The Jaguar I-Pace 2020 Summer Journey
After many trips with rental I-Pace vehicles since December 2018 I reached out and Jaguar Netherlands handed me a beautiful blue fully specced HSE version for a summer trip where I could compare it to all the vehicles that I’ve driven earlier. Most of the time lacking updates because they were rentals (without Android Auto) and so on.
With the I-Pace having it’s second birthday party what do I think of it now in the summer of 2020?
A family affair
My sister, my dad and I went on a trip that was far from fully planned out, this summer. I had the I-Pace, I brought my favourite charging cards and we left Amsterdam. The level of difference with this HSE edition “specced out fully” is just: pure luxury. The HUD (Heads up Display) is beautiful and makes it possible to keep your eyes on the road. The cooled seats work wonders especially during some of the hot summer days that we encountered.
First up was Nijmegen.
Especially now that the electric Jaguar is “already” two years old, I think the quality of the vehicle is starting to show more and more. The inside of the car is also just a pleasure to the eye and this helps when on longer journeys especially. We stayed the night at a very comfortable spot near the river Waal.
Just out of curiousity I charged it up at the schuko outlet (in place for all the ebikers visiting) and it’s good to know that from 36% to full can take up to 30 hours. If you rent some bikes while you enjoy the neighbourhood though even this regular outlet can charge your car during a stay.
Schuko charging, “pretending” to be an electric bike today.
Before we left Oortjeshekken a second I-Pace arrived, I had to take a picture!
Two electric beasts.
The iPhone and the I-Pace
For a long time I have been bringing Android phones to the party. This time it was different and I have been enjoying CarPlay in the I-Pace enormously. It’s so fast and generally more stable than Android Auto in my experience, considering several recent trips.
The I-Pace centre display is a good fit to the CarPlay interface.
Visiting Kleve by I-Pace
Since my dad had many friends on the “wanted list” we went out on our first international endeavour to Kleve (Germany). Of course I had to try local infrastructure and used my Xiaomi device to get out to the local Type 2 charger a kilometre away.
Even though they will hopefully install more chargers, Kleve already offers some infrastructure.
This is not where “the old I-Pace shines” because it wasn’t fitted with a three phase internal charger. So it would take nine hours to fill it up here (and it was at 36% when I connected). By now Jaguar has released the updated EV320 version in Europe which does come with three phase 11kW support which will make quite the difference.
A quick lunch break at Allego Urmond! (Yeah, yeah, only parked like this for the photo!)
Limburg (NL)
My sister had heard about this place called Domein Holset and I knew charging might not be super easy in the neighbourhood. That’s why we decided on a short break for some charging and french fries, before arriving to our final destination for the day.
It’s too easy to recommend the spot because the views, the silence, the breakfast, everything was superb.
Visiting Aachen by I-Pace (DE)
I obvously love preferential treatment for EV’s like they do in Aachen. BUT. Since we were only there for dinner, it was hard to figure out if we could really enjoy the perks allowed to EV’s. Where to get this vignette in the evening?
What would you have done?
Ready to continue our journey south I will show you Domein Holset and the stunning view once more. Still hard to believe for me that this is a view my home country offers! (To the right of this photo you will find Aachen (DE), just a bikeride away).
Domein Holset, Limburg (NL).
To give you an impression of where we were headed, the green dots are 100kW+ fast chargers in Europe. Yeah. Promising right to head south here!
In the meantime the situation is slowly improving but this part of Belgium, Luxembourg, north of France is not the easiest when navigating with an electric vehicle.
We managed to find a place with amazing coffee in Aachen, you should really visit if you get the chance!
Liège (BE)
Our next destination was in Belgium and by taking the local roads we managed very low consumption, great views but also had the first infotainment shutdown. It only took half a minute to reboot, but this is one of the promises of the new I-Pace that just arrived to market: it will have a totally new infotainment and computer built in. You can also find it in the Land Rover Defender.
The Vespa Elettrica and the I-Pace together in Liège.
From Liège we made a trip to the spa of Spa. It did really feel like it has known better times, the roads were pretty though! My sister would take the train back home and I was going to continue to France with my dad. Obviously if we want to make it to France we need some serious charging done, so for the first time in days we head out to Ionity!
Direction: France
Things get more interesting now that we will head out to the actual charging desert: France. This is why I decided to charge up to 90% here at Ionity before leaving. Now you must know with the HSE edition this I-Pace runs on 22” wheels (and wide too) which consumption wise leads to higher numbers than with my regular 18” rental S edition. Luckily it was mid summer, but still windy!
Consumption heading into France.
Memories of Energica
During one of my first electric adventures I was in the same region but on two wheels. Powered by an Energica motorbike from Italy. I remember the town very well where I had hoped to use the local AC charger. It wasn’t working at the time (I checked: it’s working now!), the local supermarket boosted me with a schuko extension cord!
Montmédy, France.
Such a gorgeous town, here you get a different viewpoint. Two years ago I charged up at the supermarket that shows behind the light post with flowers. I parked in the entrance because the charging cord wasn’t very long. Great memories, friendly people!
The square next to the mairie of Montmédy.
In search of a destination for the night
I found us a town where they should have free 50kW charging and local AC charging infrastructure. So we’re heading out there, it’s a slow father son ride from now on we can take our time to enjoy it!
A happy father, because the son walked all over town charging the vehicle!
Traveling by car in France is very rewarding because the roads are simply amazing. Especially once you leave the highway life gets better instantly. This is just one of those examples.
Chaumont, France.
I especially like driving through all the places you will never find if you stay on the highway. Did you know France even has a town called “Gray”? Well now you do! The Jag brings come colour too!
Gray, France.
The Ionity show!
Another thing I was really looking forward to today: the next Ionity charge! At Aire de Jura on the Autoroute Verte. We came for a serious topup and I loved it because I got to meet all these other EV drivers! The Audi Sportback driver from Belgium used to be driving a Mercedes! The Dutch Tesla tried Ionity for the first time and the French e-208 was a company car. Oh yeah, 2020 rockin’ it!
The wonders of French AC charging
I had an exciting experience in the next town where we stopped along our journey to visit even more friends of my dad. None of my charging cards worked (surprise, surprise) but the QR code on the machine actually was really simple to use. No account needed (impressed!) and even unlocking the day after was no hassle.
Another free(!) overnight charge at Tournus (FR).
Tournus was a pleasant surprise. My dad was scouting hotels and I specifically didn’t mention chargers because I was curious what would happen. We found a hotel, it wasn’t that early and can you believe that just one minute walking down the street the closest village charger was right there! France keeps surprising me, more redundancy is still welcome and these locking flaps (haha, I got your charging cable locked!) just scare me to bits.
A new destination: the Morvan
Yesterday we secretly also visited friends of my dad and we’re already on our way to the next ones. I’ve always liked France since I grew up on car holidays in the area so it feels homey to me. The Morvan was totally new and wow. Can I just say wow!
Entering le Morvan.
Very quiet villages and even more scenic surroundings. A couple of days in France of pure relaxation.
Moulins-Engilbert, Morvan, France.
Now the daytime is all nice and pretty but when the sun sets is where it gets interesting! I had to drive very carefully because we met several wild animals on the road.
le Morvan.
The whole region seems to be one scenic route and I can’t stop taking photos. The fact that we’re driving electric just makes the whole experience very soothing, it’s quiet on the roads, the silence is blissful really.
Saint-Hilaire-en-Morvan.
No need to charge
Of course there’s no end to churches in the neighbourhood and after visiting a local lake we continue the ride to find ourselves a new surprise destination. The Jaguar has 53% SoC left since we last charged some days ago and we can still almost manage another 200km at these speeds.
Saint-Père.
Meeting the classics!
A popular place for classics, can’t wait for the EV conversions to happen with models like these!
It’s easy to recommend visiting Merry-sur-Yvonne, where I decided on a small photo shoot even though we were quite hungry already! The rocks speak for themselves.
Merry-sur-Yvonne and the Jaguar I-Pace HSE.
My lucky affair with chargers nearby sleeping spots just continues. If this trip proves one thing is that AC charging infrastructure in France is very easy to find. Of course with just one machine in most villages I would like to see another one installed in 2021 at least because it will probably be busy!
There’s no end to the local e-Totem AC charging infrastructure. A ZOE is already enjoying some AC juice.
Heading home
It’s my dad’s birthday when we head out to downtown Auxerre, churches and breakfast! A charger is easy to find yet again. My reliable partner in crime is the Chargemap app, installed on all phones that get near me!
90 minutes of charging needed from 90% till 100% here at the Freshmile AC charger.
We actually walked past the local mobility centre. Auxerre is trying to move forward with electric navettes (small van like buses cruising downtown, fully electric).
Maison des mobilités, Auxerre.
Troyes, a typical French moment
Arriving in Troyes I discovered quite some charging options downtown. It was a bit late for French lunch but we would still try. The charger showed no sign of good faith so I called the hotline and when I told the person on the phone I was in Troyes he had to laugh: all Troyes was down. Offline. No charging for you sir. He wished me luck.
Welcome to France, where plenty of AC charging is actually available. But not always working. All Troyes on this summer day: offline.
Not scared easily
Obviously this is nothing that gets me out of a good mood but I have to wonder, when we get more dependent on electric mobility in the future… You don’t want this. The struggle can be real.
Can’t wait for a company to revive spots like these with some High Power Charging units!
Since not charging in Troyes, we are down to 50% and the car predicts just above 190km of range. It’s great to be on the local roads with 80km/h max!
Statistics today. 50% SoC left. Nearly 210km already done since charging up fully in Auxerre.
Even on 22” wheels the JAG becomes a range beast when enjoying the local roads in summer! We’re on our way to Belgium and I already count on not being able to charge where we’re headed. Luckily by keeping our speed steady I am confident we’ll find a way “out of this dark area”.
Embarking on the Ionity adventure
Since charging overnight was not possible we were left with little over 20% in the Belgian morning. Luckily I know pretty much all Ionity chargers in the country and one of those is just within reach at Le Rœulx. It definitely got my dad nervous so he was very happy when we actually made it (4% SoC left in “the tank”).
Ionity, Le Rœulx, Belgium.
From here on out electric life gets very easy and I know exactly where I want to go. Our favourite coffee in Zeeland (NL) feels around the corner (let’s say 200km).
Since starting driving electric a couple of years back looking at wind turbines has changed completely. From “crazy machines?!” to something like “wow, look at these incredible generators that can help us go anywhere”.
Zeeland.
Zierikzee (NL)
I grew up in Zierikzee. As in, the weekends. Swimming, bbq, biking and more swimming mainly. Of course I wanted the prettiest charging spot in the city and: it was available!
De Dikke Toren & the JAG.
Roekoekoe
Even though the holiday is ending, the best has yet to come. A treat at Roekoekoe with the friendliest owners you will find in the region.
The best espresso on the island (Schouwen-Duiveland) surely!
On to Amsterdam!
One and a half hours of charge during our lunch break gains us 50km of range. Which in our petite country is very useful (too bad we hardly serve 22kW on street charging). My dad loves to take the Rozenburg-ferry so that’s what we did. Bonus effect of crossing the water is it’s the ideal shortcut and I don’t have to explain that short routes make a lot of sense when driving electric!
Rozenburg-Maassluis ferry.
There’s always Fastned
I was hoping to try out a new Allego charger announced last year near Wassenaar, but I couldn’t even spot the construction site yet. Fastned it is, no big deal! It’s only 50kW so we’ll enjoy a tea next door in the sun.
And yes, since the new I-Pace (MY21) that started deliveries in NL recently will be able to accept three phase charging on AC a future trip we would not need this charging break. Because the charging session in Zierikzee would have delivered double the amount of power.
Fastned “city” station (Wassenaar).
What a summer journey it has been. I added some words on video if you’re curious about the look and feel of the Jaguar, with a bit more focus on the inside.
I’m really looking forward to compare “the old and the new” since Jaguar in The Netherlands started with the first deliveries of the new EV320 (less powerful) edition featuring the new infotainment. Will it be more economic to drive? Do you want that in a JAG?!