Random EV thoughts.....

We have an MG ZS for 4 months, 7,000km clocked up but only ever charged at home by zappi. Current 100% GOM is giving about 480km.

We're going to Dublin on Sunday for the All-Ireland final.

We'll be travelling up the M6, any suggestions as to where to charge en route, we'll be stopping for food in both directions.

I was thinking the Tesla superchargers in Johnstown or Enfield services.

Tesla Supercharger Enfield all day long… 6 chargers all up to 250kW, and the hotel serve lovely food.

An inbound top up here gets you in and out of the city comfortably and a top up again on the return trip home will see you through….

I wouldn’t stop in Enfield services…. Last time I was there I had to wade through piss to get to the toilets… Johnstown House is a lovely hotel with great bar food and clean facilities.

Perfect, thanks a million for the suggestions

Stupid question but I presume my DC connection is compatible with the superchargers? Also what rate of charge (Charging: 1 phase AC: 7.2 kW max. 3 phase AC: 11 kW max. DC: 75/94 kW max (SR/LR)) should I be looking at when connected, it's a LR model so will I get close to the 94kW and after the drive from Clare should the battery be warm enough for optimum speed?

also, if you are in having food, the car could be well finished charging before you’re finished eating, so make sure to be aware of when it stops charging to move it as Tesla charge €1/min for overstaying…

ESB will give you a slap on an ass cheek for overstaying, but Tesla will remove your pants and violate you for doing same.

Fastned has lots of charging curves but unfortunately not for your model. Here is a link for different MG models

https://www.fastnedcharging.com/en/brands-overview/mg

As you can see the charging power is not flat during the charge.

As to why and what affects it a quite interesting read is here

https://www.fastnedcharging.com/en/stories/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-fast-charging

I think Tesla enfield is probably the best option. for westbound make sure you get a reciept at the toll as you'll come up to another toll booth as you try get back on the M6. If you press the button just say you've already been through the main toll going westbound , they just asked had I reciept and I said I did and they opened the barrier. Not sure what the situation is eastbound

Enfield services I assume is Applegreen? The Westbound one has only one charger anyways so I wouldn't be betting on that being available. It's an applegreen one so if you do want to use you can either sign up for the applegreen app or you can pay slightly more using a regular card. Don't know what eastbound is like.

Another option I don't see mentioned much is Kinnegad service station, it seems to have 8 200Kw ESB chargers (pay with the ESB app) and there is a supermacs there if that is more the kind of food your fancying. Tesco and aldi are quite close to it too so you could pick up some stuff for eating in the car if you wanted to save a few quid.

The service station at Moate/Athlone has a mcdonalds and a few other food options, I believe the chargers there are Ionity. I'm not far from there so its too close for me to be bothered stopping so I've never used it for the EV.

I expect mayhem at all services for all Ireland. I would stop early and if all chargers are busy move on to next site etc. There is a risk for the peak all Ireland commute traffic everything will be full everywhere. Parking at Dublin may also be an issue.

Tesla is an option but beware to download app in advance and learn how to use the app to charge a non Tesla. Also make sure you have ESB ecars app with an account set up etc. Give yourself lots of time. Maybe try charging when at 30% or less, but I would stop early and often and skip in use sites. If you passenger checks the apps they can see if all chargers are in use and for how long so you can keep going.

Sounds like hell. I’d have been tempted to trailer it of have to buyer collect it

I’ve zero issue with range anxiety but I do value my time hence why I wouldn’t care to do it. You got paid to deliver which I wrongly assumed you didn’t. Considering it’s probably at least 200Km, you did well to get away with 4 stops. Out of curiosity, did the later stops take much longer as the battery got warmer ?

I don't get the negativity from others. Sounds like a nice time out from the rat race.

5 stops. Could have done less but the stops were all convenient on well established locations, just the good old ESB ecars chargers. I didn't bother looking into alternatives. There is no issue with these early Leafs with rapid gating, you can charge them all day long and they will get the same speed. To start with, when the battery is empty. And it throttles a lot and very quickly. So the trick is to charge often with really low SOC. I typically arrived at a charger with about 10km range on the GOM

Sounds like a great day out. But then again I love driving and appreciate all kinds of motors and understand its not everyone's thing.

Well done you 👏

You beat me there alright 😁

But no, the trip wasn't miserable at all. Think of it from my point of view, experienced EV driver, zero range anxiety, getting a mini road trip away from hectic home / work life, relaxing day, all expenses paid and still a nice 3 figure sum of cash on top. While doing a good deed.