faster than expected the day has come to drive to rosenthal. i’m really looking forward to meeting the guys at fine mobile. some last minute changes to the route and a decision to add a quick 30 minute charge in wurmlingen and the usual preparations regarding my travel cabling kit.
so, here i am, 4:40am. TW560 is fully charged, about 14°C and a sliver of dawn forming on the horizon.
although i am used to long-distance >450kms day-long drives on our tours, we seldomly go over 300kms/day.
View > rosenthal in a larger map
above is the route i will be following. it is a mixture of shortest route and avoiding major roads. (the map is interactive > just click). i am planning on consuming 44-47Wh/km depending on how things go. (each charge has a different colour on the map).
i set off and even though i am wearing a light jacket the cold is quite noticeable. fortunately, sunrise is at about 5.45am today.
the black forest pushes consumption levels way beyond 47Wh/km. it’s a truly nice region but today, crossing it, i’d wish for less hills to cross.
after 164 kms (with a 30 mins quick recharge in wurmlingen) i arrive at the sonnenzentrum, where i had been for the recent TWIKE club general assembly. i knew that there would be a welcoming tri-phase plug here. i set the alarm for 65 mins and sleep through the first charge as if it had only lasted a minute.
i set off with an open canopy and temperatures rising. it is promising to be a very nice day!
following small roads i drive km after km without much traffic and beautiful landscapes. after the back forrest has been left behind us, TW560 and i enter a much flatter plateau and consumption levels sink dramatically.
eventually, i arrive at my next charging point > a drehstromkiste (german for ‘tri-phase box’). this charging network is currently the best in germany, since it guarantees 24h accessibility and mostly 32A tri-phase connectors – very important if one wants to get energy into one’s car quickly.
i eat lunch, drink a beer and head back to TW560 to find it at about 95% and press onward immediately.
heading to hanau, my next p&c charging station is at stadwerke hanau, the local utility company. here i’m in for a nasty surprise: the whole box is able to only provide 3kW! it was entirely my own fault: i should have consulted the entry for this charging station – it was clearly stated.
assuming that a local utility would have some kind of larger plug somewhere on their premises, i went to the reception and asked… no, was the answer. no further plugs are available. NOT a good service. with only about 15kms left i get back into the TWIKE and head to the next P&C station 11kms away. grrr.
having arrived at this next station, i discover that it is a very interesting park&charge charging point: given sunlight, the energy consumed is directly generated overhead. (as was the case when i was there)
another important learning for today is: without full, completed, charges and only multiple partial recharges, the TWIKE controller slowly loses track of exact charge levels. this is only a minor inconvenience, however, for i calculate the absolute energy absorbed and battery pack voltage in order to determine the DOD (depth of discharge).
i’m on the last charge – looking forward to arriving in rosenthal – with the sun slowly moving toward the horizon temperatures are going back to normal.
rosenthal is at the end of the world, figuratively speaking. kms after kms fly past, but i don’t feel like i’m making any distance. i, therefore, decide to take the motorway for the last 70kms.
i arrive about 8pm, check into a small pension in rosenthal and head out for a cold beer > looking forward to it!
this distance is more or less the maximum you will want to do with a TWIKE in one day – i’m looking forward to my visit tomorrow.
good night.
