Tesla trip around Europe - 4176 miles in 9 days

[Britishbeefy]

Got back 9 days ago, from my 9 day / 15 country trip around Europe mostly car camping with a couple of nights in hotel/hostel.

If anyone is interested I’ll post my route, costs, a few photos and what I learnt. As a spoiler;

I didn’t run out of electric.
I did 146mph on the autobahn and it was super solid.

Car is my 12 month old Model 3 Long Range RWD.

Bosnia and Srebrenica was very moving.
Watching the sun rise over Serbia onto Romania and lighting up the Danube was spectacular.
Sleeping on the Transfargarasan was epic.
The Großglockner High road a decent third favourite pass.
Austria into Slovenia was second.


I’ll be honest, I’m now a converted ……car camper. When it’s 41C and you can sleep in climate controlled bliss with Netflix on the screen and all the data you want for Tesla’s £9.99 a month premium connectivity……well, the guy is a class knob in my book but his cars really do work.


Photo Transfargarasan in the evening from my ‘pitch’.

 

[peepingtom]

sounds very interesting indeed. would like to know real world figures and the type of driver you are etc cheers

 

[eire1400]

100% I'd like to see too

 

[Davey B]

Interesting.....a good few more pics and words wouldn't go amiss.....pls.

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

Car is my 12 month old Model 3 Long Range RWD

That's quite a rare model isn't it?

 

[Monsieur]

And the route please

 

[Britishbeefy]

Sorry for the delay…….here goes

Headed to Dover and DFDS ferries on 9/8, £170 return compared to £370 for the train……unfortunately Teslas go as ‘wide’ vehicles on eurotunnel and cost more than regular cars or other EVs. Story is wheels were damaged on Model S cars so they just made all Teslas move up to the big vehicle carriages. Anyway I quite like a ferry so arrived in Calais around 0130h local time then popped to Dunkirk supercharger for a top up and onto a Canal side overnight spot for 3hrs sleep

Day 2 was Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria……..with a riverside stop and a lovely sunrise on Day 3

 

[Britishbeefy]

Day 3 continued over a lovely pass into Slovenia which had been my destination. It was only then that I realised how bloody easy it all was, how comfortable the car had been and fresh I was feeling that I thought I might see a bit more of Europe. So after dodging (double checks spelling) the cyclists and mad bikers (bloody bikers ) over the Alpine pass into Slovenia I touched into Italy and back out and booked a shared room in a hostel……much to a family of 5’s annoyance who thought they had 6 bunks to themselves. Sat and ate meats and cheese with 3 Slovenian guys outside (mega hospitality ) whilst the Egyptian mosquitoes ate me.

Had a dip in a freezing mountain river when the air temp was 40C, feet were numb in 30s so it was a quick one!

 

[Britishbeefy]

Monday - Day 4, (day 3 proper) headed off on my mission to Bosnia via Croatia. A full on day of driving, proper borders, petrol station attendants smoking, lots of people walking the roads with bags on their shoulders and sat nav getting me lost. At one point I thought it was taking me down an ever narrowing track that would pop out on a main road, it didn’t…l had to reverse.
Srebrenica was as expected but more so, really feel as a 20+ yo I didn’t appreciate what was going on back then, but I imagine the same will be said of the border areas of Ukraine/Russia in due course.
It was late afternoon by then and unsurprisingly no super charging or any charging around those parts so a mountain drive across into Serbia via some seriously heavy industrialised parts and my first view of the Danube and then on to the ridiculously fast and brilliantly tarmac lined roads into Belgrade…….the Chinese are seriously investing in Serbia.
At this point, at a Chinese financed super sized shopping complex whilst getting free charging and munching Maccy D I realised there was no phone signal and hadn’t been for a few hours……..so the wifi came in useful.
I then headed off south in the dark whilst tired…….got scared and pulled off the road after passing a car upside down that had fallen off the edge of an unlit bit. Found a nice field entrance hidden from view and had a very peaceful sleep under the stars with no need to put my window blinds in place.

 

[Britishbeefy]

The next morning, I was always setting off at sunrise 5-6am at latest, I quickly found myself following the Danube and stopped for a brew as the sun rose over Serbia onto the gorge side cliffs of Romania.
Meandering along I found a smallish crossing into Romania where the customs guys seemed to be laughing at a 53yo guy living out of his car. I had nothing but great border experiences with the people in fairness, a laugh and joke and they couldn’t be bothered to look through my scattering of used boxers for some reason.
“Any cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol?” got a laugh when I replied I don’t smoke or drink, almost as loudly as my friends did when I gave up booze 7 months ago. Who’s laughing now when I can spin my legs around and move back to front in a model 3 like a 12 yo with no beer belly……almost.

Onwards through a hell of a city called Craiova and towards Bucharest before heading up to the infamous Transfargarasan. I got there mid afternoon and watched a load of bikers coming down from it and the north as I approached from the south. The south side is where the bears are…..I probably didn’t realise, or had forgotten about these so for a second thought they were some sad plastic tourist attraction to advertise a zoo….until they moved and looked at me from 10ft away. Turns out they are a sad tourist attraction alright, walking up to cars to be fed human junk food by hand ……although maybe it’s the humans in the zoo? Big pappa bear was straddling the Armco at one point when I came around a corner, front giant paws and claws scrabbling at the ground as he looked stuck……I then realised he was scratching his ‘belly’ on the metal and let a boy do what he needs to.

The forests gave way past the tree line and up and over the busy top I went. There are campsites and hotels on route but you don’t need to pay for these, drive over to the north side and the more famous views and you can stay and sleep where you want. Brew up a dinner on the gas burner, cup of coffee, sun goes down and just me, a few other campers and the mountains for company, plus the wild dogs and bags of shit and bottles of piss that others left behind. Bliss.

 

[jonnie comet]

An interesting insight into real world touring in a car like that.

Enjoying it. Please keep it coming.....

 

[Britishbeefy]

Next day…….lovely sunrise over the mountain and I stayed a while trying a Timelapse before realising I’d be there too long. Guess I start heading back so a long drive down the mountain getting mega regen efficiency numbers and on across into Hungary. Thought it was about time for a proper wash at this point so booked a very nice treat hotel with pool on booking.com to keep me enthused.
The border crossing was the longest, an hour dodging dodgy sellers and angry brits in queues blocking the locals. I get queuing is a thing of order and all that but why do we get so hot under the collar and give the rest of Europe every opportunity to slag us off, chill guys. It turns out it’s mostly our non-Eu fault when we get to the kiosk with passports needing supervisor checks compared to EU cars getting waved through.

Logistics announcement : services, shopping centres, maccy d, mountain rivers, garages……my stomach and bodily movements are pretty predictable so essentials were carried out whilst recharging generally, either me or the car. Strip washes at quiet times……..top tip, there are all gender toilets in other countries

Only once did I have to wait for a charger, in Hungary, for 30mins which was a pain but otherwise the infrastructure was superb and the car sat nav managed things 95% perfect, only where there was no signal in Bosnia and Hungary were base maps a bit limited.

The hotel was superb, had the pool to myself to bash out 10 lengths before bed.

Next morning the new me went for a run at 0530h and found a superb running track in a small park ( facilities better in eastern countries than uk) where I also gained a friend in a dog. He followed me back to the hotel 2km away and the staff thought he was mine…..so took to him, let him stay behind reception and petted him whilst I was in my room . It was only when I went back down for a rare breakfast (I fast 2000h to 1200h 99% of the time) I realised they thought he was mine.
But they put a message out on a local group and he was collected, seems he got spooked in the storm overnight.

Got my rugby club flag flying in Hungary in the morning and away….

 

[Britishbeefy]

…….back towards Austria, let’s try a pass there I thought, a bit of research showed a discount for EVs on the Großglockner so that’s where I headed. Brilliant experience, the same but different to Romania. €35.50 compared to free but lovely tarmac, no bears being fed and a lack of dirty toilet roll to dodge.

Some slow moving cars were fun to blast past on the twists on the way back down.

Then onto a forest entrance for the night where sleep took a while as I watched out for the wildlife and the stars.

 

[Britishbeefy]

Into Germany and another chance to hit the economy of the car……..top speed of 145 but I got 146. So planted and solid. I had a 911 turbo for a couple of years and whilst it’s not 190mph solid it bloody close. Last time I was on unrestricted sections was back in the day on my 1150GSA playing at wannabe Charlie and Ewan riding to Ukraine. If only eh?
Much easier than 115-120 on a big BM as I tanked it sipping my drink listening to Rush.

Into Luxembourg, because it’s another country, and another spot in a forest thanks to park4night app. A look at some Roman Baths, another sachet of rice with added nuts, dried fruit and a coffee and asleep by 10.

 

[Britishbeefy]

I have wanted to see the memorial to John Henry ‘Jack’ Williams for a few years so my next day diverted to there. Google him. A local to me who was ‘The Man’ in terms of bravery, thank you Sir

I never tire or fail to be amazed at the care and expense given to war graves in France and Belgium. Even the smallest ones, at which I spent the day visiting a few.

It was Saturday by now with a ferry at 0930h on Sunday. I considered another visit to the Menin Gate but I find the Saturday show and its popularity maybe not as poignant as a mid week one with less people and pomp and pageantry. So it was back to my canal side retreat where I bumped into a wonderful young family from the SE of England. Had a lovely evening chat with them, a walk along the canal and an early night (ish).

 

[Britishbeefy]

Last day……got to the ferry 2hrs before my scheduled check-in and an earlier ferry. Just the 250 miles home the other side which I timed to perfection getting in the house 4hrs later and low ‘state of charge’ ready to top back up on octopus go intelligent’s 7p/kWh tariff.

So I set off with a full 75kWh ish of juice at 7p/kWh then charged along the way at Tesla superchargers. These seemed to range from the free ones in Serbia to around 45p/kWh. Cheapest otherwise was a 22euro cents one at a hotel in Netherlands where I bought a coffee as residents had breakfast on the sun terrace (you can keep your smelly diesel pump whilst I watch young attractive people nibble bananas in the sun!).
Overall supercharging cost £311.

Hotels were £80 for the two nights
Food - I had 3 sneaky burgers for about £22 total. ……for the wifi and toilets! Otherwise I probably paid less than being at home with fresh fruit picked up every couple of days, nuts, porridge, noodles and flapjacks all favourites….and mostly thanks to ASDA.

I used my Alpkit Brukit stove and a titanium mug and spork (yes, the weight didn’t really matter in an 1800kg car).

I took a tent in case…and never used it.

I had a Exped mega mat 10 duo at 183cm long and around the width of my boot was perfect.
Sleeping bag.

I bought some blinds for front and side windows but didn’t bother covering the glass dark roof or rear window.

The seats don’t fold perfectly flat and Give about 180cm of length but for one 5ft 11in bloke I could sleep a little diagonally and if parked a fraction nose down it was perfect.

I paid the £9.99 a month for the trip to get full data and extras of Premium Connectivity. So could watch YouTube or do anything vis onboard browser with unlimited data plus Spotify premium included …..although I have TIDAL anyway which has an app built in.


Car was utterly faultless. Overnight sleeping with climate on was lovely. It used at max around 8% battery when the ambient was very warm but the Tesla heat pump system is amazing.

I just wish Musk wasn’t such a knob.


Next trip will be the Baltic Blast I think. Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark etc…..just a case of when she lets me go.

Up to 23k miles now in 54 weeks of ownership and I work from home 90%……..so many long trips mostly around Scotland for Uni visits. Did do France in May.

I also had a few vignettes to buy, mostly done online and not expensive…..kept away from Switzerland!
I have the Fuli tag to move around vehicles.

Not much more to add. I’m happy on my own not having the responsibility of others and trying to please them……selfish? I like winging it and proving I can be resilient which I need to refer back to when in the routine of work and problems there.

Have ridden a fair bit in Vietnam, Thailand on my own and with others. It’s great sharing days with mates but it’s also satisfying immersing yourself in your surrounds. The car isolates you where the bike really puts you in it, obviously. So you miss out on aspects car camping. Ignoring the car cost though its a pretty cost efficient way of travelling around Europe whilst being able to carry a lot of gear and clothes…..and cheap own food. ( I did succumb to French cheeses obviously).

Any questions please fire away.

Tyre wear has been great, I do need a post trip check. They were 4.5-5.0mm all round at 18k miles. Michelin e-primacy 18in 235/35 standard aero wheels.

 

[Britishbeefy]

That's quite a rare model isn't it?

Yes. Funnily enough I tried to hook up with Richard to test my car last Aug but we couldn’t get dates to align. I’ve not seen the full video yet.

 

[jonnie comet]

Great write up and I completely 'get' the travelling on your own bit - I've been doing much the same for years. I love the idea of someone INTENTIONALLY kipping in a circa £55K (?) Tesla.

Thanks for taking the time to do the write up - Good stuff -

 

[Britishbeefy]

Great write up and I completely 'get' the travelling on your own bit - I've been doing much the same for years. I love the idea of someone INTENTIONALLY kipping in a circa £55K (?) Tesla.

Thanks for taking the time to do the write up - Good stuff -

Cheers. It was reduced and on 0% last August so ‘only’ £45k ish. Cheaper than some tents!

 

[Tinytim]

Cheers. It was reduced and on 0% last August so ‘only’ £45k ish. Cheaper than some tents!

Really enjoyed that thanks BB..