The arguments over whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie, if anyone actually likes turkey and who is the designated driver have started.
Yes, as Slade will shout every day on radios up and down the country from now until December 25… it’s Christmassss!
Around 20 million Brits are forecasted to be driving home for Christmas visiting friends and family across the country this year.
And more cars on the road means more demand on our electric vehicle chargers across the GRIDSERVE Electric Highway.
To help EV drivers keep their sleighs fully charged, we’ve crunched the numbers to find out where will be busiest and when is the best time to charge.
The best (and worst times to charge)
Our charging data from last year shows that the Saturday before Christmas was the busiest (21st December this year), but with Christmas Day falling midweek, we forecast that chargers will be heavily in demand on Monday 23rd December as well. December 27th and December 29th are also traditionally the busiest travel days post-Christmas.
Overall, between 12pm and 1pm will be the peak charging time, whereas chargers are 16% quieter at 10am and 22% quieter at 4pm.
So, consider switching a turkey sandwich lunch stop in favour of mid-morning or mid-afternoon gingerbread chai latte. And if your journeys are very flexible, then the quietest periods are before 9am and after 6pm.
‘Tis the season for charging savings
The best way to plan and pay for your Christmas charge is with the GRIDSERVE app, providing you with live charger availability and the ability to find less busy alternative sites on your route with the interactive map.
You’ll also find a Christmas charging offer starting with 20% off on 20th December when you charge via the app, with savings getting bigger and better each day ahead of an extra special treat from Santa on Christmas Day.
Keeping Britain charging this Christmas
Christmas has come early at some of our busiest locations with expansions complete at Moto Cherwell Valley, Moto Wetherby, Moto Rugby and Moto Exeter, allowing more people to plug in at one time than ever before.
And we’ll be keeping an eye out across the entire network, too, with our analytics team monitoring the health of chargers remotely to catch any issues as early as possible.
Our national EV-powered field service engineers will also be on call for on-site repairs, if and when needed, and our new customer support team will be available 24/7 to support customers over the phone.
Additionally, customers can contact us through live chat, email and socials with any additional queries.
How to charge considerately this Christmas
Christmas is a time for peace and goodwill and while we’re doing our bit to help things run smoothly, we’d ask that all electric car drivers (and motorists in general) do the same.
Part of that is to charge considerately. Don’t block bays if you’re not charging and don’t overstay longer than you need. And don’t queue jump, you’ll only end up on Santa’s naughty list.
Remember that charging power will slow after 80% thanks to your car’s charging curve, which means by trying to add those few extra miles you could be stopping someone else from connecting.
We’d also recommend choosing your charger wisely – you might not necessarily need a High Power charger if you’ve got a little longer to stop, while those with CCS connectors are asked to use CCS-only chargers first so CHAdeMo customers can still gain access.
