else has an alternative?

Yeah, I spotted that since. But I suppose you could always make one up yourself. Not too hard to get a hold of a 16A IP rated schuko and weatherproof three pin socket and join them with a short piece of 2.5 squared.

It doesn't mention this on the item in the Tesla shop. But EVSEadapters.com sell one that they say does this. It's more expensive than the one in the Tesla shop, so I suspect the Tesla one doesn't.

we did it last summer (to Bibao) in an EV. The ferry is really good and make sure you upgrade to the premium class as the cost is so worth it.

Charging in Northern Spain is not great although we did notice a lot of new installs that were not working but not yet working so hopefully its better this year. The good news is that since Spain does not really do EVs when you find a charger it is usually available.

Make sure you have Ibedrola, Repsol and Zunder apps fully setup and installed as well as Ionity. The Spanish apps look for your passport and a spanish address for some reason but you can use Iberdola'a HQ adress for this.

We stayed in Bilboa, San Sabastian and Biarritz over two weeks and finding chargers was challenging!

Looks like Ionity has decent coverage now, were they not up and running last year?

Two slightly random questions about Spain, I've heard the motorways are often quite empty because the tolls are also very expensive

I've also heard everyone drives at 150km/h over there because apparently you don't get penalty points for the first 20km/h over the speed limit

Any of that match your experience?

In my experience the motorways are busy enough. Have driven both the East and West of Spain and not found it much different from France in terms of busyness. Some spots very busy, others not so much. Tolls aren't too bad either. Certainly cheaper than France and a lot less prolific than Portugal.

Haven't seen any of the speeding you speak of either.

The one thing that drives me mad (and this is the case in France too) is the way they overtake on motorways. Drive right up to the vehicle they need to overtake to the point that they are matching speeds, then indicate and pull out. No waiting for a gap, just pull out with the obvious concertina effect of everyone having to drop to their speed until they get back up to motorway speed again. You're constantly hovering over the brake at busy spots because it happens so often.

@prawnsambo

the way they overtake on motorways. Drive right up to the vehicle they need to overtake to the point that they are matching speeds, then indicate and pull out. No waiting for a gap, just pull out with the obvious concertina effect of everyone having to drop to their speed until they get back up to motorway speed again. You're constantly hovering over the brake at busy spots because it happens so often.

What??? I've been driving continental motorways month-in-month-out for twenty years, and that's not how it is. Yes, the car behind will come right up to your bumper, but you're already doing motorway speed and you're in front so you won't be braking; then he'll zip out into the outer lane, overtake you at ten/twenty/fifty km/h faster than you, and will pull in in front of you if there's a gap, still going faster than you, so no unreasonable braking and rarely any concertina effect.

However, I do know that Irish drivers in particular can find it stressful because they have real trouble understanding that you're expected to stay the f**k in the right-hand lane unless you're overtaking, and you get back into it as soon as you've passed the slower vehicle, even if there's another one you'll have to overtake 500m further on. If it's a three-lane motorway and you're tootling along in the middle lane at 110, you will get flashed and hassled to "put manners on you" … especially if you're driving on foreign plates.

Oh I wasn't planning on it, just an anecdote I heard from a Spanish guy I work with

He does seem like the kind of guy who'd considered 150 too slow 🫣

Of course it doesn't make sense. Much easier and safer to overtake at speed and slip out into a gap because you've anticipated it by actually paying attention to the road ahead. But no. Drive up to the back of the damn thing, slow down to 80, indicate and pull out at the same time causing a concertina effect that on one occasion, south of Bordeaux brought the entire motorway to a standstill.

And please don't tell me what I did or didn't experience myself, many many times. Your experience may differ, but it sure as hell doesn't invalidate mine.

Was that when you became known as 'BailMeOut' :) ?

I'd recommend Zap Map, it's good for finding chargers in the UK

A better route planner is always great for planning long trips and charging stops

Ionity and Tesla apps are handy for the M6 as they have multiple hubs along the way. Ionity didn't have card readers last time I was there (almost 2 years ago now)

Tesla obviously only have card readers on the V4 superchargers and they're still fairly rare

BP Pulse could be useful because I believe their card readers take a £50 authorisation which puts you over the contactless limit in euros. Alternatively you can use Apple/Google pay and tap your phone

You might need to download an app for any AC chargers you're using as they aren't covered by the card payment rules. You'll likely have to deal with those on a case by case basis

Just to finish my question, took the new 65KW Kona two weeks ago, and found enough charging points along the way. Chester Services has a load of very high speed and medium speed chargers which are contactless pay. I thought I was in big trouble as the high speed chargers would not work for me (a hot day, a newbie or something else), yet worked for everybody else around me. A 50 metre spin in the carpark revealed 6 or 8 medium speed chargers which alleviated my worries at the start of the trip and more importantly the range anxiety worries of my passenger. Would have no issues taking the car again. Be aware of the high prices - I was paying 79 pence/Kw for the privilege.