The Family Van, specialist in electric camper van travel, offers you the opportunity to discover how to optimize your trips and recharges in an electric van.
Choosing a stay in an electrical camper van means choosing a vacation from a new perspective. Here’s a closer look at the fail-safe techniques that will optimize the charging of your electric vehicle.
Planning a suitable itinerary
Before the big departure, look into the itinerary you will need to take to reach your final destination. At this stage, it will be interesting to use applications for traveling in an electrically converted van that will allow you to identify charging stations on your route and to be able to connect to them if necessary.
Take advantage of your breaks to recharge your vehicle
Driving cautiously goes hand in hand with frequent breaks! At The Family Van, we co-create circuits with our users based on their feedback and experiences, such as our group trip, The Family Surf, which allows for breaks close to charging points. Your time is optimized if, in any case, you take advantage of your coffee break to recharge the batteries.
Moreover, many highways now offer fast charging stations for users, allowing a full electric charge in about 30 minutes. Even though the cost of using these stations is slightly higher than standard ones, the time saved in charging is well worth it.
To choose eco-driving
Driving in an eco-friendly way means increasing your chances of preserving your autonomy and traveling peacefully. In concrete terms, this means driving at a steady pace for as long as possible, avoiding sudden and strong braking (thanks to engine braking). The goal is to avoid the succession of slowdowns and accelerations, which consume more energy than a smoother driving style.
It is also recommended not to aim for 130 km/h on the highway, but rather to stay in the right lane and drive at a speed of 90 km/h, which is much less energy-consuming.
This example is even more concrete in the case of descents: if driving at 80km/h consumes electricity, by letting go of the pedals, you will recharge your vehicle. What could be better than eco-driving to recharge your battery while driving? The wonders of technology.
By the way, speaking of uphill and downhill driving, we invite you to learn more in our dedicated blog article about driving an electric vehicle in the mountains.
Choosing the right campsites for free charging
One of the key points in traveling with an electric campervan is to optimize your itinerary by choosing campsites (as beautiful and in nature as they may be) with domestic outlets that deliver at least 10 amps.
Charging your converted electric van on a domestic socket at the campsite allows you to recharge at a rate of 2% to 3% per hour, which means you can charge up to 36% overnight!
This will allow you to travel thousands of kilometers without paying for any charging.
Discover how The Family Van team traveled more than 1500km in Portugal by only recharging in their accommodations.
