Across Europe in an EV – The Adventure Begins

Mark Eddy
February 8, 2026
6:50 pm
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#albarracin

Sign outside the small supermarket in Albarracin - Across Europe in an EV

Across Europe in an EV - The pros and cons

For anyone considering the switch to electric and unsure because of long journeys and range anxiety, read on, this is for you.

In 2025 we swapped one of our vehicles for an EV. I was so impressed by almost everything about it that soon after we sold our other vehicle and along came EV number two. Now I’ve done a few trips within the UK in both of these vehicles and it’s all been pretty straightforward, just a little forethought to factor in the occasional charging stop for longer journeys, but that’s about it.

Every winter for at least 15 years now we have been swallows and headed south for warmer, drier, brighter weather. Always to Southern Spain and certainly in more recent times, always to Costa Blanca.

In a diesel vehicle few refuelling stops are required, although we always need plenty of stops and usually an overnight somewhere. So when I started to plan the winter trip this year my immediate thought was to take the ferry to Santander, thus hugely reducing the driving miles. We’ve taken this ferry route quite a few times and it’s a nice option. Sadly the prices were really high when I tried booking for this winter, so it had to be a crossing to Northern France.

So we set off from home in Cumbria with some charging nerves. How would it all pan out over such a long distance. Well, pretty easily is how.

I think on our way to Portsmouth we had 3 short stops for electric and we made the most of these by having a leg stretch, having a tea/coffee, going to the loo, catching up on e-mails. Our final stop on our way to the port was at a Sainsbury’s just outside Portsmouth and whilst the car charged we bought provisions for the following day. Charging close to the port also gave us a full tank before entering the unknown, France!!

Ah if only we’d known how blissfully easy it is to drive through France in an EV. Chargers are everywhere and from our experience, most are incredibly cheap to use. Certainly a far cry from public charging in the UK where £0.89 / kWh seems to be the norm (early 2026).

We used a mix of motorways and A roads, with some town driving too. From Caen, our port of arrival, we set aim for Bordeaux and managed to find a nice hotel just south of the city for our first night in France. And yes there was a charging station within a few metres of the front door.

Having spent a reasonable amount of time researching the journey and watching YouTube videos about it, most information I had suggested France was super easy - it is - whilst Spain provides a little more challenge - it does.

So day two and we cross into Spain. The road we use to reach the Valencia region is not well served with service stations, so we were definitely more nervous now. Thankfully charging was for the most part straightforward, although I can report a couple of blips. This wasn’t to do with a lack of chargers - Spain has loads - more to do with payment issues.

Lots of the chargers we encountered wanted us to register an account with the company in order to access the charger. We didn’t want to do this, so managed. After a while we thought maybe we should register, so tried and failed. Both of us tried on numerous occasions to access their ‘app’ and all to no avail. Iberdrola you need to up your game.

We arrived at our destination near Denia, a little slower than usual, but definitely more refreshed as we enjoyed so many more rest stops.

Thankfully we had access to on-site electricity for the vehicle for the duration of our stay. This meant charging could mostly be done at night whilst we slept. And that is so much nicer than going to petrol/diesel stations. On the few occasions I needed to do a longer journey a quick charge stop was all that was ever needed and these were invariably good value.

And for the journey home.

The plan was to make this into more of a road trip, with a couple of overnight stops. First stop being the medieval town of Albarracin. Could this be the most beautiful town in Spain? Maybe. Monday evenings aren’t the best time to get food there, something to bear in mind if you’re thinking of a visit. A few hundred metres from our accommodation were a bank of public chargers, only 2 were working but all were available so no drama. Another super cheap refuel whilst we strolled through the town.

The following day we had a much longer drive ahead of us, all the way to Santander. And we took the scenic route through the mountains. All worth it for the beautiful landscapes, but we were both ready to be out of the car by the time we reached Santander. This is a city we have seen only from the ferry, so we were keen to know more about it and explore.

Our hotel for this night was all a bit posh, with underground garage parking and on-site chargers (also very good value). A sea view from the balcony was pretty nice too and breakfast was Amazing. In case you're curious, this is the place: Gran Hotel Victoria

With a whole day to explore the city before we needed to be on the ferry, we covered a fair few miles on foot to see as much as we could. The Botin building being a stand out feature of the day, maybe for its weirdness, almost like a pair of binoculars trained over the port.

When we moved the car from the hotel to the port it was nicely charged up again - all whilst we had been sleeping - and this would make the UK leg of our journey home a little quicker.

After an incredibly rough first half of a crossing, the sea state calmed and we were able to venture out of our cabin. Being on deck made it all too apparent were had travelled a long way north. Cold, wet, grey! Ah we must be getting close to home.

The rain persisted for the duration of our drive back to Cumbria. And this is something worth a mention. Most EV charging stations are not undercover, so if its raining we get wet. Many of the charging stations in France and Spain were undercover, protecting drivers from sun and rain. As with so many things, our European neighbours are doing things better than us.

Charging in France - is an absolute breeze and seriously cheap. Many chargers were providing renewable energy too. The charging stations we used we all quiet too. We never needed to wait for availability.

Charging in Spain - not quite as easy as France, but still pretty good. Also very good value and many were delivering renewable energy. Charging stations in Spain are basically empty, nobody is using them. This means no waiting and fast charge times.

Charging in the UK - the infrastructure here in the UK is pretty good and moving on pretty quickly. We haven’t needed to waiting for a charger and always found them easily. 2 issues I have with them are: 1) The cost is staggering. 2) They need to be undercover, similar to a traditional fuel station is. The cost of public charging will undoubtedly put some off the idea of an EV and I can understand this. If we weren’t able to charge at home it is unlikely we would be converts. There does seem to be movement in government to address this issue, so hopefully this is only a short-term problem.

We used a mix of payment cards to give us more options when charging. 2 x RFID cards (Skoda and Electroverse), and a credit card. The RFID cards are more widely accepted, so I’d recommend having at least 1 of these if planning any longer journeys in an EV. Although in time I’d imagine this will change.

I hope this has been helpful.

We are now up and running again in The Lake District offering our full range of outdoor activities and we'd love to hear from you

#EV-road-trip-to-Europe