Charging station camaraderie

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 Yesterday we stopped to charge at a motorway services just north-east of Lyon (Mionnay).

The car charging there is a Ford Mustang. I had looked at them last year when researching the EV market, but they were a bit too big. It was driven by a Belgian and we started chatting. He waited 6 months to get his car (I waited 8); he got it last year and this was the first big trip he’d been on. He told us he drives at 130 to 135 kph and with the bikes on the back he gets 3km per kWh (less than 2 miles)! So he is stopping quite frequently! He also told us that the charging infrastructure in Belgium is not good, but he mostly charges from home so it does not matter!

He was there when we arrived, and we left before him. Given his driving, I guess he wanted every last electron from his charge!

Addendum

Another day, another IONITY charger. This time a VW id3 pulled in next to me. Although you can get long range models with a 70-odd kWh battery (so the range is similar to my Hyundai) it does not do rapid charging … even though it was at 35%, it was only taking 80kWh. This is why I rejected the VW Id series when researching which car to buy. 

The driver was impressed when I told him the Hyundai would take 250kW or more when the battery is low and takes 15 minutes to 80% regardless of where you start from.

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