Just back from my first roadtrip in the Model 3. Took it easy with a drive to southern Germany

Leg 1 was leave home at 5pm and get to France. I wasn't up for an all-nighter so took a hotel near Lille. Made use of Eurotunnel's supercharger although it wasn't strictly necessary.

@Chargemap said the hotel has 3x 3kW domestic plugs, but it turned out it actually has 4x 11kW with domestic as a backup. I needn't have supercharged as this was plenty - and free. Better safe than sorry and you'll know for next time.

The next day we set off at 10 (1 hour late thanks to slow breakfast service ), but the trip was a doddle. Coffee at Reims, Lunch at Metz and although we could have driven straight through, we did a splash-and-dash at Strasbourg. Every time the car was ready first.

Reims is right next to the TGV track that we normally use to get to Germany. Two went past while I was waiting - it turns out taking photos of TGVs is pretty hard. Interesting to note that while it is 3.5 hours drive time from there to Strasbourg, on the train it takes <1 hour.

I did manage to catch one in action a few kms earlier though.

Anyway, turns out Metz is quite a popular spot. 12 superchargers, all in use at one point - although there was never anyone queuing - and cars there from all over the EU. Looks like @IONITY_EU are building some in the same location as well.

After that we crossed the Rhine into Germany and then a beautiful drive through the Black Forrest. This is where the Model 3 comes into it's own. For example, climbing out of a 30km/h hairpin and passing a 100km/h sign on a steep hill, overtaking is effortless.

And what else do you do when you are in Germany with a new car? You test the manufacturer's claimed top speed. I saw 262 km/h on the speedo (163 mph). The dashcam got 161 mph. Good enough that Tesla's stated 163 is valid.

This used 25% of a charge in 20 miles, with peak consumption off the chart (probably around 1 kWh/km, or roughly what hydrogen takes for normal 70 mph real world driving... )

Also, there's castles. Lots and lots of castles

So the way back presented us with a challenge: The need to go from Germany to UK non-stop to avoid 14 days quarantine. The last rapid charger near the border is an @IONITY_EU then 350 km to the tunnel and a bit more to be guaranteed to reach the next UK one, and more for plan B.

The plan was charge at Darmstadt for an hour while meeting friends for lunch, then a 6 min splash before a 100% charge at Aachen. From there 110km/h max to get to the tunnel with 7%.
My gut was telling me I should supercharge before Darmstadt just in case. Turns out it was right.

The @AllegoCharging charger refused to start CCS. I called the helpline where I was put through to an English lady (who informed us she only spoke English - not good for a German helpline in Germany) who rebooted it, but no go. We charged on 11kW AC and had to cut lunch short.

Plan B was Wiesbaden supercharger, but this was a n00b mistake - it must be the only place in Europe still with no CCS! No wonder it was not on the nav. As @BjornNyland might say: oh shieeeeeet. Plan C was a nearby Aldi 75 kW CCS, but this refused to start from 2 accounts, too.

Time for plan D - a 50km drive to Limburg @Fastned at 120 km/h. No fun on the autobahn.
Luckily they had 2 "hyperchargers" that split 300 kW each between 2 CCS and a CHAdeMO. This is exactly how generic highway charging needs to be. No plug wars here and >1200 km/h charge rates.

Refilled, it was back to the outside lane and sparing none of the 500 horses. We covered 175 km at an average speed of 124 km/h, draining the battery from 80 to 18%. It doesn't matter when you have 190 kW at the other end: Time for the @IONITY_EU charge to 100%.

This really shows the difference between 80% and 100% though: 25 mins for the first 80% and 25 mins for the last 20% shows why you'd only plan for that in exceptional circumstances, like vague government Covid policy. Could we have stopped in Belgium? We weren't going to risk it.

Full, we left for Calais. 350 km in 3.5 hours doing my best impression of @bobbyllew driving like a vicar, it was the longest non-stop drive I have done for years. This is where autopilot really comes into its own: Long, boring, mostly flat motorways. It didn't put a foot wrong.

Driving past about a dozen superchargers and countless other high power chargers, we made it with 7% spare - just like @RouteBetter and the car predicted. Range anxiety be gone - but bladder anxiety was in full force, we still had to get to the UK.

Once out of the train, we tip-toed to the Ecotricity charger at Stop 24 a few miles up the M20. I was wary, as I nearly got flatbedded here 2 years ago in the Roadster, but I saw reports from that day that the CCS was working. We arrived, saw an e-Golf leaving and plugged in.

Hoping to get some food (and use the loo), it turned out the only thing open in this rather soulless place was the arcade. Nevermind hunger, you can feed your gambling habit at any time. Welcome to the UK.

By this time the car was up to 27% and we had enough to reach the superchargers at Maidstone. I was just about to unplug when I heard a clunk and the charging cut out. The car had stopped, but the charger thought it was still going - with 1V. No wonder the car said no thanks!

We decided to try the @IONITY_EU chargers at Maidstone services first, with the superchargers as a backup. Arriving at Maidstone, we were just in time for McDonalds before it closed. It turns out we could not even pay for a McDonalds, yet alone eat it, before the car was ready.

All that remained was the 2 hour drive home - interrupted by a motorway-closing accident on the M25 at midnight. Don't get me started on people's behaviour on the so-called smart motorway around that

So what did I learn from this trip?

- The Model 3 is hands down an awesome car. Amazing for long distance drives, but very impressive on the kind of roads in Porsche's back yard.
- On the autobahn it is a weapon, if your trip is short enough to put the pedal to the metal.

- Only networks investing in serious infrastructure are trustworthy. On the Continent there are now many options for non-Tesla drivers. We saw many e-trons using them.
- I believe 75 kWh cars plus 200 kW charging is the sweet spot. 2h drive time + 20 minute charge works for me.

Would this be my preferred mode of choice to get to Germany now? Not necessarily - the train is still quicker, cheaper and more relaxing. However the car has some advantages: Flexibility to change plans meant we avoided quarantine and it allows one to bring back more supplies...

Some bonus content for you: The A5 stretch between Darmstadt and Frankfurt with a test section of overhead wires for electric trucks to charge on the move. Unfortunately we didn't see any of them using it (maybe as it was a Sunday). Interesting to see how close the 2 wires are.