What I have learned from this trip?

You can plan everything very well, but there can always be some technical difficulties you can't plan. I expected some kind of adventure when I planned this tour. In the end, it was actually only a little bit too much adventure ;) But something like this can happen with any car.


In the first place things didn't look very well. I only got negative messages from the service departments. They often told me they cannot do anything for me, because I'm in Norway. I had big luck that I met again the truck driver which towed my car from Honnigsvåg to Skaidi. He gave me the most valueable tip: Take the Hurtigruten ship from Hammerfest to Tromsø. Without that I think I would still be there! After that I got also in contact with a very helpful person at Renault in Austria. He was very positive and was also very happy about the information regarding the ship.

Everything went really fast after I got this information. I booked the ship, at truck came the next day and towed me Hammerfest. At the next day I was already on my way to Tromsø, where the car finally could be repaired. Sadly it turned out that the on-board charger of the car is broken-down. It would take a long time to repair this part, since they don't have a spare part at their workshop. After another weekend in Tromsø, I finally got the message that they can't repair the car now. It would take another 2 to 3 weeks before it will be finished. This was the time when I booked a flight home for the next day. Tromsø is defintely a lovely city, but after 5 days there is not much more to see there. On Tueday (25 July) I was very early at the airport to go to Oslo. Then I took the plane from Oslo to Hamburg and one from Hamburg to Vienna.

In the following weeks not really much has happened. I already got the information from the workshop that they will repair my car on Monday 14 August. Until then, both technicians who are allowed to repair electric vehicles are on vacation.

I was prepared to go to Tromsø on the 14 August, but I didn't got a definite answer that my car was working. I've seen in the App that it was charging, this is where I said: Well, let's go! The car is charging, there can't be so much wrong anymore. So I booked a flight for the same day (it was 14.00, the flight was at 17.35) and drove to the airport. There was no good flight connection on that day, so I booked a flight from Vienna to Copenhagen, went with the Bus overnight to Oslo and took a flight from Oslo to Tromsø very early on Tuesday. At around 11 I arrived at the workhop where my car was already standing outside waiting for me. I had a little chat with the technicians and then drove straight to the first fast charger to check if everything is working. The car was charging fine and there was no issue. And so the journey back to home began.

Actually the repair didn't cost me anything, the car still has warranty. And because the fault was covered by warranty, Renault Austria covered all the additional costs which were caused by the fault.


Would I do it again?

Definitely! I can't imagine going with another car. Driving an EV is something very enjoyable and relaxing. You have to stop every now and then, after your break you can go on refreshed and relaxed.


Some facts about my trip to the north

Perchtoldsdorf (AT) - Skarsvåg (NO)

  • 4060,2 km
  • 7 days
  • 16 kWh/100km ø Consumption
  • 611 kWh Total consumption
  • 13 kWh Regenerated
  • 79,9 km/h ø Speed
  • 132,05 € charging cost*
  • 54 charging stations
  • 6 countries

* Estimated, I didn't received all invoices until now