Route · 5 days
NC500: The Far North
Five days, 500 miles, and exactly one Supercharger, sitting at the start line. The trip our whole philosophy of travel was made for.
Updated 3 Aug 2026 · Not driven yet
Your car, your numbers
Range is what your car honestly does on a full charge, not the brochure number (a used Model Y is ~260). The ~15% overnight draw comes from our own cold-morning testing; drop it if you run Camp Mode warm-weather lean. Every stop below recalculates as you type, and your numbers are remembered for other routes. Estimates assume steady A-road driving. If the maths goes red on a remote route, that's not a bug: it's the route showing you where to charge.
STEP ZERO · YOUR DRIVE THERE
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Day-by-day itinerary
DAY 1Inverness to Applecross, over the Bealach
Supercharger
Inverness Supercharger
Rose Street Multi Storey Car Park, Rose Street, Inverness, IV1 1NQ
Rose Street car park, the start line and the finish line.
Charge to 100%. This is the only Supercharger until you're back here.
SET OFF100%drive 74 miles
Photo: James Emmans · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Highlight
Bealach na Bà
Britain's greatest road. Regen claws range back the whole way down.
ARRIVE72%drive 5 miles
Campsite
Applecross Campsite
Applecross Campsite, Applecross, Strathcarron, Ross-shire, IV54 8ND
Deer at dusk, and the Applecross Inn a short walk away.
ARRIVE70%WAKE55%⚡ 106 min to Supercharger · charge first ↗£25/night est. · Inverness (Rose St)
DAY 2The Torridon coast, lunch in Gairloch
drive 56 miles
Wildcard rapid
Gairloch rapid (EZO)
Old Inn Road End Car Park, Gairloch, IV21 2BQ
Two rapids in the harbour car park by the Old Inn, contactless, with the beach and the chip shop a short stroll away.
Charge to 90% over a long lunch on the pier. The Torridon coast behind you, Loch Broom ahead, no hurry at all.
ARRIVE33%LEAVE90%drive 58 miles
Campsite
Broomfield Holiday Park
Broomfield Holiday Park, West Lane, Ullapool, IV26 2UT
The long way round Torridon and the Gairloch coast, then pitch on the Loch Broom shore.
ARRIVE68%WAKE53%⚡ 77 min to Supercharger · charge first ↗£25/night est. · Inverness (Rose St)
DAY 3Assynt to the top-left corner
drive 1 mile
Wildcard rapid
Ullapool rapid (FOR EV)
Ullapool Ferry Terminal, West Shore Road, Ullapool, IV26 2UH
Two ultra rapids on the ferry pier, contactless, a minute from the chip shops on Shore Street. The campsite is two minutes up the road.
The Wildcard, played the easy way: charge to 100% over breakfast on the pier, two minutes from the pitch. A full pack for the wild top-left corner.
ARRIVE52%LEAVE100%drive 39 miles
Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons drive 55 miles
Campsite
Sango Sands Oasis
Sango Sands Oasis, Sango Bay, Durness, Sutherland, IV27 4PZ
Clifftop pitches above the beach at Durness, pub on site.
ARRIVE64%WAKE49%⚡ 164 min to Supercharger · charge first ↗£25/night est. · Inverness (Rose St)
DAY 4The north coast to Dunnet
drive 71 miles
Wildcard rapid
Thurso rapid (EZO)
Thurso Swimming Pool car park, Millbank Road, Thurso, KW14 8RB
Smoo Cave and the Tongue road on the way. The rapid sits in the leisure-centre car park and takes contactless; have a swim or a coffee while it charges.
Charge to 90% at your leisure. It's the last plug before Inverness, 119 miles and a night away, so top up now and the rest is a cruise.
ARRIVE22%LEAVE90%drive 8 miles
Campsite
Dunnet Bay Campsite
Dunnet Bay Club Campsite, Dunnet, Thurso, Highlands, KW14 8XD
Pitch behind the dunes, battery fat for the run home.
ARRIVE87%⚡ 151 min to Supercharger · charge first ↗£30/night est. · Inverness (Rose St)
drive 12 miles
Photo: Davidcarroll · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Highlight
John o' Groats
Evening photo at the signpost, ten minutes from the campsite.
ARRIVE82%WAKE67%
DAY 5The east coast run home
drive 24 miles
Photo: Adam Court · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons drive 95 miles
Supercharger
Inverness Supercharger
Rose Street Multi Storey Car Park, Rose Street, Inverness, IV1 1NQ
Back where you started. Loop closed.
That's the far north done. Charge before the long drive home.
ARRIVE22%LEAVE90%
Frunk & FieldNotes
Not driven yet
We haven't driven this one yet. Nobody has slept on this route with our name on it. Notes, photos and hard-won guidance land here after the first trip.
ROUTE CHANGELOG
Driven it before? This is what has changed since.
- 3 Aug 2026
Charging made comfortable: a lunch rapid at Gairloch pier and a breakfast top-up in Ullapool mean nothing on the loop now arrives below about 20%.
- 2 Aug 2026
First published.
Drive it on the three ideas: arrive at camp with 30%+, charge to 90% before any dead zone, and charge midday, never evenings.