Most of my driving is short trips in and around Edinburgh but yesterday evening I was thinking over the longer drives that we will hope to do in our i-pace. I was really surprised to find that Scotland, which is a big land mass, seems to be well served with EV charging points with 800 - although only 175 of these are described as rapid. Perhaps the fact that our minority Scottish Government is supported in power by the Green Party has helped direct policy to the benefit of EV drivers.
There is a Scottish Government funded body called ChargePlace Scotland co-ordinating the charging points and a single ChargePlace Scotland access card. The only downside is that the charge point hosts seem able to set their own rates and in some of the more isolated areas a lack of competition might result in some spiky pricing. Although that is the same as currently applies to fuel pricing for ICEs.
There is also a separate webpage for the "Electric A9" - a 400km road from Edinburgh to John O'Groats - described as a "beacon to those at home and abroad". With a little patience at the non-rapid charge points it looks to me as if the quite fabulous North Coast 500 (miles) Route would be do-able in an i-pace and that would be quite a trip.
To those of you planning a summer trip - do have a look at the North Coast 500 Route. For our Dutch friends on the forum, the ferry from Amsterdam drops you in Newcastle.
Just to prove that I don't work for the Scottish Tourist Board or own a hotel, I will warn you that even an i-pace can't do anything about the midges except outrun them. Oh...and you might get the chance to check whether rain really does run off the back screen!
Regards
Andrew
There is a Scottish Government funded body called ChargePlace Scotland co-ordinating the charging points and a single ChargePlace Scotland access card. The only downside is that the charge point hosts seem able to set their own rates and in some of the more isolated areas a lack of competition might result in some spiky pricing. Although that is the same as currently applies to fuel pricing for ICEs.
There is also a separate webpage for the "Electric A9" - a 400km road from Edinburgh to John O'Groats - described as a "beacon to those at home and abroad". With a little patience at the non-rapid charge points it looks to me as if the quite fabulous North Coast 500 (miles) Route would be do-able in an i-pace and that would be quite a trip.
To those of you planning a summer trip - do have a look at the North Coast 500 Route. For our Dutch friends on the forum, the ferry from Amsterdam drops you in Newcastle.
Just to prove that I don't work for the Scottish Tourist Board or own a hotel, I will warn you that even an i-pace can't do anything about the midges except outrun them. Oh...and you might get the chance to check whether rain really does run off the back screen!
Regards
Andrew