Day 5: Exploring Cairngorms National Park (Scotland)
The plan today was for a simple drive around the nearby Cairngorms National Park – the largest in the United Kingdom.
We left with a full battery from the destination charger at our hotel – first heading into the tourist town of Pitlochry to buy some gifts and pick up some Rapid lateral flow coronavirus (COVID-19) tests. Always nice to see that some towns still have free short-term on-street parking.
Afterwards, we headed for Blairgowrie, stopping off at a Tesco to get some supplies before shops closed for New Year's Eve/Hogmanay.
We stumbled upon four charges built into an advertising board in the car park and plugged in for a free top-up. It was only 7kW so we only ended up adding about 2% to our battery.
It seems like supermarkets really need much faster charging to be practical. Tesco in Ireland all have 22kW chargers – though they are not free to use. Still every watt helps!
After our chores, we pushed on to Balmoral Castle – we knew it would be closed for winter season – so only stopped as it was on our route.
Continuing on towards Tomintoul we pass over Gairnshiel Bridge – which comes upon you as a surprise – as the Taycan points skywards as you drive over it!
Driving through a few Ski Centre's with little to no snow!
Arriving into Grantown-on-Spey in the late afternoon where we grabbed a quick bite and a charge. I don't have a ChargePlace Scotland RFID tag and the on-line payment service refused to co-operate.
Fortunately the helpdesk were able to get a charge going remotely on second attempt and we started pulling 46kW immediately. No charge has yet appeared on my account.
After food, it was almost dark – with an eerie mist for added atmosphere.
Time for us to unplug and head back to our hotel again – via Aviemore – with the mist and rain descending from the hills.
Arriving back at the hotel we plug into the available destination charger for an overnight topup to 100%.
The days charging stats:
| Location | Start SOC % | End SOC % | kWh added | Cost | Duration | Ambient Temp | Battery Temp | Charger Type | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesco | 88% | 90% | 2.52 | Free | 31 mins | 9C | 24C | AC 7kW | PodPoint |
| Grantown-on-Spey | 34% | 70% | 30.24 | Free (maybe) | 45 mins | 10C | 32C | DC 50kW | ChargePlace Scotland |
| Dunalastair Hotel Suites | 45% | 100% | 46.2 | Free | 2 hours 35 mins | 8.5C | 30C | AC 22kW | Tesla Destination Charger |
Today we did 328 km over 5:54 hours, with an average speed of 57km/h, consuming 25.5 kWh/100km.
