Lisette went on an adventure to Slovenia by EV
This summer, our colleague Lisette Striekwold took her EV to Slovenia. It became an adventurous road trip aboard the Skoda Enyaq 80, where Lisette especially enjoyed the winding roads and beautiful views.
Five years ago, Lisette and her family travelled to Slovenia to buy a Karst shepherd, a typical Slovenian sheepdog bred to protect herds. This summer, they decided to travel back with Dragi - that's the dog's name - to visit the breeder. So they left in the Skoda Enyaq for Moravske Toplice.
"To keep it somewhat fun for the dog and the two teenagers on board, we decided to make it a road trip. So we drove in several stages through Germany and Austria to Slovenia and also made some fun stops during the return journey," Lisette says. "For us, the journey is as important as the destination, and the stops make the trip much more fun than driving 1,200 kilometres in one go."
Ample charging stations
Over the entire trip, Lisette and her family covered some 3,300 kilometres. The charging cost totalled just over 400 euros. "We mainly used fast chargers which naturally made the charging cost slightly higher. What was striking was that in Slovenia the rates varied a lot. For example, we found a charger there where you paid more than 1 euro per kWh", she says. Charging and electric driving itself went without a hitch throughout the trip. "Along the motorways, you can certainly find plenty of fast chargers. To get to Slovenia, we stopped eight times to charge, but I never charged more than 80% and I never let the battery drop below 20%. Once, all the charging stations were full, but then I went to ask the other drivers how long they still had to charge and we only had to wait five minutes."
Guided by the adventure
About the preparation for her trip, Lisette can be brief: there was hardly any. "My family is quite nonchalant and impulsive, so plans can still change sometimes and preparing things too much then only leads to frustration for me," Lisette laughs. "Our stay in Slovenia was fixed, as was our first night in Trier. Other than that, we let ourselves be guided by the adventure. That sometimes brought us into special situations that we will remember for a long time, such as a night in a mountain cabin in the middle of nowhere."
Whether Lisette has any tips?
"Always ask your accommodation if there are charging spots available. Sometimes your app indicates that there are none, because the charger was marked as private," she says. "But the most important tip: enjoy the journey in itself. Driving an EV is fantastic, especially through those beautiful mountain landscapes. Don't just focus on the destination and how fast you want to get there. Let your pace drop and be aware that your holiday already starts in the car. Then it's really enjoyable."
