ROAD TRIP! Taking the ID.3 to central Italy

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van
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Location: East Sussex

Post by van »

G43FAN wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 12:09 pm
thewanted wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:51 am
G43FAN wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:48 am

There's always good old Bjorn and his banana box test..

Cheers. I've seen this video but banana boxes are not a very useful point of reference for me.
To be honest I'm am not sure they are for anyone other than a greengrocer.

We can get my son's full hockey kit in the back along with stick bag. (Goalie) so a lot of kit. It actually fits in the ID3 better than it did in my Tiguan as although the Tig had a bigger (slighlty, I think) boot the wheel arches stuck into the space and made it less practical.
Take a look at autoev.co.uk review from about 6'40"
Family Pro Moonstone Grey
East Derry alloys, Heat pump.
Ordered 5 Aug 21.
Build started 18 Nov 21.
Left Factory 3 Feb 22.
Arrived with dealer 27 Feb 22.
Collected from dealer 9 Mar 22.

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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

thewanted wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:08 am I'm really jealous that you managed to go abroad! Sounds like an awesome trip, and Italy is my favourite destination in Europe.

I have searched high and low for photos/videos of how practical the boot is with regards to luggage but haven't been very successful. Would you mind taking a photo of how you've packed the boot please? I'm wondering if the car could be used for airport runs where two large (20kg+) suitcases need to be carried. I don't mind removing the parcel shelf in this situation.
Okay I just checked. With soft shells 2x20kg+ and one carry on seem to be the design load. If you can then wedge the Type 2 cable into the small stowage space you will be able to put some smaller bags in on the side of the large suitcases.

All the best

Andreas
——————
ID.3 Tour, manganese grey, bi-colour style, heat pump, otherwise standard. July 2021, London.
Http://rommelsriposte.com (not car related)
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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Here’s a picture. There’s enough space in front of the big luggage to put another one.

All the best

Andreas

BFD2F983-F398-4C04-86BC-73007FD08B69.jpeg

——————
ID.3 Tour, manganese grey, bi-colour style, heat pump, otherwise standard. July 2021, London.
Http://rommelsriposte.com (not car related)
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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Abadgermac wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:38 am
Andreas wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:12 am Two observations I forgot to mention:

1) the car recognises it is not in Kansas anymore and the lights switch automatically to ‘drive on the left’, which beats the old way of doing this which was to glue tape over the long-distance part of the lights. We have the adaptive lighting pack as standard on the Tour so not sure if it’s linked to that.
2) you can set units to “sane, sensible and comprehensible”, sorry I mean metric, which I would recommend while in France. One side effect of that is that suddenly instantaneous consumption (which I think is in miles/kWh in the UK) is now in kWh/hour which keeps your brain occupied (e.g. 20kWh/h and speed of 120kmh/h means your doing 6km/kWh or 3.75 miles/kWh. It’s good to keep your brain jogging while driving.

All the best

Andreas
Which country are you referring to when you say “drive on left”. This setting has confused me ever since I got the car.
Sorry for delay. Convinced now it refers to the side your car is on based on the forward direction of travel. I got left and right confused in my post. Only human, and male. 😬

It switched from one to the other automatically though when we got to France.

All the best

Andreas

95A1B4F6-894F-4B1C-A488-92C0592170EF.jpeg

——————
ID.3 Tour, manganese grey, bi-colour style, heat pump, otherwise standard. July 2021, London.
Http://rommelsriposte.com (not car related)
thewanted
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Post by thewanted »

van wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 5:44 pm Take a look at autoev.co.uk review from about 6'40"

Thanks! I missed that review. His suitcases are smaller than ours, but it certainly gives a good idea of what's possible.

Andreas wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 6:48 pm Here’s a picture. There’s enough space in front of the big luggage to put another one.

All the best

Andreas

That's amazing! Thank you so much for going through all of that hassle for me. I really appreciate it.

I test drove the ID.3 today and the boot is certainly bigger in the flesh than it comes across in videos. I have no doubt that we could get a large amount of luggage in, including a BabyZen YoYo stroller.
KefynBryn
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Post by KefynBryn »

great fun and good luck!
ID.3 FAMILY PRO ARCTIC WHITE ON ORDER FROM 10/08/2021
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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Thanks! Loving it now that I'm here. The car was made for driving around bendy hilly roads. Very zippy and sits flat on the road.

Every evening before going to bed it's plugged in and recharges happily, to start the next day at 80%. Turns heads too, as it seems to be the only ID.3 around here thus far.

All the best

Andreas
——————
ID.3 Tour, manganese grey, bi-colour style, heat pump, otherwise standard. July 2021, London.
Http://rommelsriposte.com (not car related)
Kelloggs
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Post by Kelloggs »

Thank you for posting this. Really enjoyed reading about your trip. I was thinking of driving over to see my son in Milan when we can get over without 5 day isolation. I’d be really interested in your trip back if you can post anything. Have a great time and best wishes for a smooth trip back
id3 life performance pro heat pump, turquoise,black.
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tomstring
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Post by tomstring »

Thanks your posts are a very interesting read. Mine will be a 58kwh pro performance family. Your stops to Switzerland are similar to the ones I had in mind. From Zurich I’ll be heading to Viareggio which on ABRP means I’ll be charging at Bellinzona and Piacenza ionity.
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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Okay, final on this in two parts.

I - In Italy
We spent about four weeks in Central Italy, with two return trips to Firenze airport (200km each way) and two return trips to Abruzzo where my parents now live most of the year (200km each way). Also racked up about 50-100km per day driving around, e.g. to the public pool in the morning, shopping etc. All on hilly and bendy roads. It was awesome. Charging was done mostly at home, on reduced AC current overnight, with no major issues. You can't have other heavy loads going, it will blow the fuse as Italy only has 3.3kW as mains power standard in a domestic connection. High-speed charging at Valdichiana Outlet (Bettole, ca. half-way to Florence). The place was crowded the first time I went there, and I ended up looking for a nearby EnelX which also worked. The village also has a BeCharge column (11kW) which was good to have but too expensive at 45c/kWh. Still, good backup. If it had been 30ish I would have used it exclusively. Used a hotel charger in Pineto twice, which also worked very well, on a timed charge by the looks of it, and a free 11kW Lidl charger once.

One thing to consider for home charging in Italy is that if you have a power adapter on your granny charger, make sure the adapter is rated to 15 amps. In Abruzzo power quality was very low, the adapter only rated to 10 amps, and it melted it. Fortunately enough no fire, but this was a close call.

The ID.3 is handling very very well on the Italian secondary and tertiary roads. It's acceleration is awesome and really helpful if you want to overtake. In hot summer weather range even at 130km/h is exceptionally good, I co-axed it to over 400km, which is not something I could replicate in colder northern weather.

All the best

Andreas
——————
ID.3 Tour, manganese grey, bi-colour style, heat pump, otherwise standard. July 2021, London.
Http://rommelsriposte.com (not car related)
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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

II - return trip

This was from Abruzzo, up the A14 to Bologna, then the A22 north to Bolzano, where we stayed for the night. Onwards to Innsbruck, then Fernpaß, followed by A7 then A8 via Stuttgart on to Luxembourg through the Eifel region. Two nights in LUX, Covid tests, and then through Belgium and northern France home to London via Eurotunnel.

On the way north we started with an 84% per cent charge and planned charging at Ionity Forli. This worked without a hitch, the 290km distance was easily done, with juice to spare, I charged about 44kWh gross in half an hour. There is a shopping centre where we had a comfort break and a coffee. Due to the usual traffic jam around Faenza - Imola (yeah, ironic), I then took the national road that runs parallel up to Imola and then on to Modena, where we turned on the A22. The options now were an early stop for lunch at Ionity Carpi or push on to Ionity Trento and overnight charge in Bolzano. We went with the first option, adding 42kWh gross at Carpi, with lunch at McDonalds (don't judge) across the parking lot. We got to Bolzano in good time, and after some fighting with the system I managed to use WeCharge to recharge at a Neogy charger near the hotel. This was a mistake though, as the cost was exorbitant at almost 50c/kWh - Ionity Trento would have been a much cheaper option.

The next morning up the Brennerpaß, across the border with Austria. A vignette was bought at the border crossing, and then down the pass to Innsbruck. It all worked well until we got to the Fernpaß, which was an endless traffic jam, all the way up and down. Still, nice landscape. We took a break at Ionity Nassereith, and I smiled at all the stinkpots queuing to refill there, while I was munching a sandwich. We charged 22.5kWh gross and continued on. Once in Germany, the A7 was quite empty at first so I took the car to 104 miles per hour which seems to be the top speed. It handled very well still. I had resolved to recharge at ionity Illertissen so didn't really care about how many kWh I burnt while putting it through its paces. Also great fun to leave the Porsches behind you because they cannot accelerate as fast (they catch up eventually). Before Illertissen we hit traffic and I got off the motorway and went side streets. Once there we charged ca. 30kWh gross. The next leg was shorter, but due to the necessity of working with the Ionity system. ionity Denkendorf Nord was the target, about half done on side roads due to traffic, and we added 24kWh gross there. From then on it had to work to Luxembourg, which is a bit of a treck at 320km. But again this wasn't a problem. We got there with just under 20% to spare, and recharged at a local 11kW charger, just outside the home of the friends we were staying at, using WeCharge. Added 62.5kWh gross in two sessions interrupted by a short trip to the airport, for COVID tests.

After two days we departed, straight north into Belgium, with a 100% charge. We went to Ionity Froyennes Nord, ca. 290km, again no issues. Then on to the Chunnel terminal, where for no particular reason there was quite a jam. We got our desired train though, and once in England confronted the fact that the car believed it was still half-way in the channel for about 15 minutes. I used that time to put in a cheeky 11.35kWh at Ionity Channel Gateway, while trying to figure out what my poison of getting into London was - Dartford or Blackwall Tunnel. We went Dartford in the end, and got home after another long day of driving.

Pictures of the charging sessions at Froyennes Nord (trucks) and Illertissen (blue sky)

All the best

Andreas

IMG_6716.jpg

IMG_6757.jpg

——————
ID.3 Tour, manganese grey, bi-colour style, heat pump, otherwise standard. July 2021, London.
Http://rommelsriposte.com (not car related)
G43FAN

Post by G43FAN »

Nice enjoyable write up.. Thanks. If we can just get the Pet situation back on track I might consider a trip to the Black Forest next year. It was so easy with the Pet passport system.
tomstring
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Post by tomstring »

Amazing experience thanks for posting.
MotMot
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Post by MotMot »

👏👏👏
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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Thanks all!

All the best

Andreas
——————
ID.3 Tour, manganese grey, bi-colour style, heat pump, otherwise standard. July 2021, London.
Http://rommelsriposte.com (not car related)
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