There is nothing better than a wonderful holiday. Especially now that you can go on holiday anywhere in Europe with an electric car with relative ease without much hassle with charging cables, looking for the right charging station for your EV or anxiously keeping an eye on the range in the hope that you can actually arrive at your destination. On the contrary, going on holiday with an EV is easy and fun these days!
Fewer charging deserts and more and more fast chargers along the main routes
Previously, it was difficult to go on holiday with an electric car and warnings were issued about charging deserts, especially in Wallonia and the north of France, which immediately created a problem area. Nowadays, this is no longer an issue, because many large companies (including Fastned) have provided a small revolution along the major roads in Europe in recent years.
Not only has there been a significant increase in the number of charging options on the road, what is even more important is that the maximum charging speed has also become much higher. Nowadays you will find many fast chargers that can charge at 250 kW or more, so that the holidaymaker with an electric car can always continue driving within half an hour with at least 80% radius.
More and more accommodations with a charging station
In addition to the increasing number of charging stations and fast chargers (including complete fast charging plazas) in Europe, the number of accommodations with charging facilities is also increasing rapidly. Many large campsites and hotel chains (Van der Valk even focuses on it these days) offer charging stations for their guests. You will also increasingly see a charging station in the overview of holiday homes outside holiday parks.
This is not strange, by the way. People with an electric car consciously look for accommodations with a charging station. If landlords choose a charging station at their home, hotel or campsite, they attract more visitors, which means the charging station pays for itself.
Increasingly longer holiday trips with the plug-in car
The Dutch are increasingly going on holiday with an electric car, and for longer distances. Many experts in this field already suspected this, but extensive research has now shown that this is actually the case. The top 5 holiday countries for people with an electric car no longer only include countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, but also include Italy in a strong third position. Just outside the top 5 are countries such as Spain and even Norway.
Now it should be added that Norway is not as surprising as it may seem. Norway is a pioneer in the field of electric driving and has a particularly large number of charging options and facilities for people with electric cars. In addition, the charging options on the road in Norway are almost the same as those in the Netherlands. Our country only wins because it is considerably less extensive.
Scandinavia (especially Denmark, Sweden and Norway) scores well by definition among people who go on holiday with an electric car. This applies to the charging experience on the road and to the accommodations with charging stations, even when wild camping is regularly chosen in countries such as Sweden.
What exactly are the new holiday options for EV holidaymakers?
Going on holiday with an electric car and a caravan does not seem very practical when you drive electrically, but with the latest models this is perfectly possible. It is also good to keep an eye on innovations and developments such as the Outset from Thule. There are more and more products that are specifically developed for holidays with an electric car, including complete roof tents, towbar cases and folding trailers.
These offer the lowest possible resistance, which means that much less range is lost and you can arrive at your destination with considerably fewer charging stops. Because even with an increasing number of charging stations and fast chargers, we still prefer to choose as little travel time as possible and as much holiday as possible.
This is what you can do to be well prepared for your holiday with your EV
Of course, there are many things you can do yourself to make your holiday with an EV as easy and fun as possible. One of the most important points is to bring a good charging cable. Ideally, even a granny charger (a charging cable with Schuko connection) and a charging cable that you can plug into a Mennekes socket of a charging station to charge your electric car at the accommodation. Although more and more accommodations have charging stations, they are not always equipped with a charging cable.
The granny charger offers a solution in places where you want to charge and are allowed to charge, but where there is no charging station. Keep in mind that you cannot just use any socket for this. Always ask the landlord or owner which wall socket is best suited for charging your EV.
A number of other tips for a holiday with an electric car have been listed so that you can get off to a good start straight away:
- Always take a credit card with you. More and more fast chargers allow you to charge ad hoc, but abroad your bank card does not always work.
- Always make sure you have good route planners, such as Chargemap and Google Maps, that you can link to the navigation of your electric car for optimal ease of use.
- Use fast chargers to charge up to 80%. Charging speed drops drastically after 80% and it is no longer practical to keep the fast charger occupied.
Pay attention to the rules of parking places abroad when you charge your electric car here. This way you can avoid annoying fines!
