The electric vehicles taking part in this year’s MPG Marathon demonstrated how cost effective and reliable they were by completing the course in virtually the same time as their competitors – but by using less energy and with no pollution.
Three electric vehicles took part for the first time in the 23-team eco-driving event, which was again sponsored by ALD Automotive and TRACKER and was won by Honda engineers Fergal McGrath and James Warren, driving a Honda Civic Tourer and recording an outstanding 97.92mpg.
The electric vehicles taking part, two Nissan LEAFs and a Renault ZOE, attempted the same two-day course as the line-up of conventionally powered diesel and petrol cars and light commercial vehicles.
Like their competitors, they had to stop at set checkpoints en route, but were allowed to take scheduled rest time at recharging stops. This meant that careful route planning was essential to avoid range anxiety and ensure they had enough power to complete the course.
Ultimately it was a very close run thing and there was a photo-finish for first place with all three electric vehicles producing very similar results in terms of overall energy usage.
Packing up the ZOE in Brighton ready to go home (Image: T. Larkum)
Once our Brighton trip was over, after lunch we packed up and headed north out of town. We charged up at Cobham services again without incident, and then headed into London to visit family.
An EV Queue at Cobham (Image: T. Larkum)
Late in the evening after our visit was over we went to Cobham again. This new opportunity to charge (Cobham has only been open a few months) has been a real boon to us as a family. Previously there had been no chargers in this area, and so we’ve had to visit family by driving through London and using the Scratchwood/London Gateway services, with all the potential delays that entails. Now we can just stay on the M25 and charge ‘as we go past’.
A BYD E6 electric car at Cobham (Image: T. Larkum)
Anyway, things didn’t go quite as smoothly as we’d hoped this time. There was a small queue of other EVs waiting to charge – two Nissan Leafs were ahead of us. By this time it was pouring with rain and we needed to eat so we decided to just wait anyway and have dinner. In fact less than an hour later we were charging up so it wasn’t a huge delay. Another EV turned up before we left, a Chinese BYD E6 – a type I have seen a couple of times charging at Cobham.
364 Miles: A new ZOE trip range record (Image: T. Larkum)
The rest of the journey home was uneventful – just another top-up and loo stop at Toddington, and we were home. The final tally for the trip was 364 miles to Brighton and back in the weekend. It had been very straightforward, indicating that an EV is practical as a primary family car, even for cross-country trips.
Mitsubishi Outlander fast charging at Rothersthorpe Services (Image: T. Larkum)
During the summer we took our longest ever single trip in the ZOE, from our home in Northampton down to Brighton and back in a weekend. We went down for a gymnastics competition on the Saturday in which my daughter was taking part. After the event was over, we had a good time walking around the town on the Saturday and lazing on the beach on the Sunday.
My Renault ZOE fast charging at Rothersthorpe Services (Image: T. Larkum)
We started out Friday evening. I had been at work in Milton Keynes as usual that day so by the time I got back to Northampton I was already 40 miles down on range. I therefore went home via the Northampton Rothersthorpe motorway services to top up at an Ecotricity rapid charger. I initially tried the northbound side but the chargepoint there was occupied by a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Instead I hopped over to the southbound side, and filled up without incident so getting home (about 10 miles further on) nearly full. I plugged in the ZOE while we packed to leave so it would be 100% full on leaving.
Fast charging at Toddington Services (Image: T. Larkum)
We left home a little before 8pm and headed down the M1. We pulled in at Toddington to recharge only to find the charge point broken. Not a major emergency, however, as we had had this occur before and knew what to do. I got permission from the service station manager and drove across the service road to the northbound side. There we plugged in, charged up and had some food.
Taking a break at Cobham Services (Image: T. Larkum)
We continued our journey down the M1 and then around the M25 to the new services at Cobham. There we had our second charge, after which we headed down the M23 towards Brighton. This was the longest leg of the journey and although we had just about enough charge to get to Brighton, I wasn’t confident that we could easily get a charge once we arrived. We therefore popped into the Pease Pottage services as we went past and just had a five minute top-up (enough for an extra 15 miles driving) while sitting in the car.
A brief top-up in a rather dark corner of Pease Pottage Services (Image: T. Larkum)
We needn’t have worried though, as we didn’t use the car much once we were in Brighton. It had comfortably enough charge to get us to the gymnastics venue and back. The competition went well, and my daughter was awarded a gold medal in her category.
Gymnastics medal ceremony (Image: T. Larkum)
After the event we spent Saturday afternoon walking along the promenade and around the town. On the Sunday we had a great time on the beach, and then it was time to head home.
Renault ZOE Dashboard after range record (Image: T. Larkum)
It’s a year since I managed to persuade my ZOE to go 122 miles on one charge so, with the weather being mild, it seemed like a good time to try for another range record. Previously I had aimed for driving to work and back (typically 38 miles round trip) twice, and then driving around locally to make up the distance. This time I was more confident so I charged up last Tuesday night then drove to work and back on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
This time I chose a more convoluted route (about 42 miles round trip) so I could avoid long stretches with speeds above 40mph, instead travelling mostly on back roads, through villages and an industrial estate, to keep my average speed down. I had prepared by inflating the tyres to 38psi, but otherwise the car was unmodified in any way. The air conditioning was on but since I was in Eco mode it was pretty feeble as usual.
Renault ZOE and Nissan Leaf in Orange livery (Image: Renault-Nissan Alliance Blog)
Renault-Nissan to supply 200 electric vehicles to Orange in France by 2015, mostly for car-sharing purposes
Fleet will comprise Renault ZOE, Renault Kangoo Z.E., Nissan LEAF and Nissan e-NV200
Agreement expected to help contribute to Orange’s commitment to reduce its CO2footprint by 20% by 2020
PARIS (Sept. 3, 2014) –The Renault-Nissan Alliance has signed an agreement with Orange, one of the world’s largest telecommunications operators, to supply it with a fleet of 200 electric vehicles for its needs in France.
Renault-Nissan, the global leader in sustainable mobility, will provide the 100% electric vehicles to Orange by 2015. Orange will use the electric vehicles mostly for car-sharing purposes between its buildings and installations in France. Orange currently has about 2,000 pool vehicles in France with about 100 cars (hybrid, electric, diesel, etc.) available for car-sharing purposes. Using the Orange Auto Partage application, employees can book a car for professional or personal use online or via a smartphone.
The Renault-Nissan electric fleet will comprise the Renault ZOE subcompact, the Renault Kangoo Z.E. van, the newly launched Nissan e-NV200 van and the Nissan LEAF, the world’s best-selling electric vehicle ever. Orange already owns a fleet of about thirty tandem 2-seat Twizys it has acquired from Renault since 2012.
