We like to tell things as they really are. That’s why we always try to give real world range figures on our website where possible. So, in this vein, I will give you the full lowdown on what happened when I went with my family on a holiday across our northern border. Here is the story of my driving experience with a Kia EV6 in Scotland from Kent.
Before the Trip Began
My family and I wanted to take a break away with our two dogs. We found a stunning location in south west Scotland that had great walking areas and a lot of dog friendly amenities. Our journey would consist of two cars and a 422 mile trek from Maidstone in Kent.
Any seasoned EV driver will be aware that it is wise to plan ahead when making any big trip, such as the one that we were to embark upon. With this in mind, I looked at the route and checked out the charging stations along the way. I chose three in particular based on reliability and charging speeds of the charge points. I also noted some alternative charging places as an emergency contingency should I need them. Luckily I did not.
Grantham Services – The First Charging Stop
Before I talk about this first charging stop, I wanted to make clear that we did have non charging stops so that the dogs (and non-furry creatures) could stretch their legs and get something to drink. It was going to be a long day after all. My focus is on the charge stops only for the purposes of this article though.
Grantham would be our first charge stop. It was 153 miles from home and it has ultra-fast Gridserve chargers. I left my house with 260 miles of range “in the tank”. I drove in normal mode, as I usually do, and I drove at normal speeds on the motorways. Something that struck me early on was that I had covered 153 miles, yet I had only used 133 miles of range. I am very confident that I could easily achieve over 300 miles on a single charge, if I chose to do so.
The first charge worked at the first time of asking (despite the people on the charger next to me saying they had issues with it), and the charger was easy to operate. I tapped my phone, using Apple Pay, and the magic happened all by itself. By the time we had all been to the toilet, had a drink and given the dogs a short walk, the car was up to 100% and ready for the next stage of the adventure.
Leeming Bar Services – Gridserve Again
Arriving at the Leeming Bar service station, I found the charge points straight away. Once again it was a network of Gridserve charge points, which made me very happy indeed. Unfortunately, the first one I attempted to use was not working, so I had to move one space over and try again. This time with more success.
As it was lunchtime, my family and I took the dogs and got ourselves some food while the car charged. In fact, my car charged before we were ready to leave. So, being a mindful EV driver, I moved my car to a normal parking spot to allow the charge point to be used by another traveller, and then I spent a few more minutes on my driving break.
When freshened up, the crew were ready to hit the road once again.
Carlisle – Nearly at the Border
Around 90 miles later, we arrived at our charging destination in Carlisle. Unlike the previous two stops, this one wasn’t at a service station. It was next to a Starbucks in an industrial/retail estate. Also, it was an Ionity charge point rather than Gridserve.
The Ionity charger took £40 up front as a holding fee before commencing the charge. This seemed quite steep as the previous chargers only took a £1 connection fee. However, I did get that fee back, minus the cost of the charge, very quickly. The charge itself was effortless and everything worked without any problems. I had enough time to get myself a coffee and go to the toilet before the 100% mark was reached once again.
After this final charging stop in England, I would be driving my Kia EV6 in Scotland for a week.
The Experience of Driving a Kia EV6 in Scotland – Part 1
The house where we stayed was stunning and very historic, set in a beautiful landscape closely connected to the legendary Robert the Bruce. This was a truly eco friendly abode in a biosphere village. It was also more than 14 miles from the nearest town and nearest charge point. Challenge accepted.
There were 2 public charge points in the town. One was InstaVolt and the other was Charge Place Scotland. I wanted to give Charge Place Scotland for my first Scottish charging experience. Being prepared, I had already downloaded the App and I was ready to go.
I plugged my car into the tethered charge point and then tried to pay. This is where things started going wrong. Firstly there was no ability to pay contactlessly. This is something I had not encountered for a long time. It is also something that will soon be confined to the past.
My two options to pay were via the app or via an RFID card. As I stated, I had already downloaded the app well ahead of time. I did not have an RFID card, despite having requested one months earlier. Using the app, I selected the charger I wanted to use and I clicked to start the charge. Unfortunately an error occurred and the car was not charging. I tried once more and again there was an error. After the second attempt I received two notifications that £40 had left my account. At the time of writing, I am still waiting for the money to come back. Ionity were much faster.
There was nothing for it but to go to the InstaVolt Charger.
The Experience of Driving a Kia EV6 in Scotland – Part 2
This InstaVolt charge point, of which there was only one, was located in the forecourt of an Esso fuel court. Someone was leaving just as I arrived, so I was able to get my car in very quickly. This device allegedly took contactless payments. However, after trying three different cards I was unsuccessful. I then used the app, linked to my account. This time I was successful. We left the car to charge for an hour and a half while we went to get dinner. As if on cue, the car was back to 100% just as we got back. This would be my charging point for the rest of the week (I only needed one more charge though).
Travelling to Culzean Castle to do the tourist thing one day, my wife noted that there were charge points in the car park. I thought this would be a great opportunity to trickle charge halfway through our 80 mile round trip. The charge point was again a Charge Place Scotland connection. As it was an untethered device, I got my cable out and connected the car. After following the instructions on the screen and going through the app, I had to give up trying to get a charge started after about 8 minutes. Charge Place Scotland failed me once again. At least my bank account remained untouched this time.
A Journey Back Home
After a lovely week staying by Loch Trool, it was time to make the long drive back home. Unlike leaving to go to Scotland, I didn’t have a charger at the house to power up my car ahead of the trip. However, I had just under 180 miles of range and it was only around 83 miles back to the Carlisle stop.
As you can guess, I was going to do the same route in reverse. Why change a plan that you know works? Again, each charging stop on the way home was without incident. I was particularly impressed with Gridserve for ease of use and power.
Once home, I was able to plug the Kia EV6 into my Zappi and let it charge up from 83 miles overnight. I didn’t wait for the car to get to 100% at the final Grantham stop as I knew I could charge at home. I just needed enough to get back, which I had more than enough of.
Final Thoughts
Travelling from the south of England to Scotland is a doddle. Planning ahead to find the best charge places is the best bet. However, nearly all service stations will have charge points of some type or another at your disposal.
What I learned is that Scotland is far behind England when it comes to public charge points.Only having two charge points at 22kW or above within about 40 miles is not great, especially when you can only get one of them to work. If I was really stuck, I could have called Charge Place Scotland to assist with the charge. However, they are still the most complex and least user friendly devices I have found. Some of their chargers are apparently accepting contactless, but after two less than satisfactory experiences, I gave them a wide berth.
At no point did I get range anxiety, nor did I panic with the poor charging position north of the border. This is the most important lesson that everyone should take from my experience. Go and have your adventures. Visit Wales, travel to Scotland, broaden your mind in Northern Ireland. There is nowhere in the UK that is out of bounds. Driving a Kia EV6 in Scotland was a joy.
Why not hire a Kia EV6 from EVision and go on your own adventures?
