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Driving and charging in France and Belgium

So last week I took the Funky Cat on a driving holiday to France with a side trip to Belgium. I had planned to use the Funky Cat last year on a similar holiday to France and Germany however that didn’t work out as the Funky Cat was stuck with the dealer getting updated at that time, so I did that trip in a Nissan Juke.

This time though I was able to take the Funky Cat. We were staying just outside Calais, so the overall distance of around 240 miles plus a ferry crossing. With a range of 175 odd miles I knew that I would need to charge up on the way.

I left Weston with a 100% charge and made our way to Dover. I did originally plan to stop at Reading Services, but in the end kept going until we reached the Cobham Services on the M25. They have both Ionity and Gridserve chargers there, both costing in the region of 79p per kWh. I put on a good charge there using the Ionity charger, which took two attempts to get charging, and I left the car to charge whilst I had a coffee. After we charged (and finished the coffee) we then headed down to Dover. There I added a small extra charge at the Tesla chargers in the St James Retail Park while we grabbed some snacks.

There was no issues with the ferry crossing, except I did get a notification on my phone (from the car) that the vehicle had moved abnormally. It said please check if it is stolen or collided. Well it was quite a rough crossing, so I think that was it.

Upon arrival I drove to the campsite and checked in.

Later that evening I saw that the local Lidl had EV charging available and it was just €0.39 per kWh which is significantly less than most super fast chargers in the UK. The next day I charged the Funky Cat from the Lidl charger. It took a little time to sort out and I had to use the Lidl app to set the charge going and the Lidl app decided to localise and only use French. I managed to sort out the app and payment and I set the Funky Cat on charge. So I did some shopping and was able to get a decent charge on the car. Later times I saw French motorists charge there who were obviously not shopping at Lidl. I did charge at Lidl a few times when we were there in France all without issue.

On one of the days on the holiday we drove to Bruges in Belgium. Upon arrival we parked in the underground parking garage ‘t Zand and there were charging facilities there as well, they had 65 charging stations for EVs. The charging used the Charge Assist app which, though I don’t recall installing, I did have on my phone. It took a couple of attempts to charge, but mainly because I picked the wrong charger on my first attempt. Also due to the vagaries of the mobile connection, I wasn’t sure if it was working until I was above ground. These were 22kW chargers so slower, but perfect for charging the Funky Cat whilst we spent the day in Bruges.

I also found that there were two charging stations on the campsite, these were 22kW chargers, but they required a €75 holding charge which I thought was extortionate for charging, so didn’t use those.

After leaving the campsite I did hope to use a charger at the Cité Europe Shopping Center which we had planned to stop at, however we didn’t find any (easily, though I am sure if we looked harder we may have found some).

Having caught the ferry home to Dover, I put the Funky Cat on charge at the St James Retail Park while we had some refreshments. This gave me sufficient charge to get to the westbound Reading Services on the M4, where I did an additional charge with the Tesla chargers there. No idea why there are only Tesla chargers at the westbound services and none at the eastbound, what’s that all about?

Overall charging the Funky Cat on this holiday was relatively stress free and I had minimal range anxiety. Unlike the last time I drove back from Dover what with road closures meant at one point I was down to a 1% charge. This time however, all was well, and I would be happy taking the Funky Cat back to Europe in the future.

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Roaming in France, oh and Belgium

Following issues with using data in Portugal a few years ago with excessive data usage on my iPhone, I did wonder if I should follow the  same process I had used in October 2023 when I went to Amsterdam, last year when I went to Europe, and when I went to Helsinki in February.

The process I would use is go into Settings -> Mobile Data and turn off virtually all the apps which could use mobile data.  I would turn off mobile data for virtually all my apps and also specifically iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. I am pretty sure they were the culprits for my excessive data usage whilst in Portugal. This time I only turned off mobile data for iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup.

This trip was a six day trip to France, with a one day excursion to Bruges in Belgium.

However on my final day I ran out of data, having used the 12GB of fair use data. I had to spend £6 adding a single day of unlimited roaming data. Always a challenge to work out what app or process was the culprit, but I think it may have been Photos and iCloud. I also used the phone extensively for CarPlay.

On the side trip to Belgium, my phone did automatically switch to the Belgium mobile network, and switched back when we returned to France.

One interesting thing that did happen when we visited Cap Gris-Nez which is the bit of France closest to the UK was that my phone did switch to the UK network before switching back to a French network when we moved away from the cliff edge.

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150, what’s all that about?

When I first had the Funky Cat it was quite usual for me to achieve a maximum predicted range of 185 miles on a 100% charge. During the winter the predicted range drops quite dramatically, in some cases as low as 122 miles.

Recently in the good weather we’ve been having, and the car is now two years old, my usual maximum predicted range has been 175 miles. I was quite surprised though on a recent charge the range was down to 150 miles. 

Not sure if that was just a glitch, or down to recently using the air conditioning a fair bit. However, the next time I did a charge it was back up to 175.

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Roaming in Belgium, oh and France

Following issues with using data in Portugal a few years ago with excessive data usage on my iPhone, I did wonder if I should follow the  same process I had used in October 2023 when I went to Amsterdam, last year when I went to Europe, and when I went to Helsinki in February.

The process I would use is go into Settings -> Mobile Data and turn off virtually all the apps which could use mobile data.  I would turn off mobile data for virtually all my apps and also specifically iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. I am pretty sure they were the culprits for my excessive data usage whilst in Portugal. This time (as an experiment) and as I was away only for a short time, I only turned off mobile data for iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup.

This trip I was taking the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Brussels. Obviously the train would have to travel through France before before arriving in Brussels in Belgium. 

After travelling through the tunnel, when I arrived in France, my phone automatically connected to the correct network and I was able to use 5G (and I guess make phone calls, but I didn’t make any calls). As I  crossed the border into Belgium I was switched automatically to a different network in Belgium.

I had no problems with data, texts and calls in Belgium and on my return visit there was another short stint with a French provider before entering the tunnel and rejoining Three when I was back in the UK.

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Tomato Stuff or the Pomodoro Technique

tomatoes
Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay

I use a range of techniques to getting things done. I do find one method doesn’t work for all tasks at all times.

When I have quite a substantial task to do then I often use the Pomodoro Technique or a variation of the technique.

The Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. He was inspired by a tomato-shaped kitchen timer, which he used to track his study sessions during his university years. The method is named after the Italian word for tomato, “pomodoro,” in honour of this tool.

The essence of the technique is to work on the task for 25 minutes and then take a break. The key is to focus during those 25 minutes and then use the 5 minutes to relax.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to using the Pomodoro Technique: Choose a task: Select the task you want to work on.

Set the timer: Set a timer for 25 minutes.

Work intensely: Focus on the task without distractions until the timer goes off.

Take a short break: Take a 5-minute break to relax and recharge.

Repeat: Repeat steps 2-4 for a set number of pomodoros, typically four.

Take a longer break: After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15-30 minutes) before starting a new set.

In addition it makes sense during the breaks to move away from the computer, go outside, walk up and down the stairs, get a drink, or whatever. Don’t just move to another task or check email or similar.

The other key is to remove interruptions, so turn off notifications, quit Teams and Outlook, and spend the time focusing on the task at hand.

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Well that was stupid!

I messed up my Mac mini by turning off Bluetooth after having issues with the wireless keyboard.

Mac mini

I have been very pleased with my M4 Mac mini since I got it last year, for such as small (and low cost) computer it has been perfect for my needs. I have a great wireless Bluetooth keyboard and mouse  (Logitech Pebble Keys) which has worked all fine for me. I used it with both the Mac mini and my MacBook Pro.

My son had come over and borrowed it for his MacBook Air. Afterwards he turned the keyboard and mouse off (something I never do).

The following day I turned on the Mac mini and the keyboard and mouse didn’t work. I checked and saw they were tuned off, so I turned them on.

The keyboard worked fine, but the mouse had stopped working.

I was able to use my old Apple Magic Trackpad to navigate. Despite some initial troubleshooting, the Mac mini still couldn’t see the mouse.

So being unable to connect the mouse again, I decided I would do the usual IT thing and turn Bluetooth off and then back on again…

Literally as I used the Magic Trackpad to turn off Bluetooth, as I clicked, it clicked that I had done the wrong thing, as now I couldn’t use the Bluetooth Trackpad to turn Bluetooth back on…

Every solution online assumed you had a keyboard, my Bluetooth keyboard didn’t work.

I couldn’t remote in, which was the other way I thought I might be able to sort it. I had that turned off.

Having recently moved I knew I didn’t have a spare USB keyboard or mouse in storage. In the end my son came over with his USB mouse and an USB-C USB-A adapter. This worked and I turned Bluetooth back on. 

I realised that the issue was that for some (stupid) reason I had messed up my initial setup of the wireless keyboard and mouse. It can be configured to be used by three different devices, however I had set it up the Mac mini as device one for the keyboard and device three for the mouse. I had been using the keyboard with my MacBook Pro as device two. It was only when my son had come over the previous day and had borrowed the keyboard and mouse for his MacBook as device three. This would have all been okay, if I had the Mac mini as device one for the mouse, I didn’t. This is why it didn’t work for me, and why I then went down that rabbit hole of turning Bluetooth off. I won’t be doing that again. So, the keyboard and mouse was never the problem, it was all down to the user.

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Now this was quite useful

I was on a recent flight from Helsinki back to London flying on a new Finnair Airbus A321.

As well as the usual table there was this interesting ledge on the back of the seat in front of me which you could use to prop your phone (or I guess a small tablet) to watch a video during the flight.

back of an airline seat

Now I would have never guessed this was there or what its purpose was unless the person sitting on my row started using it with their phone.

You weren’t allowed to use it during take off and landing, but otherwise it was useful to have if you either had a drink, or use the table for something like a laptop. Of course, it also allows you to watch stuff without holding the phone (or if you don’t have a stand for your phone).

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GWR Battery Train

When I was recently at West Ealing I saw GWR’s battery powered electric train. It does not rely on a third rail or overhead wires.

In some ways this is a recent thing, but then again, it isn’t. The first experiments with battery trains were done nearly a hundred and forty years ago in the 1890s.

BR (British Railways) used batteries in an train from 1958 to 1966 on the 38 mile long Aberdeen to Ballater line in Scotland. 

GWR have been experimenting with a battery train on the West Ealing to Greenford line in West London.

When working in London I sometimes commute from West Ealing to central London, and I had seen the inductive charging between the rails.

On a recent visit though the GWR battery powered train was at the station. The GWR battery powered train is a converted Underground train, and has been used for testing, but doesn’t carry passengers.

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Roaming in France

Following issues with using data in Portugal a few years ago with excessive data usage on my iPhone, I did wonder if I should follow the  same process I had used in October 2023 when I went to Amsterdam, last year when I went to Europe, and when I went to Helsinki in February.

The process I would use is go into Settings -> Mobile Data and turn off virtually all the apps which could use mobile data.  I would turn off mobile data for virtually all my apps and also specifically iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup. I am pretty sure they were the culprits for my excessive data usage whilst in Portugal.

However this time I was heading to Calais and Dunkerque just for the day, though I was expecting to use my phone, I didn’t think I would go overboard on the data (even using iCloud for my photos) and I didn’t think I would exceed the 12Gb Fair Use limit.

When I arrived in France, my phone automatically connected to the correct network and I was able to use 5G (and I guess make phone calls, but I didn’t make any calls).

I did turn off data when I was on the ferry though (as recommended by DFDS) and connected to the Ferry WiFi.

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Ouch, down to 1%

I hadn’t planned on getting down to a 1% charge, but that happened to me recently.

I had done a day trip to Dunkerque and had arrived back on the ferry at Dover with a roughly 50% charge left on the car. I had used more battery power than anticipated, as I had managed to get an easier ferry to Calais, but then during the day I had to travel from Calais to Dunkerque, only a 25 mile trip, but it was an unplanned trip. I also did think I might be able to charge at one of the French supermarkets I stopped at, but didn’t see any chargers. Well, I wasn’t really looking hard, but if there was one I would have probably put some charge on the Funky Cat.

I had to drive from Dover to Weston-super-Mare, a total distance of 215 miles. The Funky Cat has a maximum (published) range of 193, though when I recently charged to 100% I had a maximum range of 176. If I started off with 100% I could have done the trip with a single stop for a charge. Now if I wasn’t worried I could have stopped off anywhere at the services, paid 85p kWh and charged up there, but I wanted to save some money.

Having arrived back quite late, I knew I could take advantage of Instavolt’s off peak rates. I couldn’t use the Tesla chargers at the Channel Tunnel as they are only for people getting on or getting off the trains on the Channel Tunnel. So I headed down the M20 to the Instavolt chargers at Ashford. These chargers are near The Ashford Cattle Market, as a result after putting the Funky Cat on charge I stayed in the car.

It cost 54p kWh which is much cheaper than their standard 85p. A couple of days before I had used an Instavolt charger at the peak rates. For roughly the same amount of money, during peak charging I got 15.33 kWh, whilst off peak I got 25.18 kWh. Quite a substantial saving.

I didn’t charge to 100% as it takes quite a long time, especially that last 20%. So knowing there was 100 miles to the Tesla chargers on the M4 westbound services at Reading, I made sure I had at least a 125 mile range. I then set off.

However there is where all best laid plans started to go amiss. I found out via Waze that the M25 was closed between junctions 9 and 10. This meant I missed the Cobham Services, but did mean that I saved some power, as I find A road driving is more energy efficient then motorway driving. I also saw that the M4 was closed, which I saw was between J10 and J11.

So I wasn’t too worried. Waze took me down the M3 and through Bracknell and Wokingham. I’ve done this route before, so wasn’t too worried and assumed that this was also avoiding where the M4 was closed. However as I approached the M4 junction with the A329(M) the slip road onto the M4 was closed. This probably meant that the M4 was closed around the services as well. Time for a plan B. I asked Ora for the nearest charging station and saw that there was a bank of Tesla chargers at Wokingham.

I arrived at the Wokingham stalls, and noted on the app they were compatible to non-Tesla chargers, and the rate at that time was 41p kWh. Great I thought, however these were the older model chargers and I have had issues with these in the past. It was going to be a similar story, despite plugging in, I couldn’t get the Funky Cat to initialise a charge with the Tesla charger. I was now getting quite low on power. So after driving through Reading, I once more asked Ora for the nearest charger, and I ended up at a Shell Garage on Basingstoke Road. I put the Funky Cat on charge which was going to cost 85p a kWh a lot more than I was expecting to pay and compared to the Tesla costs.

As I sat in the car (again) I checked the maps and I did think from what I could read that the M4 was open from J11. 

So I did a minimal charge and set off, however at the junction the slip road was closed off. I headed off through the diversion and joined the M4 at J12. I decided I would stop at one of the services on the M4, and just do a charge there.  I approached Chieveley Services, I saw I still had enough range to get to Membury Services. I had had issues before at Chieveley Services, so decided I would go to Membury.

As I approached Membury Services, my range got lower and lower, until it went to zero. My heart rate started to increase and I slowed down. I got to Membury Services and checked the car I had 1% charge left. There are a bank of Tesla chargers at Membury Services, however they don’t work with non-Tesla cars. So I had to use the Gridserve chargers.

I had to recreate my account with them to use the app, so I could get the lower rate of 79p kWh. I put on enough charge to get me home and then some.

Even so, when I got home I had 6% left of charge.

It had been a frustrating trip, but I rarely do something like this, so though annoying, the Funky Cat is still a great drive. I had to remember that it was mainly frustrating as I was trying to save money on charging and keep my driving costs down.