The first bit of driving on a French motorway in an EV is just like any other sort of driving on a French motorway. So much so that Boy 2 is soon asleep and awakes to announce ‘it’s a bit dull’.
We set the sat-nav for our first planned charging post at Bully-les-Mines. The BMW computer control is normally very clunky but the switch from mph to kph for the speedometer is very simple. And we’re pootling along at between 110kph and 120kph.
At Bully-les-Mines one of the charging posts at the Lidl seems dead, but the other (mercifully) is alive. No need for an RFID card. You just push the buttons, follow the instructions and you’re lapping up electricity.
There was a momentary glitch when it stopped charging after 10 minutes. But when we pressed the buttons again, it restarted.
Even better is that it’s free and doesn’t demand any sort of RFID card. Result. Also, croissants at the Lidl come in at €0,29. Result.
For the second time today we’ve been approached for a chat, the first on the Eurotunnel by a border force employee very interested in the car and our adventure. Now, it’s a French shopper who, from what I could gather with my limited French, was surprisingly not asking the way to the swimming pool or buying a beer. I’m reliably informed he was interested in our motor vehicle. The explanation that our destination was Switzerland prompted a fine Gallic shrug.
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