Wednesday, August 5, 2015

From Holland to Tuscany, one year later

One year later we hit again the road from Holland to Italy. 

Here are the links to our previous trip: 

In one year the Tesla Superchargers situation has greatly evolved ! 
No more stops for hours at semi-fast charging stations, but just the time for lunch or an ice cream, and off we go, powered by only supercharged electrons !

Here is the route:

Day 1.
We leave Leiden at 7 am.
First stop at the Tesla Supercharger in Urmond. Having driven only 200km, we don't have to stop for long, 25 minutes are about enough. But hey, we need breakfast ;-)
The parking is part of the Van der Valk hotel. We had breakfast, one of the most complete and delicious I have ever had, but it doesn't come cheap: 14.5 € per adult, 7.5 € per child !




45 minutes later, the battery nicely full, we head toward the Tesla Supercharger of Metz, 260 km away. 
The temporary installations have been upgraded to flashy new facilities !
This supercharger is in a commercial center, very convenient, there is a huge Leclerc supermarket, a fair restaurant and many other shops. 
It feels good also seeing that we are not alone anymore, there are always other Model S from all over Europe: french, dutch, norwegian, danish, belgian, german...  

After a good lunch, and again fully charged, we leave for the Supercharger in Nuit St. George, in Burgundy, 300 km away. 
The installation is still temporary, but there are two now.
The hotel, open 24/7, is not equipped for babies or children, nor there are facilities to hang around, beside the hall of the hotel, or, of course, the restaurant.

Last charge of the day in Chambery, after 270 km, to be sure to have enough juice to climb the mountain road without worries and... to have dinner ;-)
Also this Supercharger is still temporary.
Even-though we would need only 20 minutes of charge, we have a lovely dinner at the sushi restaurant, ready for the last leg to the mountain chalet, to spend the night.


We arrive at 22:30. 
Overall a great journey so far, we could have made it faster, but during our stops we took our time, to enjoy nice food, warm weather and stunning views.



Day 2.
It is time to aim for the Italian peninsula. 
We decide to cross the Alps through the "Passo del Piccolo San Bernardo". A very enjoyable mountain route, with breathtaking views, lots of fun to drive too :-)
Here is a snapshot of the road:

And here at the summit of the pass: 2188 m. Gorgeous !

And here the descent ...... generating energy :-)
Even though we do not need to stop in Aosta, as it was only 130 km and the battery still 50% full, we decide to pay a visit to the Autoporto Supercharger, an amazing installation of 12 charging points, powered by solar panels:

Just the time to have a walk around and, charged with solar energy, we set off for our next stop.

There is actually a very good surprise for us: we were planning to stop in Dorno, which would have required us a small d-tour of about 40km, but the Melegnano Supercharger, right on our way to Tuscany, appeared on the Tesla web site just two days before leaving for holiday ! Thanks Tesla for the good timing ;-)
The 200 km from Aosta to Melegnano are running flat and straight in the Pianura Padana, so we do not really need to economize in power.
To be noted the totally empty parking, and the thermic car parked in one of the Tesla reserved spot..... no comment.
It is a bit a desolated place, but there is a very good grill restaurant, where we had a juicy lunch. 
They are also well equipped for babies and kids. 
We took our time, even too much, as the Tesla was well full, ready to hit the road again.

A little more than 160 km and we get a speedy charge in Modena. Again, a quite desolated place, you wonder what a Supercharger is doing there, but at the end it is close to the highway and a hotel with a bar, where a good ice cream is waiting for us (but no facilities for babies!).
I also see the first 85D with an Italian plate.





This is it, the last 200 km and we get to destination, in Siena, in the heart of the "Crete Senesi" !

So one year later, here we are again, after a great, easy trip.
But this time the 1820 km have been solely and purely powered by Superchargers!

I would have thought this impossible, just one year ago.... Thanks Tesla !!