Welcome to an EPIC Top Gear style challenge between @GeoffBuysCars and @TheMacMaster…! What’s CHEAPEST and FASTEST to drive between the most Northerly and Southerly tips of the United Kingdom?
We’re driving a 2008 BMW 320D and a 2021 Porsche Taycan between John O’Groats and Lands End, over two days.
Part 1 – John O’Groats to Kendal
Part 2 – Kendal to Lands End
John O’Groats to Lands End, Diesel vs EV
2008 BMW 320D vs 2021 Porsche Tacan EV
Watch the full video series!
The Pre-Trip Chat
Part 1 – John O’Groats to Kendal
Part 2 – Kendal to Lands End
Part 3 – The Numbers and Post Trip Chat
Outtakes 1 – The B Roll
Outtakes 2 – The Country is BROKEN
Outtakes 3 – Pulled Over Already
Outtakes 4 – The Problem with EV Repairs
#Tesla #RoadTrip #EV #JohnOGroats #LandsEnd #TopGearChallenge #TopGear #GrandTour #GrandTourSpecial
34 Comments
Oh, please do subscribe to myself and The Macmaster, link in the description. Part 2 drops Tuesday 8pm, with a summary Wednesday 8pm. Place your bets in the comments… What was the total cost for each car for the entire trip? All that is revealed in the debrief in Wednesdays video.
Oh, regarding the comedy / boring bit about the bmw history and spec at the end, I wasn’t sure whether to edit it out, BUT… it was all filmed while waiting for Lee, and that’s kinda the point isn’t it?! So it stayed in 😂
I was told by my RAC man who came and rescued me twice when I first got my 1 series to never use the start stop. I have obeyed him and 7yrs later had no problems after that 😅 I HATE that is doesn’t have a temperature gage.
I have travelled the route from the north of Scotland to North Staffordshire more times than I can remember. Why has your satnav taken you to the Fourth Road Bridge? I always headed for Stirling and joined the M8. It's a high-speed road to Stirling.
What did you expect for ,£40/night at Days. Was it clean?
Brilliant video, guys. I feel sorry for Lee .
Keep them coming..
I agree that the charging network is awful. Overly complicated and expensive as it is. But compare a Porsche to a diesel BMW is a bit unfair. That Porsche must use a ton of leccy as it’s mega fast. Might have been a bit fairer to use a Tesla model 3 or similar against a 3 series.
Or your Range Rover ??
Well , if ever there was a foregone conclusion , this was it. I know the detractors are going to say this wasnt a "real world" scenario and no , not everyone does this every day but it highlighted EVERY downfall of EV vs ICE ownership. I felt genuinely sorry for Lee at the end , he was a genuinely broken man but you can understand why. Driving a very pretty car does not make up for the fact that you are in the dark ages in the terms of charging availabilty/times/cost , the range is little better than a horse and cart , it is bankrupting you with hyper-depreciation ticking away every second of the day and lastly has the ability and propensity to incinerate you on a whim!! To be honest im amazed that Lee didnt just throw the towel in at Cullompton services , he could have dumped his mansize tissue in the Sani-bin in the GENTS dunny…yes the gents. Their chargers are rubbish but they cater exceptionally well for menstruating gentlemen! Pretty much tells you need to know.
A few other points to note Geoff , i always get the same drop in fuel economy when i hit the A30 and i can assure you its only due to the gradients on that section , in no way could it have been any other factor!! Please people , dont bother with Lands End , it was ruined many moons ago and is now just a low rent money grabbing exercise and if you arent careful you will incur the wrath of the evil cliff pixie or whatever TF that thing was that snarled at Geoff. Finally , its a brave man that takes on 5 pints of Korev and then attempts to guide £39.45p (current value) worth of Taycan through Mousehole at night , its more than a bit snug down there in places. You must have had some head on you in the morning though , 2 pints is my limit , its the sulphites or something in it. All in though guys , as a real world exercise , well done and looking forward very much to more of the same!!
The uk seems to be a small and empty country. Why are they claiming to be 67 million of them? seems ridiculous.
Why were you worried about a view of a lake when it's dark? At least there shouldn't be any illegals there! Get a grip!
If you had done that trip by motorcycle, that hotel would be warmly welcomed 😂
This knuckle dragger thinks it’s ok to be in control of a vehicle for 9 hours straight only stopping for two pisses. But he still thinks it’s ok to drive.
It’s 14 hours/ 1400 km. Why aren’t you doing it in one go? In the last 12 months I’ve done that distance in my V8 Discovery 2 on 3 occasions (6 if you count the return journey); one day, two stops for fuel, job done.
So much misinformation and frustrating subversion in this series of videos. The Taycan is a £120k ornament and not the EV you'd ever choose for a run like this. needs to be BMW i4 or Tesla Model 3 long range, both of which are capable of 300 miles plus even in winter and 180 miles plus charge in 30 minutes. History will not judge people like you @Geoffbuyscars well for delaying the masses to decarbonise.
Equally too, this is a very unbalanced view of the use of the charging network. The vast majority of EV owners (minor waits aside) have had mostly positive experiences of the charging network, in the same way as people haven't always had the best experiences with refueling their cars. Petrol stations still have queues too.
The problems Scotland lol oh you take the high road and I’ll take the low road and I’ll be in Scotland before ye
Just watched the macmasters videos poor guy was so stressed
The joy of a road trip where the only concern is where to go, not will I make it. For those who say the country has petrol station infrastructure built over decades. Remember to make an ICE car go further just needs a bit more metal to make a bigger tank not £10k for a bigger battery.
Geoff, 2 days after watching this video with the wife, a courier dropped off a Joe Browns package. I think i know what one of my Christmas presents are going to be. Thanks. 😊😊
To put it in perspective as an Australian, if you can’t make all this work for the EV in the UK, Australia would be laughable. I mean, remoteness for starters. The distance between charges would be insane. Then the distance to travel, I mean 350 miles, is about a quarter of the way into the state of NSW (coast is 1300 miles), just 1 state! There are bigger ones.
Then, you have the extreme heat for battery fatigue, the list goes on.
I’ll stick to my diesel 4×4 Nissan Patrol, gets about 500 miles to a tank, never has an issue and is 30 years old!!! 😂
EVs are for those that are easily lead by the media and that believe they are doing the right thing….
Porsche has the charging stations set up in the PCM you just put in your destination and it works out where to stop and for how long, you can also set what % you want to have when you arrive .. its all in the planning
fantastic fun oh and by the way you passed my door should Havre stopped for a coffee 🙂 harthill just 5 min off the motorway. ;and the result is kind of what we expected 🙂
Tescos have been using the rail network to deliver to Inverness for over 20 years now as it reduces the number of Lorrie’s they’d need on the A9 as they have several supermarkets in the highlands.
13 minutes in, and Geoff mentions a "family holiday to Staines". That's something to get your head around.
Hotel thing comes off a little bit snobby, just so you know.
The youtube ad was for an insurance company that explicitly promoted that they covered EV battery fire damage. Interesting that they had to mention that.
This is a 15.5 hour trip in a Tesla with rest-recharge stops, which is not bad for 1365 kilometres.
Anyone trying to do it faster would be fatigued and driving in an unsafe manner.
If the whole world could see this video, nothing else would be needed, and the fate of electric vehicles would be sealed. Further debates of corrupt politicians would be pointless, and the world could finally move forward without nonsense. I personally drive diesel cars, and I'm proud of it.
Using one ev car and one brand of charger then saying ALL ev's are useless and no good for any trips, what an idiot ! I've done it in my Tesla which can use ALL chargers including the reliable Tesla superchargers and only added just over an hour of charging time in total
Prior to today, I thought watching other people stuck in traffic was as boring as watching paint dry, but I was wrong. This is the most entertaining reality TV I've ever watched. Which may be a compliment, depending how much credit you give the surface scum at the top of the cesspool that is reality TV.
great video cant beat diesel cars macmaster needs a cheaper car did you see he payed 631 pound for 2 tyres
Where did you get the dodgy shades Geoff
EV no chance Lol 😂
What a trip! BEAR Scotland is bloody useless at traffic lights – they set some up in Thurso and in the rush hour it went from 5 minutes to cross the bridge up to TWO HOURS. Bloody shocking they fix it after enough complaints!
the bmw should do that run in about a tank and 1/2. ive got a 220d manaul and had over 650 miles out of a tank before with still about 40 miles remaining, but obviously wouldnt take it any lower on fuel, was mostly motorway driving though. at a guess at the start of the video, it should get somewhere around 55mpg