Eight years ago, I started a page describing the different cables and connectors needed for long-distance travel across Europe with a TWIKE.
At that time, Type 2 connectors were still rather uncommon. Even though I had already built a simple connector in 2014, I still listed this cable as something that might be useful.
The full travel kit looked quite extensive back then:
Charging and the EV landscape have changed a lot since then.
This made me consider which cables and adapters I will actually need for my trip to the UK this year.
My mostly positive experiences with public charging in recent years, which have improved step by step since the frustrating times of the early 2010s, led me to build an EV car emulator. This box makes the charging station believe a standard EV is connected.
By now I usually expect to plug in the TWIKE and have it work without issues.
Still, as regular readers know, I prefer to avoid commercial charging overnight. A standard household outlet is enough to fully charge the TWIKE while I sleep, and this kind of charging is often offered by friends, family or hotels.
With this in mind I asked myself again: which cables should I bring for my TDGB2025 journey across Europe?
The answer was that most of the old collection can stay at home. I can travel with a smaller and lighter set.
The most important new piece is a UK to CH cable I put together recently. This will let me charge from regular UK sockets overnight. The rest is a smaller version of my usual set, plus the charging box and a 25 metre extension cable that is not shown here.
I am curious to see how often I will use the charging box and how charging will work on this trip. I will report back.