I haven’t written anything about my Skoda Enyaq for around a month. As yet, I still haven’t needed to use the public charging network. Claire and I went to visit Windsor Castle on Friday, and we took the Enyaq. We started off with it charged to 80%, and it was showing a range of 206 miles. Since the round trip was 154 miles, I thought we would have plenty of charge.
We thoroughly enjoyed Windsor and the castle. We had thought about leaving our return journey until after six thirty, but Apple Maps suggested a journey time similar to the outward leg, so we set off at about five o’clock. Apple Maps was correct and the traffic wasn’t too bad. It was somewhere near the Chieveley Services on the M4, that the car announced that we would not have a safe reserve of charge to reach home at our current rate of consumption.
The car suggested a stop at the next public charging point, a BP garage, and asked if wanted to accept. Instead I decided to slow down a bit. I dropped down to mid fifties to low sixties mph. After a few miles the range started increasing. It looked increasingly likely that we wouldn’t need to stop. We arrived home with thirty miles to spare.
An EV’s range is dependant on temperature, load, and speed. It was cold, I had Claire with me, and we were making good speed. The other significant recent journey was to Oxford and back with only myself in the car. It was also over slower roads.
EV’s are, I think, more sensitive to temperature than an IC car, but load and speed are common factors. I’m still very happy with having bought an EV. What I’ve learnt is that the car will suggest suitable recharging points, and that I can boost the range by just slowing down a bit.
We had our tickets for Windsor Castle stamped so that we can use them again within a year. I think we probably will. Having looked through the guidebook, there appear to be rooms that we didn’t see on Friday. When we do return I’ll be very happy to take the Enyaq again. If it’s significantly warmer, I probably wont need to drive more slowly. If it isn’t I can either take a leisurely pace, or find somewhere to park in Windsor that has a charging point.