New ZeemGO Road Trip Stages! Hand in hand with Miguel Zarzuela we are making a trip in an electric car of more than 2,200 km, where we are evaluating the public fast charging network in Spain and Portugal.
In the first and second article about this Road Trip we have told you about the first 4 stages of the trip, starting from Zaragoza we have passed through Madrid, Plasencia, Lisbon and the surroundings of the Portuguese capital, where we have been evaluating the quality of the recharging network quick public in addition to commenting on the anecdotes of the trip and the good and bad of each stage.
In this article we are going to tell you about Miguel’s travel experience in his next 2 stages, where in the fifth stage we left Lisbon on the way to Albufeira (Algarve) and in the sixth we arrived in Huelva to take a ferry to the Canary Islands.
Stage 5 of the Road Trip: Lisbon – Albufeira
At this stage the total road travel distance is 260 km. According to Miguel, this stage is very easy to do in an electric car, as it is a relatively short stage and is mostly done by highway.
Little by little we are reinforcing the theory that traveling by electric car is easier and easier and the fear of buying an electric car due to its added difficulty to travel should be lost. Of course, there is still much to improve, but trips can be made without any problem, especially if you use an application like ZeemGO.
4 chargers have been evaluated during the course of this stage, they are the following:
- EDP Vía Verde Seixal A2S
- Lidl Alcácer do Sal
- EVCE Ourique
- Repsol Albufeira
Of which, without a doubt, the best one was the EDP one at the exit from Lisbon, in addition to having a 160 kW double charger and a 50 kW charger, it was the only PDR on the trip that had an awning, which in an area with so much rain is to thank. And the worst in this case, that of Ourique, was in a parking lot on the street in a central square and the screen did not work. Despite this, the charger worked.
Luckily almost the same type of chargers are used throughout the network. When swiping the card, you have to select the CCS socket using a push button, and doing this step without seeing it on the screen made the charger start up without problems. Still, removing the fault on the EVCE loader screen, all loaders have worked correctly, although if we had not had prior knowledge of the load initiation procedure on that loader, we could not have started the load.
Regarding security, Miguel tells us that he felt safe at all times when carrying out this stage of the trip, in terms of accessibility and location of the chargers, the EVCE charging point in Ourique was poorly geolocated, the GPS entered Miguel inside a school under construction, although after looking for him he wasn’t much farther. The rest of the chargers were well geolocated and accessibility was quite good.
In any case, Miguel is delighted with the Portuguese public charging network, especially he points out that when traveling on Portuguese highways it is wonderful not even having to look where the charging points are. It indicates whether or not a rest area has a charging point, and they also tell you how many kilometers the next one is. This simple indication makes traveling much easier.
Stage 6 of the Road Trip: Albufeira – Huelva
In this stage the total distance traveled by road is 135 km if it was done directly, however Miguel took advantage and instead of going directly to Huelva, at the beginning of the stage he headed West to see the caves carved in a nature on the Algarve coast.
5 chargers have been evaluated during the course of this stage, they are the following:
- Lidl ALBUFEIRA
- PowerDot Bom Dia Alcantariha
- Galp Tavira
- Endesa X Punta Umbria
- Endesa X Nuevo Potril
Of which the best has been the PowerDot in the Alcantariha shopping center since it had 4 CCS of 100 kW next to the restaurant area, that is how all PDRR should be today. He liked the design of the hoses that hang from above and are almost light. The worst in this case has been that of Endesa X in Punta Umbría, it did not pass the initial CCS checks and could not load after 3 attempts with APP and physical card.
As in all the previous stages, Miguel tells us that he has felt safe at all times on this stage of the trip, so it seems that for now the fast charging points where he is charging the car are well located in safe places.
Regarding accessibility, he tells us that in Portugal the location of the chargers is usually close to the main roads, however when he entered Spanish territory, the chargers were no longer so accessible, and you had to deviate from the highway to get to they.
At this stage there are many chargers on the route, however when you cross the border it is true that there are none on the A49 motorway. On the other hand, there are many good and different options to eat on both sides of the border.
As an anecdote, Miguel was able to change the electric car for another sustainable means of transport, a kayak with which he toured the Benagil caves for an hour and a half in a wonderful experience. The sea was a little rough, but even so he was able to see from within several of the caves on this rugged coast.
The trip is being a success, although there have been some incidents when recharging at a station, we are demonstrating that long trips can be made with our electric car and if you use applications like ZeemGO, these incidents will gradually disappear.
In addition, thanks to evaluating the chargers in our application, you accumulate ZeemCoins with which you can obtain different products, services and discounts within the world of electric mobility. Let’s see what Miguel tells us in his next stages, remember that we will be following this journey through the ZeemGO Blog. ⚡Stay tuned!⚡
