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The Andrew Till/Mr. EV YouTube channel posted a video in the first week of October about driving from England to Italy with his family in a VW ID.7 Tourer, with its estimated 400 + miles of range.
In the video’s chapters section, the charger locations are listed which are:
- IONITY Novotel Saint-Witz
- IONITY Aire de Mâcon Saint-Albain
- IONITY Freney
- IONITY Bologna
- IONITY Affi
I found it quite helpful that the charging locations were posted along with their hotels too. IONITY apparently has a subscription which can lower charging rates.
They leave from Sussex, England, and drive about 250 miles to a location where they charge at IONITY Novotel Saint-Witz. They stop to rest and have some food while charging.
The next stop is about 260 odd miles away at Aire de Mâcon Saint-Albain. I find it pretty gobsmacking they can cover such large distances so easily. The ID.7 appears to have excellent range and plenty of space for a family.
At 18:45, he comments that the roads in France he has driven on are so well maintained and smooth. The next charging location is in the mountains at Aire de Freney, which is only about 130 miles away. When they arrive in Italy, they have pasta, naturally. They travel on to Bologna, which is about 269 miles from their last IONITY charging location in France. By this time, they have traveled over 800 miles in a way that appears to have been effortless or nearly so.
At about the 29 minute mark, they arrive in Tuscany and Andrew says the car’s “satnav” has been brilliant.
There are slow chargers at their agriturismo, so they are in luck. The agriturismo is a “farm stay” if that is not clear. Guests can stay at accommodations on working farms in parts of Italy to get away from cities and relax in the countryside.
The VW ID.7 Tourer seems to be the quiet star of the video. Too bad the ID.7 did not come to the US, but it’s also understandable that it did not, considering how many Americans have a preference for fossil fuel-burning oversized SUVs and pickup trucks.
Video Comments
I’ve also picked out some interesting comments on the video from YouTube:
- “We do Sweden to Tuscany every summer in my EQE. It’s a breeze travelling in an EV and the kids love the longer breaks which we try to combine charging with eating and toilet stops.”
- “ID 7 Tourer is the best reasonable family EV out there. Enjoyable family trip!”
- “Italy is so beautiful. The Id7 is alright also😅”
- “We just did 3500 km in our EV. Netherlands to the west of Ireland, 1100 km each way plus 1300 km driving around there for 2,5 weeks then drove back… no issues, no charger stress…”
- “❤agree I didn’t like longer drives till I had a electric car ❤”
- “ID7 looks terrific, I might wait for a few to appear on the used market.”
- “I was impressed with what I saw of the ID-7. We do not have that auto offered to us in Canada. As America continues to destroy our auto manufacturing industry, I look forward to more European manufactured automobiles such as the German Tesla Model Y’s that Canada is receiving. It is so important for countries to trade with other friendly countries.”
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