EV in EU
When it came time to rent a car for our biggest trip from Ljubljana — to Venice and Piran — cheap cars were all sold out (we were booking things four days in advance in August, so not entirely unexpected), so I opted to rent an electric Opel Mokka from Renty (here are some better options). It ostensibly has a 300+ km range, more than enough to get to Venice where the charging station map indicated there would be numerous stations close to our Airbnb. What could go wrong?
This we quickly discovered. Indeed, when I told my EV driving friend about my decision, he said “Wow. that’s ballsy!”
Halfway to Italy, we noticed that the remaining range was rapidly shrinking (later, I found out that driving the speed limit on highways, i.e., 70+mph, dramatically reduces the range). Masha began frantically looking for a charging station along the way. No shortage of those, really, so we stopped at one with restaurants nearby for lunch.
But when we tried to plug into the station, it turned out we needed some kind of special card for the network or an app that somehow we couldn’t sign up for in the moment. Calling Renty, it turned out they were supposed to provide us with this card, but because they were so new to electric cars, they didn’t have it yet (!!).
This is when panic really struck. Luckily, this station was at a dealership and they let us pay them directly (for a hefty fee), but our outlook for the rest of the road suddenly turned way more bleak. The nay-sayers in the group even wanted to call the rental agency to demand that a replacement car materialize on the spot. But ultimately, we had no choice but to keep driving.
When we arrived at our Airbnb near Venice, I met my nemesis. It is no accident this thing looks like some kind of Sith artifact. A monstrosity (blunder? fiasco?) born of hell, this Enel implement thrice repelled my attempts to insert a charging cable into it, while mosquitos swarmed through an adjacent grate and devoured my legs . The innocent looking “turn” arrows belie the bizarre contortions required to actually insert the cable.
Foiled in my initial attempts to use this station, I drove to a further station at a parking lot, where I had to pay a parking fee for the pleasure of a usable interface.
Most charging stations we encountered, though, were not so diabolical. The bigger problem is that each one seems to be a on a different network, requiring a different app. Not only do they clutter your phone, the more immediate issue is that you may not be able to sign up for them on the spot. Some of them refused entry of our credit card info, and we were only able to pay with ApplePay. By our return, I had these charging apps on my phone - a definitely incomplete list of apps that may or may not install correctly when you need them: Gremo na elektriko, ChargePoint, Enel X Way, OneCharge (a lie!).
In the end we ended up paying around €70 for all the charging (including the €9 for parking garage where I charged one of the nights). Comparable to what gas would have cost for the trip, but definitely no savings. Though the car was itself somewhat cheaper, I would say it’s not worth the hassle if you can’t complete your trip on one charge (unless your hotel offers charging).
