Where's everyone going?

[fizzy]

I do far less mileage than I used to. Only about 600 miles a week now. When I was a freelance computer bod I used to drive over 2000 miles a week! I was paid 50p per mile back in 2006 and £1k per day so didn't mind too much. I had 4 hire companies ban me. Avis were the only ones who would tolerate it. Got some lovely cars off them.
A typical day would be Swansea to perhaps Bristol - then on to Peterborough and home again - calling in Banbury on the way! You know when you are driving too far when you pass J13/14 of the M4 Newbury and think - almost home now

 

[addjunkie]

Well, I was in Egypt 10 days ago, am off to Riga on Monday, then Austria in January.
Get off your **** and enjoy the world

I like Morrisman travelled the world as an industrial prostitute, now I struggle to raise the enthusiasm to get jet2 to Spain or Portugal once a year unless my arm is really twisted. Though once abroad I dont really mind driving, prefer it to here to be honest.

Riga was an interesting place, but it was over 30 years ago so guess its changed a fair bit. As for Egypt every time Ive been for work or diving it reminds me of why I vowed in 1986 Id not be coming back. After I quit my last job I was supposed to go to Alexandria to commission and Start up a new subsea gas field tied into a new processing plant. 3 years 28 n 28 staying in the Sheraton, on a very good day rate, I stayed home. As for enjoy the world, many of the places Ive been are shall we say an aquired taste.

 

[Kram]

I was I admit wondering how an EV would have coped. Reckon I'd have had range anxiety.

Part of me thinks it's a bit of an affront that when going long journeys in an EV you are basically forced to stop to recharge. In that 20, 30 minutes, an hour or whatever you'll likely be supping coffee, or hot food, all which took energy to produce.

With an EV I'd have a small diesel generator in the boot and a little hole drilled for exhaust!

 

[daleyd]

I did 316 miles on Friday. Sevenoaks to Truro via Trowbridge. 7 ½ hours through the tail end of the snow. I was thankful it wasn't 24 hours earlier going through Launceston etc!

A few stops in my 2.0 petrol Mondeo but it was comfortable.

I was I admit wondering how an EV would have coped. Reckon I'd have had range anxiety.

Part of me thinks it's a bit of an affront that when going long journeys in an EV you are basically forced to stop to recharge. In that 20, 30 minutes, an hour or whatever you'll likely be supping coffee, or hot food, all which took energy to produce.

Assuming you would be eating anyway (at some point) I’m not sure you would be using “extra” over and above what you normally would

 

[Bobupndown]

As for abroad ,not really interested as it always seems to be full of foreigners or worse still British people on holiday.

Living in Northern Ireland nowhere is 150 miles away, (unless heading to the bottom of the Republic of Ireland).
Round trip to work is only 18 miles on mainly rural roads so not exactly a chore.
Enjoy driving though, even on holiday so don't mind covering 400 miles in a day, which is a fair days driving with a caravan on the back.

 

[Onoff]

Eating at very good restaurants and enjoying local wines.

I ate at a Beefeater next to the Premier Inn in Cornwall and SWMBO provided the whine.

 

[Seadog]

 

[Migmac]

I don’t get far from home very often. Quite happy to drive long distances in one day, doesn’t bother me particularly.

 

[Onoff]

Assuming you would be eating anyway (at some point) I’m not sure you would be using “extra” over and above what you normally would

Not at all. If you stop you're bombarded with choice, enticing smells& places to eat, you've nothing really to do except wait so eating is an obvious thing to do. I'm weak willed like the majority of the population.

 

[daleyd]

View attachment 474134

Or just do whatever makes you happy without expecting everyone else to enjoy the same things as you…

Some people enjoy travel others not. Each to their own as long as you are happy and content.

 

[Kayos]

My EV has a real world range of 200 miles, rarely charged anywhere but at home, unless visiting a client then I have to DC fast charge

I did about 200 miles today, however it was in the van

 

[daleyd]

Not at all. If you stop you're bombarded with choice, enticing smells& places to eat, you've nothing really to do except wait so eating is an obvious thing to do. I'm weak willed like the majority of the population.

Well, 50 mph is a decent average speed (even at motorway speeds) in my experience - so 200 miles and your up to 4 hours. Don’t know about you but I’m ready for a coffee and probably something to eat after that…and a pee, stretch of my legs.

 

[Bobtail4x4]

I bought a new to me car in january as I retired in april,
its done 2000 miles since,
if I need to nip into town, her electric car runs for free and can park it in half a space,
running the dogs about is done by the freelander,
beginning to wonder if I should have just got a better/ newer freelander,

at work I did 70 -80 miles a day, and often 150 or so on a weekend day

 

[dobbslc]

Working in London I clock my driving in hours as looking at the minuscule mileage I've covered is depressing.
Today was two hours to get from Haymarket to J 6 on the M1!
I often do over 3 hours a day commuting mostly with my foot on the clutch peddle, I now have developed Mortons Neuroma in my left foot
I must have come across every areshole in London tonight topped off by the ubiquitous merchant banker in a BMW forcing his way in front of me at a rounderbout and nearly hitting the van and the in front.
I need to give this up quick.
Private mileage is just to the dump / Wickes / petrol station and back in the Surf, that is so nice to drive compared to the manual van.

 

[Morrisman]

Back in the 80’s I used to ride to the south of France 3-4 times a year. A friend and me had an unofficial competition as to who could ride fastest from Marseillan Plage back to our home town in the midlands, or vice versa. It was 960 miles, and the fastest I ever did it was 16 hours, including ferry time. That was on a cx500 too.
Steady 80 mph all the way, pocket full of chocolate eclairs, for energy, singing my head off to keep awake at night. The roads were far, far more empty back then, even in the U.K.
Happy days, just wish I could go back and do it all again.

 

[bourbon]

last two years I've gone from driving 10 miles round trip per day, to 38 round trip per day. Then most weekends in the summer, It's maximum of 60 miles each way with my trailer on the back. Don't want to be driving for hours, then setting our show up for two hours before I can get some kip.

 

[Barking Mat]

last two years I've gone from driving 10 miles round trip per day, to 38 round trip per day. Then most weekends in the summer, It's maximum of 60 miles each way with my trailer on the back. Don't want to be driving for hours, then setting our show up for two hours before I can get some kip.

I do ten miles a day, to and back from work, every couple of days I buy beer, but then at weekends mum / dad's taxi runs daughter to her horsieness.

 

[4String.]

Funnily enough I was talking about this subject with one of my wagon driving mates today.

We're both just turned 60 and we've both been driving wagons since the late 1980's and in those days we were covering well in excess of 2000 miles a week. A lot of my work then was running out of Polypipe, just off the A1/M18 near Doncaster, and a typical week was out of the yard on Sunday morning and head down to Cornwall or up to Inverness, unload Monday morning and straight back to Doncaster empty, swap trailers and away again.

Most weeks it really was one end of the country to the other, back home on a Saturday and have the minimum weekly rest of 24 hours then away again. And before speed limiters were inflicted upon the industry you could get the wagon up to 60mph and keep it there all day, but these days traffic is so much heavier that's it's nigh on impossible to maintain a decent speed for any length of time. Part of me misses those days but I'm not up to that kind of driving anymore, although I regularly head up to Kinlochbervie to go scuba diving. That's a round trip of around 800 miles but the diving is so good that I quite often head up there for a long weekend, and I bought a 66 plate Transit Custom last year which is a great piece of kit that I find incredibly comfortable to drive over a long distance.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

For work:

- I routinely drive 135-155 miles in one hit to Heathrow and Gatwick very early in the morning, and back late at night, tried public transport and for those times of day it's a nightmare... I also lose 2-3 working hours each way.

- our UK office is in the south west, about 240 miles each way, but I don't have to do that very regularly.

- I have to go visit suppliers and partners on Teesside, and in Glasgow, Bristol, Aberdeen, and Birmingham intermittently and often at short notice.

- In my previous "national" role, I would routinely make a round trip to Glasgow in day every 1-2 weeks, so a 500 mile trip, and visit one or more of Cumbria, Stevenage, Birmingham or Cardiff every week, often more than one chained together.

- My partner commutes to Cambridge (200 mile round trip) at least one day a week,

- She also visits trial sites, other research stations, and customers ranging all the way from Kent to Fife, once to twice a week

Personally:
- I probably make at least one round trip of 500+ miles each month.

- I probably make at least one 200+ mile trip a fortnight.

Either of those could be carrying a full load or towing a 2+ tonne trailer.

- I routinely make a 70 mile trip at night every week.

- Almost all of our other travel is <20 miles, at least once daily, often 2-3 times.



Realistically our household would be a great candidate for a small electric car like an Ami, which is cheap as chips and only designed for short hops...

Not to replace my Pickup or her Mazda, but to stop us needing to use them for all the short-hop journeys which probably make up about 50% of the total milage we do.



For the longer journeys we both make (sometimes at the same time) the time loss from charging a BEV would be totally unacceptable as those journeys are already pushing the bounds of what's really feasible.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

Assuming you would be eating anyway (at some point) I’m not sure you would be using “extra” over and above what you normally would

I don't necessarily think you can assume people who often make 300 mile journeys would be stopping to eat en-route.

It's very do-able in a one-er if you time it right and get a clear run, at most you might need 1 or 2 five minute loo breaks.

If you always have somewhere to be for a specific time, much better to just get the travel bashed out efficiently, and if you don't get caught in traffic, use the extra time you allowed to account for it eat before doing whatever you're there for, otherwise grab a snack and crack on.