Traveling by electric car can be fun and pleasant in connection with its driving characteristics, but it may no longer be comfortable in a situation where the passenger is limited by time. In order for electric car owners to enjoy a really comfortable journey, a reliable charging network is needed. However, it is still being developed in the country. When they come across the Ionity quick charger in the Czech Republic, which is the only one here that offers a fast charge in about half an hour, they are very lucky.
Although Ash is a city where you can meet and experience a lot, unless the driver is looking for a charging station. It is not located anywhere in the area on the Czech side of the border. The first charging stop can be made in Cheb or in Karlovy Vary, for example at the station from ČEZ at McDonald’s.
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But here you need to prepare for waiting not only to charge the battery, but also to delay on the way to it. Before you can reach the charging stand, you must stand in line for the McDrive dispensing window. There is no other way to the charger – if there is no violation of regulations. Charging approximately fifty percent of the battery eventually cost us 248 crowns.
“We know about this complicated situation. But this is mainly due to the fact that each electric car has charging from a different side and those chargers are therefore only suitable for someone’s location, “explains Martin Kozma, head of the McDonald’s restaurant in Karlovy Vary. “But so far, it rarely happens here that both chargers are used at the same time,” he added. But that is exactly what happened during our charging.
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When arriving in Prague on the D6 motorway, the battery showed a range of only 40 kilometers. During the city ride, however, due to the constant deceleration and braking, the battery was recharged up to twice – ie for a range of up to 80 kilometers.
However, in the event of an emergency, the electric car has a charging cable for home use, which can be plugged into a standard socket. However, charging an electric car in such a case takes approximately five hours.
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The direction from Prague to Ostrava along the D1 motorway is a bit richer for fast chargers. In Nupaky outside Prague, it is possible to head for the first quick charger from the Ionity network, which we gladly used. We were lucky because there were only two chargers, one of which was already occupied. Another enyaq arrived at the chargers within minutes. When he found out that the driver of the other car was out of place and that we would vacate our seat in half an hour, he decided to leave. “I’m in a hurry to Prague for a meeting, so I can’t wait. I will try a slower charger on the outskirts of Prague, “said the driver of the electric car.
Charging from four percent to ninety cost almost 1,450 crowns, which is the price for charging without any prepaid flat rate that would reduce the price. It is generally recommended to charge the electric car to eighty percent.
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Another and at the same time the last fast charging station Ionity in front of the territory of Moravia is located at the filling station OMV Pávov near Jihlava, where there were a total of two chargers in the direction of Brno. But neither worked. “The condition of the charger at OMV Jihlava in the direction of Brno was the same two weeks ago. I would expect Ionity to take care of that, “complained on Twitter technology consultant Lukáš Sochor. We were saved by functional stations in the opposite direction to Prague.
It is still 260 kilometers from Jihlava to Ostrava, which the first purely electric Škoda managed to charge. It should be noted that the D1 is full of constrictions, so the speed of the enyaq was usually around a hundred kilometers per hour. During frequent braking, the car recovers significantly, so we had no problem reaching Ostrava.
The journey from Prague to Ostrava took a little over five hours. However, navigation shows that it should normally take less than four hours. The reason for such delays is largely charging stops. If the driver of an electric car wants to drive from Prague to Ostrava on a single charge, he will definitely not be able to afford a faster ride. He should not drive faster than 120 kilometers per hour on average on the highway.
See what a giant electric car battery factory can (not) bring to the Czech Republic:
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Gigafactory Volkswagen in the Czech Republic – positives and negatives • VIDEO Videohub
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The next day, our enyaq gained “strength” at the Avion Shopping center in Ostrava, where there are CEZ chargers in the parking lot near Kaufland. And again, there was only one free. The others included electric cars from Volkswagen, which are used by the Dame food company for delivery services. The 85 percent charge took a little over an hour and cost 430 crowns.
This time we chose the “northern route” through Litomyšl and Hradec Králové as the return journey. It may be a more comfortable route than on the D1 motorway, but you will only find a quick charger in Nupaky in front of Prague. We used the station from ČEZ in Hradec Králové near the Hučák hydroelectric power plant, in the vicinity of which there are a few restaurants, so you can combine pleasant with useful. The electric car charged 55 percent, ie approximately 215 kilometers, which was enough for Prague.
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The whole journey took time again. At ten o’clock in the morning we started charging in Ostrava, which took an hour and a half. Charging in Hradec Králové then took us 35 minutes. According to the navigation, the journey should take approximately four hours and ten minutes. If we do not count the morning charging in Ostrava, but just the journey from Ostrava to Prague, then our journey lasted five and a half hours. Numerous restrictions on the road and a significant slowdown in speed before the end of the road due to the low range also contributed significantly to this extension.
We used mobile applications to pay for recharging, as we did not have any rechargeable cards or chips available. We were surprised that the Ionity and Future Go applications from ČEZ were very fast and reliable, and we did not encounter any problems when paying.
However, it is relatively pleasant to spend time in Škoda Enyaq. It is a very comfortable, relatively robust car in which the driver feels safe and which offers driving pleasure. However, the vehicle will no longer impress you with its real range. However, it is a very suitable companion for driving around the city or for shorter distances. If we look away from the size of the car, which is not very practical for urban conditions.
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