Top tips to beat the festive rush in your EV

No stress please, it's the holidays. Our tips to manage the busy season in your EV

No doubt about it, the festive season can be a busy time for drivers: heading to the shops for presents, visiting winter attractions and travelling to celebrate with friends and family. It’s joyous, but it can be a juggle with a lot to think about. So here’s a little stocking filler from us to you. 3 tips to make your EV driving as chilled as possible during the most wonderful time of the year. (And you don’t even need to write us a thank you letter.)

1. Know your ABC

A good mindset to have in the run-up to the holidays is ‘Always be Charging’ (ABC). At home, make sure you plug in your EV whenever you shop for festive food or browse online for gifts. That way you’ll always be journey ready whenever you need to set off.

And while turkeys may be stuffed, EV batteries shouldn’t be. Leave a little space in there - it’s best to always charge your EV to around 80% to keep the battery in great shape. However, there may be a rare occasion ahead of a long trip, where a 100% charge is required. While this is not recommended practice as a consistent habit, 100% as a one-off should not significantly affect your battery performance in the long-term. (Double-check your user manual first.)

When you do hit the road for those family visits or shopping sales, you can also help recharge your battery while on the move using regenerative braking, if available in your EV. It converts some of the energy lost during braking into electricity, which is then stored in the vehicle's battery.

2. Time your ride 

Though business-related travel reduces in the run up to Christmas Day, many use this period as a last chance to hit the shops. For most of us, there’s no other option than the days immediately before 25 December. According to the AA estimates, in 2023, 16.5 million cars made festive journeys - with 23rd December being the busiest day, with 16.4 million trips planned.

During busy periods you’ll find it pays to make an early start or drive late at night when the roads – and charging points – are likely to be quieter. Arriving at the family home on Christmas Day itself is a better choice – nothing beats showing up as the turkey comes out of the oven – with a lot fewer journeys happening on the 25th. From Boxing Day, traffic tends to be at lower levels until the New Year. 

The good news is, as of July 2024 there were 64,632 public electric vehicle charging devices (from different charging providers) available across the UK, and we’re pleased to say that around 75% of people in the UK live within a five-mile radius of a bp pulse rapid or ultrafast charger - making the great festive getaway smoother than ever. Download the bp pulse app to locate your nearest available one.  

With the risk of bad weather, driving long distances should be timed with the forecast in mind.  Always plan your route and anticipate rain, snow and icy conditions that might impact on battery life and charger availability. Our driving in winter weather tips will help put the ease into your seasonal journey. 

3. Plan your route

Driving to see your loved ones over the holidays can involve long-distance driving to different parts of the country, and well outside of your usual charging zones. Fortunately, with approximately 75% of the UK population living within a five-mile radius of a bp pulse rapid or ultra-fast charger, you can be confident of finding us in most parts of the country.

When planning to make your journey nice and easy, remember you don’t have to use a motorway. Choosing an A road alternative is likely to take you via charging stations that have less demand. There’s no better place than the bp pulse app to conveniently locate your nearest charger point, and if you haven’t yet done so, it can be downloaded here.

For motorway users, there’s great news, with the opening of big charging hubs around the country. These are likely to be popular but if there are queues, they’ll move fast due to the sheer number of charging points and speed of charging.

A visit to the NEC Birmingham Gigahub™ will help take the pain out of M6, M42 and M40 Christmas Day traffic with capacity for an impressive 180 vehicles to charge simultaneously. EV drivers on the M1 in north Northamptonshire can head to a powerful new hub at Kettering, featuring 10 300kW chargers, equating to 20 150kW charging points, while Reading East and West Connect on the M4 both offer capacity for eight vehicles to charge simultaneously.

It’s easy to make your festive travels part of the celebration. To help you with this, make sure to download our bp pulse app ahead of the big festive get-away to find your nearest charging points, check availability by charging speed and connector type – and enjoy lower charging rates.

Have a very happy holiday journey with bp pulse