Traveling to Disneyland Paris with NIO ET5 Touring (ev)

Driving to Paris with an electric car is often deemed difficult, but my recent trip from Frankfurt to Disneyland Paris proved otherwise.

So, dealing with a tricky trip to Paris in our electric ride didn’t seem like a good enough excuse to hit the road. Truth is, my wife’s birthday was creeping up, and we’d been itching to spend a week at Disneyland Paris. But thanks to a mix-up with our Deutsche Bahn (ICE) bookings, we ended up having to hop in the car instead.

The TLDR; version: French highways, though toll-based, offer ample charging stations, making the journey little more enjoyable and hassle-free.

Introduction and Thoughts

As a new electric vehicle owner, having driven a NIO ET5 Touring for five months, charging has never been an issue thanks to options at home, work, and even local supermarkets.

Preparing for my first long-distance EV trip involved navigating through various route planners, each suggesting different charging frequencies. The use of different EV route planners was pretty intimidating - while one planner is telling me to charge about 2-3 times, an another was recommending to charge over 6 times. This would have added over 5 hours charging stops to a mere 5 1/2 hour road trip over an distance about 550 km.

However, after consulting with a colleague experienced in EV travel, I trusted my NIO’s built-in navigation, simplifying the process.

As I’m bit of a chicken, I still did some pre route plannings in my car. Unfortunately NIO does not offer a route planning in it’s smartphone app, so you can plan while relaxing on the sofa. As a result, I found out that ElectricRoutes has a pretty accurate planning that almost matches that of my NIO.

Things to Know Beforehand

Before driving to France, familiarize yourself with speed limits and regulations. Essential items include your German driving license, vehicle registration, international insurance card, safety vest, and a first aid kit.

French driving habits, such as extended left-turn signals and road signs like “Rappel” (reminder), may initially confuse travelers. Additionally, understand toll regulations, avoiding lanes requiring special boxes.

The Actual Trip

Departing from Nieder-Eschbach (startingpoint) in Frankfurt, our first stop was Hotel Campanile in France (intermediate destination), followed by Disney’s Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel (acutal destination).

Travel Route - To Paris

Travel Time

Which means estimated we would have traveled 6 hours 30 minutes and actually we traveled 7 hours and 15 minutes.

To find out what took longer, I made a table with the steps, destinations and times. Please keep in mind, that those figures are just me looking at arriving or departing on my watch and noting that down.

Chargings

Parking at Marvel Hotel

Parking at the Disney’s Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel is surprisingly good! There were about 30 EV parking spaces. You may charge with the typical Type2 plug with 11kWh. By the time of arrival charging was free.

Travel Route - Back to Home

Travel Time

Which means estimated we would have traveled 6 hours 10 minutes and actually we traveled 7 hours and 48 minutes.

To find out what took longer, I made a table with the steps, destinations and times. Please keep in mind, that those figures are just me looking at arriving or departing on my watch and noting that down.

Chargings

Toll

We paid a total of €67,00 in tolls. It was totally easy due to the fact, that you can pay with card. So my recommendation is to use a VISA card. Even a DKB VISA debit card was working fine.

Conclusion part

Sure, driving with an EV might seem daunting, but my journey to Disneyland Paris proved otherwise. With NIO’s navigation system and ample charging stations, the trip was smoother than expected. Despite spending €192,28 on charging and tolls, the convenience and ease of travel made it worthwhile.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be doing much more extensive planning for future trips. The built-in navigation system from NIO proved reliable enough. However, it would be great if NIO could integrate route planning via their smartphone app, making the process even smoother. For future trips, I might consider taking the train for a more relaxing journey, or simply sticking to driving our EV.

Costs

We paid approximately €125,28 for charging and €67,00 for toll, totaling €192,28 for two persons, or €96,14 per person. Included in this amount are the costs of charging the car at home.

The NIO ET5 Touring consumed around 206,62 kWh for €125,28, averaging around €0.606 per kWh? Whether this is good or bad, I honestly don’t know, and frankly, I don’t really care.

Alternatives?

Initially, train tickets seemed like the cheaper option, but booking complications pushed us back to our EV journey.

We explored train costs, which amounted to approximately €140,00 per person or €280,00 for both of us. Unfortunately, booking through Deutsche Bahn was problematic, leading us to consider Interrail tickets priced at €165.00 per person for a “3 Days - usage within one month” pass. Last one would have sum up to €330,00.

If you prefer a more relaxed and chilled experience, a train journey might be more suited to your preferences.