As Fully Charged Live 2019 takes place later this week, Zap-Map has taken a look at provision for EV charging in the area, since so many visitors are going to be driving electric cars to the event.
At last year’s inaugural event, the Silverstone Circuit car park must have seen one of the greatest concentrations of EVs in one place in the UK ever over the course of the weekend. This year’s expanded event looks set to prove no different, and as such EV drivers are going to need careful planning to make sure there are no untoward event involving running out of charge.
The site has no provision for EV charging during the event, so as such, rapid chargers in the surrounding area are likely to get busy in the mornings and evenings of the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday when Fully Charge Live 2019 takes place.
We’ve highlighted a handy 30 mile radius in the image above, to give drivers an indication as to what is around within the driving range of the majority of EVs on the road. A stop at any of the rapid points in this area should get drivers to Silverstone and back without much difficulty, even factoring in older EVs and the fact that a radius is a straight line, while routes certainly won’t be.
Many EV drivers will be looking to Milton Keynes for a top-up, as it is one of the best locations in the country in terms of rapid charger numbers. The rapid hub at Milton Keynes Coachway can charge up to eight EVs at once and is sited just off the M1, though there are a large number of rapid chargers – both single units or in clusters – dotted about across the town.
The M1 and M40 motorways have points at regular distances, though these could quickly get busy since there only tend to be a few devices at each location. The same is true of Buckingham’s rapid point.
Further afield, those travelling past Oxford, Aylesbury, or Royal Leamington Spa/Warwick have a number of points to visit, and there are definite clusters just outside the drawn radius around Coventry & Birmingham in one direction, and London in the other.
Visitors from the north or south are fairly well covered by the motorways and clusters in towns en route. Drivers from the east are exceptionally well served by Milton Keynes, and slightly further afield by Bedford, and it is only those travelling from the west that might have to plan carefully, as the Cotswolds/north Oxfordshire only has sporadic coverage of rapid chargers. Fortunately, for EVs with a little longer range, the M5 – particularly around Gloucester and Cheltenham – have a number of charge points to chose from.
The easiest way to sort out travel options from any direction is to use Zap-Map’s Route Planner. Available on desktop and app, users can filter by EV, and then select the charge point speeds they are happy to use. These will typically be rapid chargers, but those staying in the area have fast opened up as viable charging options. Networks can be filtered too, plus filters & routes can be saved to simplify matters closer to the date of travel.
Regardless of how you get to Fully Charged Live 2019, Zap-Map will be exhibiting at the event, come and meet us on Stand C54.
