Tesla journey updated

A collection of climate stories mostly

I’ve just arrived in the French Alps with Mrs H; a drive of about 700 miles in our Tesla Model Y. If you’re not in a desperate hurry, stopping overnight is always going to be more comfortable. Even better if there’s a trickle charger available, your battery’s as refreshed and ready to go as you are the next day.

As a rule, slower charges should be cheaper than their faster supercharger cousins.

My limited experience with Shell, at the Golden Tulip hotel near Reims, France, where they have at least 6 charging stations in the hotel’s car park is they maintain the same premium price despite not being superchargers.

The average price I’ve paid per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the last month for the Tesla supercharger is 35p, a calculation provided by the car’s charging stats in the app. The long range Model Y, which we have, requires up to 90kWh, to go from zero to 100% charged. In miles, the spec suggests a range of 320, I’d say it’s more like 250, for me at least, because I don’t drive at 60mph on motorways. You definitely notice an improvement when warmer weather arrives.

It’s impossible to fully charge anyway. You’ll arrive with some battery life left and the superchargers, on motorways especially, often set a maximum charge limit of 80%. That’s…