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350 mile round trip

25th August 2021

I needed to do a couple of days work in deepest Berkshire, so with a good weather forecast I decided to take the SR/S. This would be my first 'just get from A to B' ride using the motorway. The charging plan was to head for a top up at the M5/M42 junction, before a full recharge in Banbury, which would see me good to my destination in Maidenhead. 100 miles of motorway and 40 miles of country/urban roads.

What actually happened is that I arrived at Singletons Nursery before they opened, so decided to stop at Warwick Services instead.

I should have known that the old Ecotricity 43kW AC charger wasn't going to work, so continued on to the Tesco Extra in Banbury, arriving with 8% left in the tank.

Whilst charging back up to 90% I had breakfast and later arrived at the office 15 minutes later than I had planned. Those 15 minutes spent arsing around with the Electric Highway charger at Warwick. All the motorway miles were spent with the cruise control set to 74mph (70mph on the GPS).

I was staying overnight with friends near Oxford, so routed via Wallingford to use the 43kW AC charger at Lidl. That gave me enough range to return to the office the next day, where I was offered a full charge during the working day.

That evening after my work commitments were complete I retraced my steps up the M40 to Banbury for a charge and dinner, then back home with no other stops. It was windier on the way back, so I got home with 4% of the battery left, but without having to moderate my riding style.

In total I covered just under 350 miles over the two days, using three Pod Point chargers, at a total cost of £1.43. The cost of returning the bike to 100% overnight at home is £0.60, so the real cost of the trip was £2, or 0.6 p/mi. (The petrol cost for this trip on my 50mpg ICE motorbike would be about £42.)

On the downside, the condensation in the dash is still there. It is very noticeable when the bike has been sat in the sun all day. And the headlight alignment is way too high, something that I have only noticed now I've ridden at night. Things that I need to take up with Alec at EEMC.

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