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EV PHOTO TOUR 2023
  • Vegan EV Travellers
  • Vegan EV Travellers

EV PHOTO TOUR 2023

10,000 miles. 10 countries. 192 photo spots. All electrical with the Fiat 500e.
Read the journal for EV road trip tips, photo spots and vegan food experiences. Les mer
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  • Reisens start
    2. mai 2023
    Vegan EV TravellersEV PHOTO TOUR 2023Vegan EV Travellers

    Let the adventure commence

    23. februar 2023, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    10,000 miles. 5 months. All electrical.
    This is definitely an adventure!

    Greatfully supported by Nextcharge and Fiat, thank you very much!

    E-cars still have the reputation of being unsuitable for long-distance journeys. "Long-distance" means 500 miles or even less. And now more than 16 times as long?!?

    FROM ITALY TO GERMANY, NETHERLANDS, NORTHUMBERLAND, SCOTLAND, SHETLAND, ORKNEY, LEWIS, HARRIS, SKYE, NORTHERN IRELAND, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, WALES, AND BACK.

    The Fiat 500e is very popular. But as a second car. To go shopping.

    Well - we want to prove: The little one can do more!

    We call our beloved 500e "Mucki" and it's a he. He's part of the family. He has character, mood swings and needs a bit of TLC every now and then. But we are sure - he will make it!

    This will be a photo tour. As a travel photographer, I, Joana, make my living selling photos and prints of my tours to agencies (http://www.joanaimages.com).

    I am accompanied by Madeleine, a passionate amateur photographer.

    Our tour starts on May 2nd in Perugia, Italy (that is where we live) and ends at the end of September.

    If you are interested - save this place and stay tuned!
    Follow us on this TRAVEL JOURNAL and get tipps how to organise an EV-Tour.
    We will keep you regularly updated with news from the trip, photos and videos, and tips on electric travel. The latter is extremely important. You can't just get in the car, a lot of preparation is required in advance and we'll show you what and how to do it.

    And for the vegans among you: Joana is also vegan and will report how this works in different parts of Europe (especially in the remote areas it could be a challenge).

    Talk to you soon! Joana

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    THE PREPARATION STEP 1: THE ITINERARY

    24. februar 2023, Italia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Only 67 days left and our journey begins! We can not wait anymore...

    But - preparation is everything.
    Step 1 was the elaboration of the itinerary.
    Being a travel photographer, it is less about sightseeing. But all about good spots at the right time with the right tide/sun/stars etc.
    I worked out 192 photo spots for the 5 months. In addition, there are of course spontaneous stops.
    The accommodations are self catering cottages. Cheaper than B&Bs and more flexible if you want to get up at 3am in the summer to capture the sunrise but still want a warm cuppa before heading out. Or if you come back at midnight and crave a vegan treat.

    A great help in elaborating the itinerary in terms of finding electric vehicle charging stations was Nextcharge (https://nextcharge.app), especially for the long way from Italy to the Netherlands (where we will take a ferry). More on how to find the right charging stations in a new post coming soon.

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    PREPARATION STEP 2: HOW FAR CAN I DRIVE?

    28. februar 2023, Italia ⋅ 🌬 9 °C

    How far can you drive your electric vehicle?
    Well, of course it depends on the size of your battery and how you drive - fast, freeway, or slow, country roads.

    Normally we only drive motorways (at 110 km/h) when we want to reach a certain long-distance area without photo spots in between. But as soon as we are in a region, we try to avoid motorways.
    On the motorway we charge every 1.5 hours, which is a nice stop interval. The Fiat 500e has a battery of 42kW. If you found a fast charger (50 kW or more), it only takes the time it takes to "powder your nose" and maybe grab a cuppa. Let's say 20 minutes.

    Some recommendation:

    Never reach a charging stop with less than 20% battery power in case the charging station is not working. With 20% you can reach easily the next one.

    And unless you're staying somewhere and time isn't a factor - don't charge more than 80-85%. Waste of time, because even the fast charging stations slow down the charging process at this point to protect the battery.
    From 0% - 80% it takes just as long as from 80% to 100% to charge your battery, but it drains just as quickly.

    In other words – try to stop charging when your battery is somewhere between 20% and 30% and charge it to 80% – 85%. With this interval you are on the safe side and have the most efficient time management.

    Yes, you will not be the fastest at the finish line. BUT - you arrive totally relaxed and don't need a break from driving after your arrival. This saves me personally time in the end, because even after a trip from Italy to Germany I can go directly to the photo spot and get started with my work and don't need a break. EV travel is really nice once you get used to the slower pace.

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    EV ROUTE PLANNING

    6. mars 2023, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Google Maps is still my number one choice when it comes to navigation. But how do I know how far I can drive my electric vehicle? And – what if there are no charging stations nearby?

    When planning a day trip with my Fiat 500e, I always ask A Better Route Planner (ABRP - apps available for Android and iOS) how often I need to charge. ABRP will advise you on where and for how long you can top up your battery.
    With one click you transfer the navigation to the next charging station in Google Maps.

    ABRP can be customized to suit your personal EV - as charging stops are dependent on your car and battery. You can also set whether you prefer many but short charging stops - or long but fewer stops (if you want to use the time for example for lunch or dinner or for sleeping, walking, shopping...).

    For example - we are starting on our trip in Magione, Umbria and our first overnight stay will be in Switzerland.
    ABRP tells me to charge three times. I will be on the road for 6.5 hours, charging 1.5 hours and driving 5 hours. Which is nice - 1.5 hours (split into short stops) is exactly what one should do to avoid driving too tired. It increases safety – and your well-being.

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    Lost in the Charging App Maze

    16. mars 2023, Italia ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    As part of the preparation of our 5-month EV road trip, we tried to get an overview of the hundreds of apps and RFID cards. Joana has summarized these experiences and gives you helpful tips on which country you need which RFID card for your own EV road trip.
    Watch the video:
    https://youtu.be/gQTFE5gnG6Y

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    Real Life Tetris

    14. april 2023, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    *** Only 18 more days to go...!!! ***

    Hey guys, I've been asked multiple times: how on earth do you pack into not only a Fiat 500e but a Cabriolet for a 5 month road trip? Which makes it even harder because the boot opening is extremely flat and small...?

    Here are some tips:

    1. Pack no differently than for a 3-week tour. Just use a washing machine regularly, as you would at home. It's easy to find some along the way.

    2. Avoid large suitcases. They get stuck when you push them in or pull them out. Opt for flexible and soft travel bags like the ones in the photo.

    3. Instead of one big bag - take rather several smaller ones. You can make your real life tetris in the back of the Fiat 500e by fitting them close together.

    4. And the best tip: take out the back of the back seat! It's easy, just two screws. Loading and unloading becomes so much easier. I'll show you how to do that in the next post.

    Happy packing for your next road trip!

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    Plans are there to be changed!

    21. april 2023, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    I already mentioned - a photo tour has to be planned thoroughly in advance. Choose accommodation close to your sunrise locations. Nobody wants to be on the road for an hour or more in June, when the sun rises at 2:30 a.m.

    But then again – be prepared to change your plans.
    There is no point in planning every minute of your trip. There will always be unforeseeable circumstances. Like 2 weeks of continuous rain.
    Or - accommodations will be cancelled!
    We've had it four times now.
    A cottage is needed again by the owner as she returns to Scotland from London.
    A cottage in Northern Ireland is for sale.
    An apartment in Germany did not want to accommodate me as I could not tell them the exact time of my arrival in advance.
    And another apartment cancelled my booking because they thought I wouldn't stay enough nights (also Germany, this apartment was even prepaid and non-refundable...)
    Cancellations can be made at short notice.
    So have your booking apps ready on your phone to start looking for a suitable Plan B!!!
    To find good accommodation, I use the apps of booking.com, vrbo, and airbnb. Booking.com I used for short stays like 1-3 nights. For cottages where we will stay two weeks or so, I prefer airbnb or vrbo.

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    EV and phone charging

    29. april 2023, Italia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    When you complain about the charging time of your electric vehicle, you still think as a petrol driver. EV drivers need to change their attitude.

    Charging an electric vehicle is more like charging your phone.
    What you do for hours every day and sometimes even desperately. And you just accept it as a part of your life.
    Charging an electric vehicle is NOT like filling up the car at a petrol station.

    You don't have to hold the nozzle while it takes time to charge your electric vehicle. Use the time for things you would or should do anyway!

    Go to sleep, eat, shop, go sightseeing, meet friends, relax...
    Don't see it as wasted time, see it as extra time you get!

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    Space for 5 months in a 500e convertible

    1. mai 2023, Italia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    It's a bit of a challenge - we need room for two people in a 500e for five months. To make it even more challenging - it's a convertible, so the boot has a very small opening.
    Loading and unloading is much easier if you remove the back of the rear seats. It's super easy to do, and you don't harm the car's construction and stability (which you would if you also wanted to remove the bottoms of the rear seats).
    Simply unscrew the two screws you will find on each side and take out the back panel. You immediately have room for larger and longer bags and can push and pull luggage for loading and unloading.

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    Before and after

    1. mai 2023, Italia ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Looking at the pile of stuff in the "before" photo - you can't imagine that this would fit in a Fiat 500e Cabrio... But - it's done!
    What looks like chaos actually has some sort of system.
    We can get our camera equipment and technical things (laptops, tripods, etc.) from the boot. That accounts for at least 1/3 of the total luggage.
    Our luggage for clothes we get from the car itself. A smaller bag for each of us. Underneath are large bags that stay in the car for short stays or are tugged away into a corner of the accommodation, functioning as a wardrobe for spare clothes.
    Choosing the right clothes was tricky: from 35ºC to 3ºC we can expect anything, especially as we will often be working on windy cliffs in the middle of the night.So onion-style its - but it also means more clothes than a 3-week beach holiday...

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    First charging stop

    2. mai 2023, Italia ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    After two hours driving first charging stop north of Florence. Just a few minutes charging from 40 - 80% with a 50kW station (a very old one but cheaper than the 300 kW next to it, so we have chosen the cheaper version), didn't take long.
    It was an ENEL station, but you don't need an ENEL account if you have the nextcharge app.    Les mer

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    2nd charging stop

    2. mai 2023, Italia

    Although we still had almost 40%, the itinerary function of the Nextcharge app tells us to charge now, just North of Modena. Because later there isn't anything to charge for a long time, at least not directly at the motorway. It's a free to X charger but also that works with Nextcharge app. Very convenient, only one app for all networks.
    Very rude: 4 out 4 stations occupied but only 2 are actually charging...    Les mer

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    3rd and last charging stop

    2. mai 2023, Italia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Just before Milan last charging for today. Again charging started with Nextcharge. Great: You see if the chargers are out of order or occupied and the fees in advance. You can also pre-book your charger 15 mins in advance.
    We'll continue to Lake Como where we'll stay overnight and continue our trip tomorrow. We have chosen a stress free itinerary with lots of stops. Important if you're 5 months on the road...
    Cool stuff: the cable is flexible so finally you can park easily and still reach your charging point. Big improvement!    Les mer

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    The 17 km dark hole

    3. mai 2023, Sveits ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C

    Driving through the Gotthard tunnel is definitely not my favourite, although I've done it so often because I lived close to it. But 17 km long and above you 3000 m of mountain is not too trustworthy....
    It takes about 15 mins to pass the tunnel without traffic like today but often there's congestion....    Les mer

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