Yes, this will be another long-distance driving report with an electric car. As long as people ask me before my holidays, after the holidays and even during the holidays how you can travel to Italy with an electric car and with your family, reports like these are needed. We were in Italy for two weeks in the fall, the entire family of four, with a bike rack, roof box and our Volkswagen ID.4.
Route
The route takes us from the north of Switzerland via Milan, Parma to Livorno to the port and from there we take the ferry to Elba. In total it is around 700km and if you start the well-known e-route planner abetterrouteplanner.com, you will be given the ID. 4 exactly 3 charging stops recommended. This is sensible route planning, with a comfortable journey and a total of 1 hour 12 minutes of charging breaks.
Route with charging stops from ABRP
Intelligent route planning with charging stops in VW ID. models
With the software update 3.0, Volkswagen added new functions to its ID models using the over-the-air process. In other words, the vehicle received new functions through improved software. An elementary part and perhaps the most important point in the update package at the time was the new route planner. The online route calculation in the navigation system creates clever multi-stop route planning for long distances, with which the car gets to its destination as quickly as possible. Volkswagen’s navigation system also recommends three stops. Since we’re still traveling with a roof box and bike rack anyway, three stops are probably the right way based on previous experience.
Route planning directly in the VW navigation system with charging stops
Outward journey with 3 loading stops
Exactly as planned, we completed the outward journey with 3 charging stops. From experience from previous trips on the same or similar routes, I also knew that this would work. Consumption increases slightly, especially with the roof box and the bike rack on the trailer hitch. In addition, I wasn’t traveling very efficiently in Italy due to the higher speed on the motorway compared to Switzerland. This resulted in the following charging stops:
Gofast (Coldrerio Nord-Sud) with 55kWh and 50min – Used for a leisurely breakfast Ewiva (Ramiola PR) with 43kWh and 30min – short coffee and pee break Ionity (Pietrasanta) with 38kWh and 50min – Lunch with colleagues (found by chance)
On the outward journey we had to charge 136 kWh. The charging times were determined more by our breaks or queuing at the toilets than by the vehicle’s charge level.
Alpitronic Hyperchargers are popular in Italy and rightly so.
Shop on the island of Elba
Last year I charged with an NRGkick charging adapter from our landlord, but they have now upgraded it. This meant we could conveniently charge the car at our accommodation. This time I had a Juice Booster 3 Air with me in case of emergency, but it remained untouched in the trunk. There are more and more public charging points on the island itself, and the provider “Be Charger” in particular seems to be expanding significantly here. So purely in terms of the offer and the possibilities, you don’t have to be afraid of charging. The wallbox directly at the accommodation’s parking lot was also ideal for the journey home, as it was easy to start with a full battery.
Our landlord also now has a wallbox. More and more public charging points on the island
By the way, if you are still looking for a suitable Type 2 charging cable for on the go, I have put together some tips here.
Return journey with 3 charging stops
Of course, there were also 3 charging stops on the return journey. The first stop at Ionity was also the last stop on the outward journey, which turns out to be just right. The second stop at “Free to X” then with the “loading record” with the ID. 4 and almost 170 kW charging power. The 1st Generation ID. 4 has been able to significantly increase performance thanks to updates, which is very nice. We took a leisurely approach to the late charging stop in Bellinzona in the evening. So I left the Ionity charging points with more charging power to others and we charged comfortably at the slightly more limited Gofast charging points next door and then started the final journey home.
Ionity (Pietrasanta) with 42kWh (40min) – used for lunch Free to
On the return journey I charged 138 kWh.
Highest charging performance with Free to X, also Alpitronic
Charging curve improved thanks to updates
Last year on the same route I was able to achieve over 130kW DC charging power. That was a top value at the time; the theoretical maximum charging power was 125kW. This year with a new software version on the VW ID. 4 I was able to significantly exceed these values, the highest value of 168kW shows that Volkswagen has turned a few screws here. I also put the charging curves on top of each other, it looks a lot better. However, it only accounts for a few minutes of the total charging time.
VW ID4 charging curve after update
consumption
On the way there we had an average consumption of around 23kWh/100km in Switzerland, then in Italy just under 27kWh/100km because of the significantly higher speeds. On the return journey the same picture, in Italy with 28kWh/100km and in Switzerland with 24kWh/100km. I had an average consumption of 26.3 kWh/100km for the entire trip. The consumption is absolutely within the expected range with the additional load.
Release charging station with Move
Charging costs & billing
I always use the Move offer as a charging card and app. As explained in another post, I don’t do a lot of reconnaissance work before charging, so I charge as cheaply as possible. I’m on holiday and want to charge as conveniently and easily as possible. Here I have summarized the costs, except for Free to X and Ewiva I could authenticate with Move everywhere:
Gofast (Coldrerio Nord-Sud): 55kWh for 40.- CHF Ewiva (Ramiola PR): 43kWh for 35.- € (VW WeCharge) Ionity (Pietrasanta): 39kWh for 28.- CH
Outward journey total approx. 103.- CHF and therefore approx. 75 cents/kWh
Ionity (Pietrasanta): 42kWh for 31.- CHF Free to X (Stazione di Ricarica): 51 kWh for 41.- € (VW WeCharge) Gofast (Bellinzona Sud): 45 kWh for 34.- CHF
Return journey total approx. 106.- CHF and therefore approx. 77 cents/kWh
The pure travel costs for the store have increased by CHF 7 compared to last year, which is absolutely okay. It is also clear to me that I could probably reduce the total charging costs from a total of CHF 209 to around CHF 150-160 if you targeted other charging points and paid attention to the ideal combination of charging providers.
Long distance travel with family and electric car works
Conclusion
Once you have completed a long journey in an electric car, the rest are completely normal. At no point did we feel restricted by the loading breaks. The passengers’ bio-breaks, meals and even short stretching of the legs always took more time than the pure charging process itself. In two cases I even freed up the charging point because the few remaining percent with low charging power were not relevant for us. It is pleasing to see the expansion of the charging infrastructure in Italy; there are only a few rest stops without corresponding charging points. They seem to be prepared for electric holiday traffic; we never had to queue or wait.