Cinematic Sights And Vibes On Lido, Venice's Alternative Destination

January 2020

A city that's largely inaccessible by car doesn't sound like the best destination for a Tesla trip. However Venice was on top of our places to visit in Italy. It's also highly recommended to visit in low season as the summer season brings cruise ships that flood the city with tourists.

Venice in January

As the trip took place in January the only floods to be aware off was the 'Acqua Alta' that could set Saint Mark's square under water. We didn't have to worry about our Model 3 - nickname Stormtrooper - getting wet since we were going to stay on Venice's largest island Lido which isn't vulnerable for high tides.

Something that caught us by surprise though was the sudden rush of fog that would cover the city in just a few minutes. When this happens you can expect delays in public transport on the water which could influence your travel schedule. So make sure to check the weather forecast for fog. We found ourselves waiting for about one hour to be able to get back to Lido from Venice city by water taxi.

Road to Venice

Our starting point for every experience trip Tesla's destination charger map. Moving the map to Venice and filtering for destination chargers, it revealed a few hotels on Italy's main land. But our attention was draw towards the only hotel offering a destination charger on its largest island Lido: The Grande Albergo Ausonia & Hungaria.

Next we plan our trip with A Better Route Planner. With its smart algorithm tailered to your EV, it can predict your consumption and proposes charging stops.

Since the hotel hosts a Tesla destination charger, it would be ideal to arrive with a Low Battery to fully benefit from the free charge. We live in Zürich and with 560 km (348 miles) drive ahead of us, the car was scheduled to be fully charged by 7:00. We grabbed breakfast at a gas station (no other option unfortunately) and enjoyed our morning coffee with the rising sun as our North Star, lighting up the snow dipped mountain peaks of the Gotthard massive.

The Gotthard road tunnel is 17km long and with maximum speed of 80 km/h it can be a frustrating piece of the trip. Especially when someone ahead is not driving cruise control or going 60 km/h. Not with the Model 3's distance control and auto steer. This makes it easy to maintain the recommenced safety distance. The Gotthard tunnel became a more enjoyable experience with the Model 3. Can you imagine how clean the air would be in tunnels if it were all zero emission vehicles?

The Better Route Planner advised us to charge one time but we decided to make two stops just be sure. New Tesla owners have typically more range anxiety and with us it wasn't different. Honestly the range anxiety wasn't necessary.

At the southern tip of Switzerland, just past Lugano, we made our first stop at the Melide Supercharger. It features wide views over the bay of Lugano and it sits next to the Swiss Miniature Park. Perfect if you want to take a longer break when you're traveling with kids. In 20 minutes we charged 40% for 9 CHF (~9 USD), ready to enter Italy.

Lunch time grew closer and our next charging spot came at the right time. The Breccia Supercharger sits on the parking lot of the Elnòs Shopping Center. Good side is the abundance of food options. You could even go for an Ikea lunch! The downside is the location of the supercharger on the parking lot. You have to cross it first which means queuing on busy shopping days which we experienced on the way back on a Saturday evening. For a quick healthy lunch we recommend Cooofe. We had to finish lunch quickly as the Supercharger was powering at its full capacity (100 - 150 kW). In about half an hour we charged from 25% to 90% but because of some technical issue, it costed us ... nothing!

Panoramic Ferry

Crossing the bridge and seeing Venice rising on the horizon is a magical experience. It became even better taking the Ferry through the city center with beautiful sights on the landmarks. These sights you only get when your car is first on the ferry. Therefore its recommend to reserve your ticket for a fixed time.

We reserved the ferry for 15:00 and were lucky to have no other one reserving. A return ticket costs 52 euro (+ 4 euro commission). We got a coffee and pastry at the Cooofe, turned on the seat heating and opened the windows to take in Venice from this unique perspective. After about half an hour, the ferry's front gate opened and our tires touched down on the roads of Lido leading us to our hotel.

Recharging at Lido

The Grande Albergo Ausonia & Hungaria is a five star lifestyle and wellness hotel founded in 1913 and in 2019 completely renovated inside. The rooms are bright, clean and reflect the round shapes of the hotel. From outside the hotel is easy to spot as its eye catching multi coloured facade designed by ceramist Luigi Fabris is still its main attraction. When it comes to amenities it features a (small) spa, rooftop bar and outdoor swimming pool.

On arrival, the battery's charge was now at 40% which is a bit higher that we would like but the Breccia's Supercharger's speed was to blame. The Destination Charger is right next to the hotel and the hotel personal can move it when a fellow Tesla needs some juice. We were lucky it was calm and during our whole stay our Stormtrooper stayed attached to the charger. The charge experience at the hotel was perfect.

Inside the hotel reveals its social history. The hallways are decorated with photos from the annual Venice Film festival which is hosted on Lido. Every year Lido attracts many famous actors and directors and some stay in or visit the hotel. The 76th Venice Film Festival brought Johnny Depp, Spike Lee, Paolo Sorrentino, Gabriele Salvatores, John Malkovich and Jude Law according to this journal.

The annual event is hosted in Palazzo del Cinema. It's right next to Lido's beaches which it's know for in summer while wintertime brings quietness to the island. The bright stones of the Palazzo are beautiful on a sunny day for photoshoots. It triggers a cinematic vibe. There we took our best photo yet of our Stormtrooper.

Parking in the city

From Lido, Venice's historical city center is super easy to reach with public transport for which we took a 3 days pass. After checking out on the third day, we decided to stick around and enjoy the afternoon in Venice while leaving the car in the San Marco Parking which is Venice's largest parking closest to the city center. Since it hosts a destination charger as well we thought it was Tesla friendly.

We didn't reserve the parking so they told us that the destination charger would not be available. No problem since we got a nearly full charge for the way back anyway. However it was busy and we had to park on the 8th floor. No problem right? Well apparently the parking is designed for Fiat 500's. The spiral road going up is super narrow and totally not designed for big cars such as the Model 3.

If you have a Model X or Model S, please forget about it unless you want to scratch your rims. We made it in and out with the sweat on our backs and no scratches. But we had to take it extremely slow. Also the parking is made for maximum revenue so on the 8th floor we had to park double meaning leaving the car unlocked so it can be moved by the staff. We didn't like this at all since all our bags were in the car. So our advice, don't park your car in San Marco Parking and instead park with your hotel or Mestre.

Conclusion

It was our first time in Venice and we feel lucky to have seen it with a minimum amount of tourists and sunny weather. We explored Lido and could drive all the way up to our hotel in the comfort of our Model 3 and get a free charge on top!

Links

• Venice Ferry Tickets
• A Better Route Planner

Consumption

Full consumption overview:

View on Tesla Scope