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With the public charging infrastructure for electric cars expanding apace and Tesla Superchargers popping up like mushrooms, the concept of driving a few hundred miles in an EV is no longer as absurd a suggestion as it was just a couple of years ago. But ten thousand miles across Europe and central Asia? Come on now.
That's exactly what Chris Ramsey of Plug In Adventures plans to do, entering an all-electric Nissan Leaf in the 2017 Mongol Rally charity run. It's the first time an electric vehicle has entered the event.
The Mongol Rally for those new to the name is an adventure-based (i.e. you win just by finishing) drive from Goodwood Circuit near Chichester to Ulan-Ude in Siberia. That's nearly 7,000 miles as the crow flies, or as Google Maps plots a direct course. The rally organisers reckon that most cars will follow a 10,000-mile scenic route that takes in large parts of Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
[...] Of course as much as the inherent simplicity and drivability of an EV lends itself to an event like this, keeping the battery charged surely poses a problem, right? Wrong according to Ramsey. He expects to cover around 90 miles a day, charging overnight from either domestic or dedicated outlets he has already plotted along his route. Thirty minute top-ups from 22kW fast chargers located along the less remote parts of the route will let him head off-piste and smell the daisies.
The ability to better ford rivers and streams and being less prone to mechanical breakdown were cited as advantages for the electric vehicle (EV).
(Score: 3, Informative) by Nesh on Tuesday May 23 2017, @01:07PM (2 children)
No way, it's been done before and on longer routes. See the world route of the 2010 zero emissions race for instance: zero emissions race world route [zero-race.com]. Total distance of about 30,000 km. That race was without nissan leafs, that car wasn't available until later in the year.
I found the zerotracer that participated fascinating. It was an eletric version of the Monotracer [peravescz.com].
(Score: 1) by jlv on Tuesday May 23 2017, @04:50PM (1 child)
Yes, but this is being done with a (slightly modified) production car.
(Score: 2) by Nesh on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:19PM
I see on the peraves website that an electric version of the monoracer as they're now called might still be available.
No idea on how many there have been sold (if any).
ICE Monoracers were production two-wheelers although in low quantities. Discontinued since begin 2017.
The zero tracer had excellent range and speed in absolute terms. Even more impressive when considering the range of other electric vehicles of the time.
Wayback machine has an archive of their journey blog [archive.org].