How to drive around Britain without paying a penny

Detour Life

Nov 7

Who doesn’t love a free ride? According to research by Peugeot it’s perfectly possible to complete a lap of mainland Britain’s coastline for free – as long as you drive an electric car.

There are 4,400 free-to-use chargers in the UK so Peugeot was able to plot a route from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’Groats in Scotland and back that won’t cost EV drivers anything except extra time.

The greatest gap between chargers was 168 miles, the distance between Chelmsford and Sandringham, so anyone attempting this trip will need to need to keep a close eye on their range.

According to charge-mapping firm Zap-Map 84% of the free chargers in Britain are “fast” but that means only 7.5-22kW, compared to “rapid” chargers which can deliver power at anything up to 350kW. Charging Detour’s Kia EV6 at 7.5kW would take a full ten hours if the battery was empty, while even a 20 to 80 percent boost would mean a six hour wait. By contrast, at speedy Ionity chargers we’ve added over 200 miles of range in 20 minutes and for just £15 (thanks to a monthly subscription).

So while this no-cost round-Britain trip is possible in principle, the reality is that you’d need a lot of patience.

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