Today I have the pleasure of introducing the first guest post from a new contributor, Timbo, on his recent 300 mile round trip. I believe it’s the longest journey in a day undertaken in a ZOE, at least in the UK – but if you’ve gone further I’d love to hear from you!

I eventually took delivery of my Renault Zoe on 1 September 2013. I’d wanted an electric car for ages and I seized the opportunity to replace my ageing Renault Megane. Zoe’s purpose was simply to be the second car – transporting me to the station and providing the local taxi-service for the kids. I didn’t plan on using this car for long-haul – the family barely squeezes into our other (estate) car.

Like many others my first few weeks of ownership were spent gathering RFID cards and testing local public charge points around the Teesside and Tyneside area. I soon realized that we lived in an area where public charging was well catered for, and a working charge point was never too far away.

After a couple of weeks, I  began to feel more adventurous. Simple 100 mile round trips to Newcastle, with a charge before the return journey, were too easy.

So on 16th November I decided it was time for a trip to Nottingham – some 130 miles if done direct, but with the planned detours for fast charge points, more like 150 miles each way.

I did my homework beforehand, making sure I knew the locations of the Ecotricity charge points on the M1 as well as others nearby. Given that I would have the kids with me too, I planned not to take any risks with range – topping up at each fast charger felt right and the kids didn’t mind stopping three times in each direction rather than attempting to do it in two.

We left home on the northern edge of the North York Moors at about 0815 and headed for the first stop in York. This is not the most obvious route but, as this journey was done before the new Ecotricity fast charger was installed at Wetherby, I had to begin with this slight detour. The 55 mile drive on mainly A-roads saw me arrive at the Designer Outlet with 40%. I charged at the 22kw/hr charger and left 55 minutes later with 96%.

Then I headed for the M1 and did the next leg to Ecotricity’s fast chargers at Woodall Welcome Break services near Sheffield. This 50 miles of motorway took 70 minutes. I was glad this stop has the 22kw chargers as well as the superfast ones, as I couldn’t get the superfast one to charge my Zoe. So, another coffee whilst I charged from 32% to 97% (45 mins). At this point I began to wonder if my day trip might take a bit too long.

I left Woodall at 1235 for the 20 mins drive to the next charge point at Tibshelf, wondering if I’d get any fast chargers to work. My luck was in, so I topped up the car to 99% whilst I fed the kids. We left at 1335 and headed for Nottingham safe in the knowledge that we’d have enough charge to return to Tibshelf later in the afternoon.

On the way home I simply reversed the sequence. I charged for 25 mins at Tibshelf (50% to 95%), 12 minutes at Woodall (80% to 95%) and just 30 minutes at York (32% to 79%). Safe in the knowledge that my home charger was working fine, I stopped in York just long enough to get me home. I arrived home after a trip of 13 hours and about 300 miles with the battery at 18%, and three kids in remarkably good spirits.

My conclusion after a 300 mile round trip? Ecotricity’s charge points really do make long distance travel perfectly feasible, and now that Wetherby has joined the Electric Highway, my journeys south just got a whole lot easier. I’m quite convinced that the Renault Zoe is a whole lot more than a car for local errands.

Half term will see me attempt the 320 mile (one way) trip to Worthing. Watch this space….