In literally all conversations I have about electric vehicles (and electric cars in particular) a lot of time is spent on the r-word: Range. When people learn that a certain electric car has a range of 150km people sigh and say something like “That would easily get me to work and back, and getting groceries and visiting family wouldn’t be a problem either. But you can’t use it to go on holiday…”
Or can you?

De Leaf aan de snellader
A Dutch family from The Hague did what most people would consider ‘impossible’; they rented a Nissan Leaf in the summer of 2011 and just drove it to Italy and back. on their very readable (Dutch) website they describe exactly how they did it and by the looks of things they had an awesome holiday.
By making smart use of fast chargers along the route, but also by charging during the night at hotels and campings they drove from the Netherlands to Italy in a few days. The (Dutch) daily reports paint a picture of a very interesting journey with lots of nice human contacts along the route.
The statistics paint their own unique picture of this holiday in numbers.
The conclusion is very clear, contrary to what most people think (people who, for the most part, will have never driven an electric car) it’s perfectly possible to go on a foreign holiday with an electric car – without having to give up any holiday pleasure. Quite contrary, even, judging by the photos. Of course, it’s different – if you’re used to racing from the Netherlands to Italy in two days time then this different pace of travel may not appeal to you. But if you’re some one who lets your holiday start right after closing the front door behind you, and not right after you’ve arrived at your destination, crazy from travel stress, then this seems a relaxed and fun way to travel.
The website made me very enthousiastic. I hope to do something like this someday.