Scottish islands of Mull and Arran on an electric car

I got a new car. And this August/September we brought it on a nice roadtip from Dublin to Scotland.

The car

I had a 2005 mini for a very long time. While it wasn't the most comfortable vehicle, this was my first one in Ireland and I loved it. It brought me and my wife all over Ireland, we traveled with it to Scotland and Wales, and I have a lot of found memories of it.

However at 19 years old it just became too unreliable. Power steering pump went as I was exiting the parking garage (that was not fun!), then it had a stream of small issues. Any time anything broke the repair bill wasn't too big, but it was still typically higher than the car was worth.

So I got a different car.

Cars are expensive, and modern cars are mostly boring. There were very few models I actually liked. I looked around and eventually found a good enough deal for an electric Cupra Born. It's too much of a car I need but it was the best price/fun ratio I could find.

This post is not about the car, but here are some quick cons and pros I found after owning it for a bit.

Pros:

• it's quick!
• it is also quiet. It is surprising how effortless it gains speed with only a bit of faint whirring
• decent enough sound system

Cons:

• gets stuck in dirt very easily
• infotainment sometimes needs a reboot and not all features work well

The route

Planning

I used A better route planner for all charge planning. The overall route looked like this:

Dublin to Glasgow

We left Dublin on Sunday morning heading to Larne ferry terminal. As planned by noon we were getting to Belfast and stopped near the Kennedy Shopping Centre, expecting to get some food and maybe do some shopping while the car is charging.

We found almost everything in the shopping center closed as it was Sunday and things only reopen after 2pm. So we settled for lunch in Tim Hortons found in the parking lot. Car got to almost 100% while we were eating, and didn't need charge for the rest of the day. We made it to the ferry and across the sea. Unfortunately the skies opened and Scotland welcomed us with nasty rain so the drive on nice A77 wasn't as nice as it could have been.

Glasgow

Our hotel's parking had slow chargers. It was a bit confusing because they were at disabled parking spots, but parking attendant assured it's fine to park there while I was charging. It was a slow charger so I left it overhight and moved the car in the morning since we were spending a day in Glasgow.

The weather was nice so we enjoyed what Glasgow had to offer.

Their transport museum is nice and fee.

Glasgow to Isle of Mull

Nice day driving and exploring. We saw a lot of waterfalls, some castles, and eventually arrived to Oban where we took a ferry to Craignure on the Isle of Mull.

A couple of touristy spots had slow chargers on the way which worked without issues so we arrived to our hotel with around 65% charge. The hotel had ChargePlace Scotland charger which refused to turn on when I was using the app. While I was playing with it a guy on Tesla with Switzerland plates arrived and informed me the charger wouldn't work via app but would work if I call them. I was too tired and decided to abandon this quest and didn't charge that night.

Isle of Mull

We spent a few days on Isle of Mull. There are a few nice places to walk (but it rained a lot so we were soaked), and the main attraction are the boat tours to the Fingal's Cave. The weather didn't cooperate fully so we were unable to land of island of Staffa but saw the cave from the sea. I and my wife held it but there was some vomiting on the boat.

At the end of the first day it was time to figure out the charging situation. After a rather long time waiting on the phone, I was greeted by a nice scottish man. I dictated my account details and charger number (not fun) and he was able to turn it on remotely. Why the very same thing didn't work through the app remains a mystery.

A couple of days later I needed a charge again, so I did the call again. This time I was greeted with a grumpy scottish man who informed me this charger will not work without RFID card, which is only available to order to residents of the UK. He then told me to go on their website and still order a car. Which I failed to do. So I called again, but got to a nice scottish man, who had no issue starting the charger remotely for me again. Even more mystery.

Lesson learned: if you are forced to use ChargePlace Scotland charger, and it doesn't work, call until a nice scottish man responds.

Isle of Mull to Isle of Arran

Another nice drive. Left Isle of Mull with a full charge, got to Claonaig, got a ferry to Lochranza and got to our B&B near Brodick.

Isle of Arran

Isle of Mull was large, somewhat deserted and quite wild. Isle of Arran is much smaller, more dramatic and a lot more touristy. We were spending just two days there, and one of the days it rained quite bad. I wish we had more nice days there.

As Isle of Arran is very small, and I still had over 50% charge I didn't charge there at all. I saw a few ChargePlace Scotland chargers but they didn't look promising. I tried one but there was no phone reception near it so I could not turn it on. I tried another and it was broken.

Overall charging situation on islands is poor. On paper there is decent coverage by ChargePlace Scotland chargers. In practice, many of them are broken, or require a quest with calling and hoping to get a nice and not a grumpy man on the phone. I saw a few private chargers in restaurants/cafes and more being installed but not functioning yet. So it will likely improve over time. The islands are small enough that all you really need as a tourist is a functioning slow charger that you can plug in during lunch, dinner, or overnight.

Isle of Arran to Dublin

Long day driving with two ferries. Left Isle of Arran with about 25% charge, but as soon as we got off ferry there was a plenty of chargers to choose from. We drove to some place in Ayr where car fast-charged to something like 80% while we were getting lunch.

Then on to Cairnryan, got a ferry to Larne, got to Belfast during rush hour and after some traffic arrived to the same Ionity site near Kennedy centre. Quick bite in the same Tim Hortons, car topped up to 70-ish percent, which was enough to get home.

Got home with no drama but quite tired. There wasn't a lot of driving but two ferries added to travel time so it was exhausting at the end.

Conclusions

• This was fun
• Cupra Born is good
• Ionity is good
• ChargePlace Scotland is bad
• Scotland is beautiful