Going skiing in the French Alps by electric car

How will a 1,300 mile round trip in an electric car from the UK to Morzine in the French Alps go.. in winter crossing France largely at their 81mph speed limit in temperatures from 3c to minus 9c

The plan.

Day one started with 614 road miles (plus some more on a Le Shuttle train under the channel) leaving London early on a Saturday morning to travel across France to Geneva in one day. The next day I would continue for just over an hour to the the French ski resort of Morzine for a weeks skiing.

The planning

Firstly let’s run through all the trip planning after all such a journey in freezing winter temperatures when the press say “electric cars have no range”. Surely it would be a nightmare involving a lot of preparation

1. Booked a hotel near Geneva (chose the AC Hotel Julian en Genevois). Why stop? Well even when not covered in snow, mountain roads to resorts often freeze overnight and I didn’t have Morzine accommodation till Sunday and the hotel I picked was good, great value and moments off the motorway.
2. Like any car my EV needed some snow chains (mandatory for the route to resort if there is snow on road) and practiced fitting them a few times over the days before. Worth noting on dual motor Tesla model 3’s only need 1 set of chains and these are only fitted to the rear wheels.
3. Bought and added a big dollop of antifreeze screenwash as higher concentrations are needed in the alps.
4. Enter the destination the AC Hotel Julian en Genevois into the google maps navigation on my electric car and then waiting. About 8 seconds later my Tesla Model 3 had planned the entire route with every charge stop laid out.

How it went – London to Le Shuttle in Folkstone

• Departure London 5.06am with a 81% charge
• Arrival Eurotunnel 6.45am
• 3 minute charge 44-48% for toilet stop and checking departure board
• Finally on Eurotunnel train 7.41am UK time/ 8.41 French time

Being electric I set the car to heat it’s batteries and the cabin before my alarm clock even woke me. Despite being a a frosty minus 4c the car was toasty and comfortable when a left London

When I got the M25 I noticed an issue though. My headlamps didn’t seem to be working. They seemed more like sidelights with no beam at all. I actually placed a call to Tesla emergency support until I saw some services and decided to check them from the outside which revealed the issue. When it’s frosty the headlamp (and rear light lenses) attract a layer of frost thick enough to block the lens. After removing it with my fingers the adaptive headlights were working perfectly. Worth noting that the latest efficient headlamps don’t give off enough heat to melt the ice. As a result some manufacturers now fit heating elements to headlamp units.

I arrived in time for my booked train but Eurotunnel has put in even longer Disney queue that puts you through several circles before giving you a tour of the car park. I didn’t spot the outside departures board made a 3 min toilet stop (and 3 minute charge) before heading to passport control. Amazingly the combination of Le Shuttle, UK and French immigration managed to spin this tiny journey from the Eurotunnel terminal during one of the least busy times of year out into a 51 minute marathon (including having an enhanced vehicle explosives swab check). By the time they’d done their stuff I had missed my booked train but was put on the next one 30 mins late.

How it went – Le Shuttle in Calais to Geneva

• Disembarked at French time 9.35am French time (8.35am UK time)

Charge stops⚡️

• 9.48am Calais (Coquelles) 11 mins 43%-60%
• 12.28am St Quentin (Urvillers) on A26 16 mins 7%-49%
• 13.31 Reims (Tinqueux) 7 mins 23%-45%
• 14.50 Troyes (Saint Parres aux Tertres) 52 mins 9%-95%
  Grabbed lunch here
• 18.10 Aire de Poulet de Bresse 10 mins 21%-44%
• 19.39 AC Hotel Julian en Genevois 41 mins for an 11-86% charge.
  This charger was outside my hotel so I checked in and took luggage to room then unplugged on the way to dinner.
• Total charge stops 6 totalling 1 hour 36 mins from London to Geneva.

Complications

Ironically the only big complication was on the lovely A26 Motorway between Calais and Reims. First my google based Tesla navigation wouldn’t even offer it as a route. I decided to take it anyway and then found the reason as diversions were recommended for multiple sections covered in ice and quite a few vehicles had had accidents or got stuck. While my car had no issues, with the 0c temperature, little moving traffic to warm the motorway surface and stationary vehicles blocking access to toll booths , I acquiesced with a google maps diversion past a large section of the A26. Local roads were busier so much less icy than the empty frozen motorway. This did lose time compared to a standard trip. Conditions were fine further on even on some higher roads before Geneva.

How it went Geneva to Morzine

I didn’t rush up to Morzine as the overnight temperatures had been as low as minus 8c. Dropped off luggage then parked up at another chalet as my space was blocked but was back up the mountain and on skis by 1pm

• Total charge stops 7 from London to Morzine totalled 2 hours 24 minutes including at the hotel over a distance of 662 miles at French motorway speeds in temperatures between minus 5c and plus 5c
• Battery when I finally parked up the car was 62%.

One week later – Return from Morzine to London direct

• Departure 9.03am with 58% battery

When I left Morzine for the return trip the battery was at 58%. I had taken care not to use the app while in resort but the car was “woken up” a couple of times when I got things out of the car.. It also had to defrost itself before departure.

Charge stops⚡️

• 10.30am AC Hotel Julian en Genevois 8 mins 46-50%
• 12.20 Arlay 32 mins 4-77%
  Grabbed an early lunch here
• 3pm Troyes (Saint Parres aux Tertres) 23 mins 10-67%
• 17.41pm St Quentin 40 mins 4-85%
  This stop was intended to provide enough charge to return to London
• 8pm Le Shuttle Calais 5 mins 44%-50%
  But I used a toilet break at the terminal to sneak a small top up!
• Total 656 mile Morzine to London return trip with charges 5 totalling 1 hour and 48 mins.

Arrived back in SW London at 10.03pm with 21% charge

Efficiency

You might wonder, in very similar temperatures (minus 5c to plus 3c), the London to Morzine trip needed 7 charge stops totalling 2 hour 24 mins while the return needed only 5 stop totalling 1 hour and 48.

Why?

1. On the outbound the Geneva to Morzine section was uphill – 3.09 miles/kWh and the London to Geneva section was a similar 3.07 miles per kWh. The outbound trip used 204kWh
2. By comparison the return was downhill from Morzine to Geneva 5.1 miles/ kWh and the whole trip was 3.52kWh. The return trip used 186kWh so about 9% less.
3. On the return there was fog on much of the section from Geneva to Reims while on the section from St Quentin to London are chose to travel at close to travel at near 70mph even on the French side.
4. On the return I also chose to over ride some of the Tesla’s recommended charge locations and timings to miss out some short charges. This included 2 separate chargers where I arrived with a 4% battery on arrival. When you know what you’re doing you can reduce margins of error but you need to be confident you know how to adjust your efficiency or change plans if you really need to!
5. It’s worth noting that from the channel tunnel to SW London (90 miles) the Model 3 managed a very impressive 4.31 miles/kWh in temperatures around 2c. This was thanks to the 70mph limit and also… a very generous helping of 50mph roadworks between M20 and M25 that really help efficiency.
6. Charging on the return trip added about 22% to the outbound drive time but just 16% on the way back. It’s worth noting that I made a few extra comfort and coffee breaks on top of charge stops.

CO2 Compared to flying?

Power consumption was 204kWh outbound + 186kWh return = 390kWh total
While January 2025 electricity CO2e emissions in the UK are 167g/kWh in France (where most of the charging was) is just 27g/kWh. Using 50g provides a CO2e impact of just 19.5kg for the trip.

By comparison a return economy flight from Gatwick to Geneva is 398kg (Source Myclimate calculator) so 20.4 times higher in CO2 even on a single occupancy basis. Or put another way the car cut CO2 by about 96% helped by low carbon French electricity.

Cost of charging was zero as I have have 9,000 miles of credits for free charging in UK and Europe. Le Shuttle was more sadly around £318 return. Return French motorway tolls were Eur169.70 so good value if shared but on sole occupancy less so!

The lesson? Don’t listen to the conventional wisdom. Travelling long distance by electric car is fine. There is charging, They are more relaxing and most stops fit in with when you need a break or a bite in any case.