electricfelix updates - Issue #8

Welcome to the mid summer edition of #electricfelixupdates!

I can finally share the good news with you: #BerlinChallenge number three is coming up in the weekend and I have been looking forward to this one since the middle of winter!

First a little bit of background info: the Berlin Challenge was the unofficial beginning of electricfelix back in December 2018 when Sixt started renting out the Jaguar I-Pace in NL. I was hoping to offer a luxurious electric drive from Amsterdam to Berlin and back.

I had a journalist on board and a director during the trip, read the (Dutch) article in Trouw below and check the video.

Felix en Hugo hebben een hobby: ze huren de allernieuwste elektrische auto’s en kijken hoe je snel en goedkoop zo ver mogelijk kunt komen. Freelanc...

It took well over ten hours to get to Berlin in December 2018. Ionity wasn't even reliable yet with the Jaguar back then. Fastned just started out in Germany, a cold winter day. Full adventure.

#BerlinChallenge, number two 

Last year thanks to UFODRIVE I could try out the Tesla Model 3 Long Range and it didn't disappoint! Berlin to Amsterdam took a bit over seven hours to complete. Full Hanover traffic and driving at 180km/h where possible included. When we left the Supercharger halfway at not even close to 50% SoC the navigation didn't know where to send us, had no clue about Fastned Melle and wanted us to turn around. Of course we did our own thing, using any fast charger out there: all to power our speedy ride! Read the full story below.

#BerlinChallenge number two back in 2019!

Welcome 2020 #BerlinChallenge number three!

To drive fast and keep on doing so one needs to charge fast as well! I contacted some companies with vehicles that could stand the test of the #BerlinChallenge, 2020 edition. Here we are. I present to you: #Taycan2Berlin

Taycan Time

Above is the artwork made by a good friend and graphic designer, the original photo was shot during the Pappie family I-Pace roadtrip to Munich last November. Near Stuttgart we actually encountered several Taycan testing vehicles (there were no sales yet).

Now that 2020 is in full swing and I keep spotting Taycan's on the road, it's time for the real test! Are you with us?

CAKE kalk& touring around Holland

Thanks to Sam of Magnetic Motors I had the chance to try out the CAKE kalk& recently. Since it's an electric motorbike absolutely not intended for huge intercity trips, that's of course what I set out to do anyway: #alwaysbecharging - going cross country with a 2.6kWh battery, because "why not?"

I just published the full story. I can tell you this: what an amazing vehicle, you look at it and it makes you think "what's going on here?". You ride it, and you will quickly start to understand it! The sheer power. The low weight. What a machine!

A cross country ride with the electric CAKE kalk& motorbike. An electric adventure using the 2.6kWh battery powered CAKE. Swedish electric CAKE motorbike riding around Holland.

DS3 Crossback E-Tense to Monaco!

When DS handed me the keys to their newest electric flagship I had many testing intentions. A friend got invited to Monaco for the weekend at the last minute; sometimes in life you just gotta jump on the opportunity. It became a very entertaining trip with fully loaded Ionity stations in France and gorgeous weather for over 2600km in four days! Using the JuicePass in every single country visited! The full blog should be landing soon, you can already enjoy the full Polarsteps travel log.

Follow electricfelix's DS3 to Monaco trip

Cheap Fast Charging

"Charging should be easy. Charging should be cheap." To convince people to switch, etc. You've all heard it before. The world doesn't change in a day. There is always a deal out there if you go out hunting for it though! You probably checked out my Ionity pricing page in the past. It's time to cover more networks, cause Europe has more to offer and it might be cheaper to change routes sometimes!

I present to you in beta:

Cheaper EV fast charging around Europe. Find the best deal at Allego, EnBW,

Fastned, Ionity, Innogy and other European Fast charging destinations.

electricfelix cheap ev fast charging.

Allego & EnBW are the ones to watch for now. They can significantly reduce your costs on longer trips or if you don't mind visiting High Power Chargers now and then during commutes. Let me know what you think, tell me if something is missing.

Wishing you a beautiful week, don't miss out on the #BerlinChallenge: Saturday July 18th Amsterdam -> Berlin will be on the menu. We'll test many chargers of Ionity, Fastned, EnBW & Allego. The day you really can't miss is Tuesday 21st of July.

We will race the Taycan from Berlin to Amsterdam. Time to beat those seven hours from 2019! Since The Netherlands starts allowing 130km/h at 19:00 that's the earliest we can arrive at the Dutch border. I suspect we will get ready to leave Berlin early afternoon. Twitter and Instagram will be communicating the Glympse & Polarsteps links so you can be in the know from minute to minute.

See you soon!