St. Albans to Yeovil in an EV with a trailer. Surely that’s not possible?

With sun set to spoil the UK over the May bank holiday and halfterm week, Katie, Tusker’s Communications Manager, and her family had decided like most of us this year, to opt for a sunny staycation, choosing rural Somerset as their destination.  Keen on the outdoors, Katie had decided on a trip that would see them travelling 128 miles between her home in Hertfordshire to their chosen campsite in her Audi e-tron – and they’d be bringing their trailer too!

Katie recounts, “I didn’t have any reservations in getting an electric car as the idea of not having a fuel bill and helping the environment really appeals. The reality of choosing a holiday in the UK for the May half term, and deciding to drive 128 miles to Somerset pulling a trailer, was suddenly a reality, but we set off on the bank holiday weekend excited to be away for the first time since the pandemic struck.

This was our first really long distance trip in the car, having previously only driven as far as Hampshire from our home in Hertfordshire. This would also be the first time we’d be pulling a very heavy trailer with the car itself full to the brim and we had no idea how that would affect the electric range of the car. We were therefore prepared to stop along the way at one of the dozen-or-so charge points that zap-map.com had identified along our route.

Setting off early in the morning, kids in the back excited to be going camping with their friends, dog equally excited to be going anywhere, we set off. Fortunately we didn’t hit any traffic and the journey was a smooth one. The Audi was a dream – pulling the trailer was effortless, it reversed an awful lot better than my previous SUV with the trailer attached, and generally the journey was uneventful. The Audi quotes a WLTP of 193 miles for town driving and 178 for motorways, so we were hopeful that the 128 miles to Somerset wouldn’t be an issue, but the trailer was an unknown. However, pulling the trailer didn’t seem to make much, if any, difference, and we arrived with 47 miles range remaining.

Having unpacked the tent, I went in search of food (and a charge point) and found both at the local Morrison’s supermarket, 4 miles away. 35 minutes later and the car had charged while I did the shopping and in no time at all we were back at the campsite and enjoying a well-deserved glass of wine with our BBQ.

We topped the car up a couple of evenings on the 3-pin plug while at the camp site and made another trip to the supermarket (which turned out to be the best local rapid charger) before we came home to top the car up ready for the long journey (which thankfully got me out of some of the packing up!). We were less fortunate with the traffic on the way home, which did impact the mileage a little as stop-starting on the uphill roads around Stonehenge with the trailer did make a difference, but we still arrived home with 36 miles range remaining.

All in all, it was a simple journey, the same as if we had been driving a petrol vehicle, really, which has surprised a few of our friends.

We’re planning a slightly longer journey to Cornwall and then to Devon in the summer, so we’re much more confident now about making those longer journeys and that range wont be an issue.”