I want charging points in beautiful places!

We have just returned after more than 3,100 km through Europe with our Tesla Model Y LR. Since we got it in April we have driven just over 10,000 km. Of those there are many short trips around our home, 15 to 40 km. We can charge the car in our garage even though JM undersized the charging stations. When I asked why charging is limited to 3.3 kW, an employee at JM told me, "It allows for normal charging, for example, that after 12 hours of charging you can drive about 200 km with a regular electric car. And that this is the standard to be installed in new buildings." It's like the story of the older man who didn't think gas was getting expensive; he was still filling up for 10 euros. Time to upgrade the standard JM! Consider load sharing and differentiated tariffs if you only can solve reasonable capacity for some.

Tesla Model Y LR at a Tesla Supercharger

Ok, enough about JM and their lack of insight. In addition to these short trips to and from work, the store and the children's activities, there have been some longer trips. A couple of trips to Gothenburg and the surrounding area, Hamburg and most recently, Lake Garda. So I have some experience with our Tesla and before that we had an AUDI e-tron 55 for three years that we managed to drive over 80,000 km with. With it, I have great experience in driving on electricity. If you count the AUDI, we have gone to the mountains on skiing holidays, summer holidays on small roads in Sweden, and many kilometers along Swedish and foreign highways.

A few weeks after we picked up our AUDI, we went on a summer trip through Sweden. It was 5,000 km on highways and major roads to the center of Sweden and back on minor roads past the Swedish mountains. Initially, there was some range anxiety with a heavily loaded car and plenty of rain. Still, it declined significantly at the second charging stop north of Gothenburg. In 2020, there were not many chargers with a capacity over 50 kW along the E45 up to Karlstad and then to Laxsjö 100 km north of Östersund. A distance of almost 900 km. In a fully loaded car with a roof box, 2 adults, three children of 11, 13 and 16 years, a Dobermann, it worked fine with planning, a flexible mind and no stress, and a Trangia storm kitchen. The rest of our 4,000 km worked just as well; after that, one was a convinced electric car owner. Of course, there were times when we had to be creative, using Google and the community to get a car charger going or our Thermacell to scare away some mosquitoes on a mountain hike. But all in all, it was not the electric car, range anxiety or charging queues that became our lasting memories, but completely different things, fun things.

AUDI e-tron 55 2020

Tesla Model Y LR 2023

Fast-forward to the summer of 2023 and back home after a trip through Germany, Salzburg in Austria, on to Torri del Benaco on Lake Garda, over the Alps and the autobahn up to Hamburg to come home to Lomma via Denmark with 10% left in the battery. How does it feel then? Even a little better actually. The same keys to success, planning and no stress. 3,100 km where the availability of charging points was far more than we could ever need. We could choose between Tesla's Supercharger, IONITY and other local options at several stops. We could choose based on availability, service or price without compromising on time. Both in Austria and Italy we made some day trips. Visiting small villages by beautiful lakes, vineyards in Valpolicella and winding mountain roads from the past around Lake Garda. Even then, plenty of kilowatt hours to get and no charging queues.

What about AUDI compared to Tesla? They are good at different things, as they usually are when comparing cars. The apparent pluses for the Audi are:

AUDI e-tron 55 2020

• Suspension comfort.

• The parking system.

• Adaptive cruise control.

• Charging speed.

• Self-steering.

• Climate control.

Tesla Model Y LR 2023

“Please note that the thoughts and experiences shared here are personal and do not represent scientific truths. Your own thoughts and feelings may differ, and what applies to me may not necessarily apply to you.”

— Me

Tesla clearly wins regarding interior space and load capacity, efficiency and range, one-pedal driving and the infotainment system. But there are some bad things, even lousy to be honest. The parking system is a joke. Relying on cameras alone was a big mistake. Not having accurate distance sensors and a 360-degree camera is not worthy of a modern car. Then the autopilot is like riding with someone practicing driving. It is less competent and trustworthy than the one in AUDI. Again, relying on the camera alone is a mistake; half a mosquito in front of the camera and you are left with two choices. Either drive with the windshield wipers on constantly under blue rainless skies or don't use the system. But what's really bad, and actually a traffic hazard, is that in one week across Europe the car managed to panic-brake in the middle of the autobahn more times than the AUDI did in three years. Sometimes because it was blinded by the sun, sometimes because reflections from the roadside worried it and sometimes just because, well, who knows!

The mobile app and communication with the car is a dream compared to AUDI, which has gone from completely rubbish and unusable to just bad in three years. 

Am I satisfied with the Tesla Model Y LR? Yes, it has some pluses against the AUDI. Compared to all other electric cars within a reasonable price range, it has a slight advantage in my book. Will I buy a new Tesla again in a few years? As it stands now, no!

Back to living with an electric car and especially on European vacation trips. Something that I have on my wish list. The vast majority of fast chargers are located along major roads, at truck stops and fast food chains, in dull areas along the autobahn or in locations outside the cities alongside hauliers and light industry.

I wish for urban parking garages full of charging spots and fast charging outside a vineyard in Valpolicella or at the lookout point where you can witness magical sunsets. I want a charger at the best ice cream parlor in Skåne and the start of the mountain trail in Dalarna. I want charging points in beautiful places where you want to be, where you can eat something other than Big Mac number 19 in 7 days. Is that too much to ask for?

Nothing of this is a big deal compared to what is happening around us. It's no problem at all!

Be safe!

3 years with an electric car

-It would help if you first plugged in the cable and then complete the payment. Then you run three laps backward around the car, do seven equal-footed jumps at the charger to ward off evil charging spirits and pray to higher powers that it will work. Ideally, you should sacrifice part of a fossil car on the charging altar. And of course, you have to hold and lift the charging handle while the charger and the vehicle agree that they want to work together; that's not up to you but up to the parties involved.

-I don't believe in this electric car thing, do you? My charging neighbor asked me in Örebro. I was on my way home from the ski games in Falun with destination Lomma in Skåne, one of many long trips with our EV. I replied that I do and that it has worked quite well during the three years and 75,000 kilometers I have driven with my car so far. And it will be another pure electric car by the summer when it's time to change.

I left the man and went into Circle K. A newly renovated station with large areas, a gate with card payment for toilet visits, SEK 10. After several attempts to pay with no meaningful error messages, no message at all, I figured out that the machine didn't like certain cards and tried another one. Whoops, after a short eternity, almost making an accident on the floor, I was inside. A massage chair, a health check machine, and a cleaning robot that were chasing customers between the candy shelves. The recent renovation and new ways gave a feeling that this is Scandinavia's freshest Circle K toilet. But it turned out that it was just the opposite. I opened four stalls before finding one that was helpfully OK. Stop and paper mixed grief in the first. Someone who left underwear in the second and a customer who had terrible luck with the sight in the third.

Even the hand washing station was high-tech and told you to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds and kindly helped me with the countdown. However, the trash was too full, spilling over the nice installation and onto the floor. I wonder if this whole idea is that the Circle K staff should focus on selling hot dogs instead of cleaning the toilets, a win-win. If customers have to pay to fulfill their needs, they don't behave like pigs. They were somewhat unlucky in their thinking.

Without having my hamstring cut by the cleaning robot, I paid my stuff at one of the two automatic cash registers that the staff didn't trust and the customers didn't understand. This means that instead of selling and talking about the weather, you have staff who now run 1-1 payment training with annoyed customers who think that technology is overrated and that everything was better in the old days.

All this took some time before I headed out to my car, which had charged what I needed for the following stint, Jönköping. On the other hand, my charging neighbor had just started charging and was going to wedge himself into the Circle K toilet with a not-so-happy face. Welcome and good luck with your electric car ownership!

An intense year

So another new year begins. It's funny that we divide our commitments and promises so closely tied to this event. Why can't you start over on April 23rd or set a goal on August 3rd? I do the same as everyone else, of course, summarize the past twelve months and draw up some plans for the future around the last calendar day of the year. Just like every year.

2022 was a year about a few, but big things and the theme was MOVE. The short story is that we left the villa in Vallkärra, with the final goal being an apartment in Lomma. On the way, we had a stopover in the center of Lund. In April, parts of the family stayed in a hotel in Lund for a few weeks. I, our youngest son and the dog lived in our motorhome at a campsite in Lomma.

From the beginning of the year until the middle of May, most was about preparing us and the house for sale. Late spring and until autumn about moving and partly living in a duffel bag.

Another significant event was, of course, that one of the children moved away from home. No one took so much time and energy and more of a strange feeling. So the goal for this year is simple, not to move but live and enjoy.

The photo year 2022 may have turned out differently than I imagined it would. The plan was to have more time in nature, more days in the motorhome, and an exhibition in the fall with the year's pictures. It turned out differently than that; there were only so many landscape pictures and there was definitely no exhibition.

What it turned out to be, however, was a lot of dog and sports photography. There were dogs at work, dogs on show and dogs that were allowed to be themselves. On the sports side, there was a lot of handball, partly Emil and his team, but also a lot of senior handball and photography before and during the world's largest indoor tournament for handball youngsters.

The handball year ended this Friday, January 6th, with me being a photographer at the national team's warm-up match before the World Cup against Serbia. Not the best of games and indeed not my best work, but great fun and something I love to do more of.

I also had the opportunity to photograph a wedding in the fall, something I had yet to do and, honestly, had no interest in. But it was fantastic fun, and working with our middle son added a golden edge to the assignment. I like to do it more often, so if anyone needs a photographer, get in touch.

So what's planned for the year of photography in 2023? I'm moving the goals from last year with me. There will be dogs and sports, of course, and maybe a wedding. But the focus will be to once again run exhibitions. We'll see each other in front of one of my new pictures at an exhibition near you. Well met!

Canon AE-1

Loaded a roll of Ilford HP5+ in my Canon AE-1 and took it for a ride in our Volvo 245. The Volvo is an excellent subject as they debuted in same era, the mid ‘70s, and a great place to take some pictures was, of course, by "my" tree. I only have two FD lenses, and they are not one of the holy ones, I think. Most images are shot with Canon FD 50mm f/1.8, like that lens a lot. The other lens is Tokina Tele-Auto 200mm f/3.5. Not the most brilliant one when it comes to optical quality, but mechanical wise it holds its own.

I tried to take some pictures outside and also inside the car as well as under the hood. You have to be careful in a 245, the cup holder in the glove compartment is not entirely optimal while driving.
All exposures are measured with the camera's light meter. Both in shutter priority and manual mode, and I think it did a good job, perfect when it was a little less light, for example, inside the car.

I took the last pictures at home while the raindrops started to fall. Exor had to stand model, as usual, and then I took some close-ups on the afternoon coffee, Dalecarlia Barista blend. I like the pictures, and it will be fun to test a color negative film in the AE-1 next.

I also had my Mamiya RZ67 Pro II with me, it’s a medium format 6x7 camera, loaded with Fujifilm 400H color negative film. This film is, as the name suggests, an ISO 400 film, but I set my light meter to ISO 200, overexposed by one stop. When I left home, we had sun and a lot of light, but when we got to “my” tree, it had turned into a very cloudy day, with darker clouds on the horizon and a high chance of rain. The picture of Exor was taken in full sunlight at home while the other images were when it was overcast. Today it will be sunny all day, so I have loaded the RZ67 with a new roll, Fujifilm Velvia 50, and planning another trip.

Two months

Now we have had our electric car for just over two months. Overall, I am delighted! Some things that required getting used to is that it is an electric car. Other things are that it is a different car than the one we had before.

Now, after two months, I no longer think about it as being an electric car. I stopped doing it pretty quickly. Charging works without major worries along the roads, and we have tried many of them during this summer. At home, it is entirely carefree. The car charges as it should, when it should, controlled by Tibber with Watty and a Eease charging box.

The thing that took the longest time to get used to was not to run it as a heavy charging hybrid that I had before. I pressed the gas too lightly and gently. In my previous car, it was essential to accelerating carefully so that the petrol engine would not kick in. I do not have to think about that now. :)

Otherwise, it is nothing else are small details that the different manufacturers do differently, some things are better and others worse. Of the electric cars that are now available to buy and get more or less immediately, this is the right one for us.

Maiden trip

There is a lot to learn, and it will take some time before we have the routines in place. But I think our premiere weekend with the motorhome has gone very well.

This weekend has also been a fantastic summer, almost too warm. But when we found a place by the sea where the breeze cooled nicely, it was only enjoyable. To find locations can be a bit tricky but are the whole purpose of a motorhome, I think. If you are looking for a site. Preferably with facilities such as electricity, emptying tanks, and refilling water, it is extra difficult when the summer is still rolling on at full steam. So Lundåkrahamnen was packed so dinner was by the road close to Järavallen. Tacos with at stunning sunset.

I had a backup idea to park at the beach car park in Lomma. Not the most charming place, but we would only sleep a short night and then drive home to Lund to leave Lukas. Worked fine, and while we finished breakfast, the bathing bastards started rolling into the parking lot. Shortly after that, we turned towards Vallkärra.

At home, we filled the water tank and then cruised up to Svanshall guest harbor, which I heard a lot about. There are only 5-6 places there, so when we arrived at lunch, it was full. We managed to squeeze in to an extra place, just to cook lunch and swim in the harbor for a few hours.

With food in the stomach, the energy could be used to find a good place for the night. I had read about Persköps Ställplats outside Örkelljunga. They have a live updated site with status regarding occupied and vacancies. When we drove, there were two places available, but when we arrived, both were already taken.

We were met by the same information in a friendly way by one of the people who run the place, but we were offered a special extra place they had. Without electricity and 100 meters from the service station. Lush and beautiful located by the lake. Could not get better in our eyes. The children played in the lake before we had a barbecue, drank some great wine, and rounded off the evening with a Gin and Tonic over a game of Yatzy on our mobile patio. 3 - 0 to me by the way!

On Sunday, we took a long and easy morning. Anna and the children swam in the lake after breakfast and I editied some images. Then we drove on speculation down to Svanshall again. This time there was a place for us. We got the first parquet with the sea as our view with a lovely breeze. To lie down on the bed after lunch. To take a short afternoon nap, it is so nice to have the bed with you. That is a big part of driving around with a motor home.

New chapter

Today we will go on Road Trip - Sweden 2020 Second Edition. With those hot summer days again, it suits us perfectly with a trip to the coast.

It was in 2012 that we rented a motorhome for the first time, and the whole family fell in love with the concept of traveling around with our own house. Last year we did it again. We rented a motorhome and drove up the west coast, over the Hardangervidda and on to Bergen.

This tour was also fantastic. We were lucky with the weather, and the experiences of the Norwegian landscape are always magical. However, we felt that, with older children and a large dog, we would want a slightly larger car to enjoy the experience to the fullest. You who have tried to rent a larger motorhome where you also get to bring your four-legged friend know how difficult it can be.

This year we have been on the Road Trip again, as every year, in our car. And during the trip, the longing to have the house with us has grown stronger. So after some searching to find a reasonably large vehicle with the right layout, we ran into one a couple of hours from where we live.

For us, some things were extra important. The car needed to have four beds without having to give up the dining area. Possibility to convert the diner to additional sleeping places if needed. We are five in our family, so even though the oldest may not join us every time, there must be room for everyone. Therefore, we also needed five belted seats.

In addition to this, we wanted a large kitchen with a large fridge. A bathroom where you can be several people at the same time. And also a big floor space where Exor can hang when we are camping.

Getting all the wishes are, of course, challenging, but we think we succeeded quite well. Our car, a Frankia 840 FD from 2018, has everything we want. We think! Now we are going to live in it and write a new chapter on our vacation trips. Even though we've tried it a little bit before.

Rörsjöstugorna, Fulufjäll 2020

This Sunday evening, we arrived at Naturrum Fulufjjäll to take on all the packing and hike up to Rörsjöarna and Rörsjöstugorna. The hike is somewhat strenuous with rocks and a stretch with a fairly steep climb. It's not far so most people can do the hike, I would guess.

Rörsjöarna, July 13th 2020

Once there, everyone except Exor and me got to stay in one of the cabins. They are beautifully situated between the two Rörsjöarna, and we were lucky with the weather days two and three. When we walked there, however, it was wet.

The cottage landlord is nice and competent and happy to share stories and tips. Also, he has a small shop with the most important things.

Exor and I lived in our tent because I did not book a cabin where you could take the dog with you. But we enjoyed it as always. Now we have tested our Hilleberg Kaitum 3GT in many places. It works beyond expectations and is reasonably in weight.

At Fulufjäll, you can have fun visiting Sweden's highest waterfall, fishing, renting a boat, or just hike in a fantastic environment. Down by Naturrum Fulufjället, on the other hand, there is chaos and a lot of people!

So I think you should arrive early or late as we did if you want to find a parking space. According to our cottage host, 90% of the visitors stay down around Naturrum and make short trips to the lower part of the waterfall. I recommend you hike up the mountain. Stay overnight in one of the cabins and experience more of what the mountains have to offer.

I still do not notice much difference in that we drive a pure electric car this year. We may be planning our stops in a slightly different way. But with five in the family and one dog, we need our breaks, and taking them at about 3-hour intervals is perfect. Now we have also driven on smaller inland roads where large players such as Ionity may not focus in the first place. But there are both charging spots with free power, and Bee has many opportunities to charge along the roads. So no problem!

Summer Road Trip, 2020 edition

Coffee in the garden, planning Summer Road Trip, 2020 edition. First vacation trip with our electric vehicle. In this Corona age, instead of driving down to Croatia for the first time with several stops through Europe, we will drive from Lund to Jämtland via Värmland. And on the way back, the tour goes via Dalarna, Södermanland, and Öland.

There are a few alternative routes, but my main alternative is a trip of 2874 km. The tool I use is ABRP (abetterroutplanner.com), with test data, I have been able to collect during the weeks that have had the car.

Based on ABRP's reference consumption of 250 WH/KM @ 110 KM/H, we need 13 planned charging stops, a total charging time of 5 hours, and 45 minutes along our entire trip. I am usually not that high on consumption, more reasonably would have been around 220 WH/KM on the roads we will drive on. Almost no freeways, but regular highways, 70, 80, and 100 KM/H are what we do for the most parts.

Now we will drive with a roof box and fully loaded car. The tests I have done here at home give an average consumption of about 280-290 WH/KM. Taking into account some headwinds, rain and somewhat cooler temperatures, I based the guestimates on 300 WH/KM with a 20% margin in the battery when I reach the charging stations.

On at least three stops during the trip, we will be able to destination charge to 100%. Overall, it will give this theory…

Reference consumption: 300 WH/KM @ 110 KM/H
Total length: 2 878 KM
Driving time: 34 hours 57 minutes
Charging stops: 14
Charging time: 6 hours 37 minutes

Fossil car (maps.google.se): 35 hours without breaks.

It will be exciting to see how well the outcome will coincide with my guesses. Anything can happen on a road trip like this, and it usually does. Everything from a broken charger, nasty weather, or why not a detour to a great place you hadn't thought of from the beginning. Perhaps that site will be Road Trip 2020's most extraordinary stop, among many other beautiful memories.

And not least, will I sell my electric car this fall?

Capturing cars is the hardest thing!

Many years ago, another photographer told me that she liked my style. You would think I took it as a nice compliment. But I felt the opposite; I don't want a style. I want to continue exploring this area, continue to develop as a photographer, and I do this best by exposing myself to challenges. Test different genres and styles, let me be inspired by all the amazingly talented creators out there.

My photography has mainly moved around landscapes in different forms, magnificent views, and intimate details. But I have also photographed sports, people, macro, animals, architecture, street and everything else in between. But the hardest thing I know is to photograph cars and have their lines and expressions felt through one image. Almost everything else is relatively easy when you get a grip on it, not because all my pictures are fantastic or even useful, but still. Car photography is a whole other thing!

I think the problem is that there are so many things that you have to take into account, so many lines, so many details, so many separate parts in the same subject. At the same time, for me, it should be more of a documentary touch. My creative freedom and to describe more of the feeling I had there and then is somewhat limited. Although, of course, I know many photographers who are fully creative with their car pictures. They have my biggest respect! When it comes to creativity, I am incredibly non-judgmental.

So when I got a new car now, I thought it was an excellent opportunity to practice. I wanted to capture the vehicle in different environments, combined with what I often photograph, landscape, and sunset. But I also wanted to test some techniques I caught on the net. Among other things, to photograph details separately and merge them into one in Photoshop. For example, it is difficult to expose the car and its powerful headlights to be good directly in the camera, so there should be at least two pictures.
Another thing is to light paint the car with a flashlight. I can already say that it failed utterly. I have to practice more on that.

Overall, I am satisfied with these beginner images, and the desire to continue training in this genre has grown. Maybe next time I drive off on a hiking trip. Then perhaps I can catch several things in the same composition, stuff I like—landscape, family, hike feeling with my tent and coffee pan. And Exor, our Dobermann, of course!

Have a great day, take advantage of it to learn new things, and see opportunities! :)