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They made it: 894 Electric miles. @zerocarbonworld, me and @TeslaMotors Roadster in front of th... on Twitpic
Well done guys!
Well done guys!
This announcement went out to selected media last night. Thought I'd record it here. David and Kevin liked it:
Sunday 22 May 2011, Lands End, Cornwall
At 8:40pm today, Sunday 22 May 2011, after 36 hours and 894 miles, a Tesla Roadster Electric Car completed the first ever End to End drive down the length of the United Kingdom by a production electric car.
The Tesla Roadster, owned by Kevin Sharpe of climate-change charity Zero Carbon World and co-driven on this record-setting trip by EV expert and enthusiast David Peilow, used no petrol on the trip, being 100% battery electric. (No support vehicles were involved.)
A 20-strong reception committee including the "Charging Czar" for Cornwall welcomed the record breaking drivers as they arrived at Lands End just before sunset on Sunday, having left John o'Groats after 8 am on Saturday. (Pictures attached) The overall transit time was similar to many End to End runs made in conventional petrol or diesel cars, but with no tail-pipe emissions, and significantly lower overall CO2 emissions due to the much higher efficiency of electric drive. Initial estimates suggest that the cost of electricity used on the drive was just £20 (around 30 US dollars).
The car was recharged before, after and 6 times during the trip, each time at a publicly available charging station installed at hotels by one of two complementary initiatives:
- High Power Chargers (HPC - capable of recharging the 212 mile range Tesla Roadster in around 3 to 4 hours) installed by hotels (listed below) in conjunction with Tesla Motors and a volunteer effort led by David Peilow
- Medium Power Chargers (MPC - able to recharge the Tesla Roadster and other electric cars from empty to full overnight, or provide a top-off charge in a few hours) installed at other hotels and donated by Zero Carbon World.
(See map below, also at Roadster Road Trip: John o'Groats to Land's End | Tesla Motors.
Key:
- Red T: HPC used on journey
- Grey T: Other Public HPC
- Blue Lightning Bolt: Zero Carbon World MPC
- Yellow Pin: Independent MPC)
Hotels used for charging for the John o'Groats to Lands End drive were:
Ackergill Tower, near John o'Groats (HPC)
Macdonald Aviemore Resort (PH22 1PN) (HPC)
Dalmahoy, a Marriott Hotel and Country Club, Kirknewton, Edinburgh EH27 8EB (HPC)
Radisson Blu Hotel, Durham DH1 5TL (HPC)
The Nottingham Belfry – Q Hotels NG8 6PY (HPC)
The Arden Hotel and Leisure Club, Bickenhill, Solihull B92 0EH (MPC)
The Castle Hotel at Taunton TA1 1NF (HPC)
Whitesands Hotel near Land's End, Cornwall TR19 7AA (MPC)
On this John o'Groats to Lands End trip each charging stop of around 3 hours afforded the drivers time to freshen up, relax, catch up on emails and phone calls, eat, drink a tea or coffee and (for the night-time stops) sleep, ensuring safety on a long drive.
The hotels listed were selected to provide a national "drive anywhere to anywhere" network for electric Tesla Roadsters in the UK, proving conclusively that electric cars (which are already acknowledged to excel for commuting and daily driving) can also be used for occasional longer trips. This John o'Groats to Lands End trip acts as a concrete demonstration, however the network as easily enables journeys like:
- London to Edinburgh
- Bristol to Norwich
- Bath to Aberdeen
- Plymouth to Newcastle
- Channel Tunnel to Anglesey
The hotels all generously offered to host these chargers and contributed to their installation. They make the chargers available to all visiting motorists with compatible electric cars, either offering the electricity free, complimentary with a modest purchase or for a nominal fee.
Their support in making the trip possible, and their ongoing commitment to a lasting legacy, is gratefully acknowledged.
Additional HPCs can be found at Westmorland Tebay Services on the M6 in Cumbria and the Heathrow/Windsor Marriott Hotel; two more will be available soon at The Moat House Hotel at Acton Trussell, near Stafford and the Ashford International Hotel - Kent, handy for the Channel Tunnel. A resort in South Wales also will host an HPC. Further independent 32A charging points (equivalent to MPCs) across Britain have aligned themselves with this ground-breaking network. **These additional stations give Tesla Roadster and other EV drivers even greater flexibility to explore Britain.
It is important to note that a nationwide enabling network of EV chargers was established in months by a volunteer effort for a total budget of under £20,000. No public money was used. *There is a tremendous opportunity here for government to learn how to get best value when deploying it's own funds for electric vehicle charging.
Original Press release announcement here:
http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/tesla-unveils-high-power-charging-network-lands-end-john-o’groats
Sunday 22 May 2011, Lands End, Cornwall
At 8:40pm today, Sunday 22 May 2011, after 36 hours and 894 miles, a Tesla Roadster Electric Car completed the first ever End to End drive down the length of the United Kingdom by a production electric car.
The Tesla Roadster, owned by Kevin Sharpe of climate-change charity Zero Carbon World and co-driven on this record-setting trip by EV expert and enthusiast David Peilow, used no petrol on the trip, being 100% battery electric. (No support vehicles were involved.)
A 20-strong reception committee including the "Charging Czar" for Cornwall welcomed the record breaking drivers as they arrived at Lands End just before sunset on Sunday, having left John o'Groats after 8 am on Saturday. (Pictures attached) The overall transit time was similar to many End to End runs made in conventional petrol or diesel cars, but with no tail-pipe emissions, and significantly lower overall CO2 emissions due to the much higher efficiency of electric drive. Initial estimates suggest that the cost of electricity used on the drive was just £20 (around 30 US dollars).
The car was recharged before, after and 6 times during the trip, each time at a publicly available charging station installed at hotels by one of two complementary initiatives:
- High Power Chargers (HPC - capable of recharging the 212 mile range Tesla Roadster in around 3 to 4 hours) installed by hotels (listed below) in conjunction with Tesla Motors and a volunteer effort led by David Peilow
- Medium Power Chargers (MPC - able to recharge the Tesla Roadster and other electric cars from empty to full overnight, or provide a top-off charge in a few hours) installed at other hotels and donated by Zero Carbon World.
(See map below, also at Roadster Road Trip: John o'Groats to Land's End | Tesla Motors.
Key:
- Red T: HPC used on journey
- Grey T: Other Public HPC
- Blue Lightning Bolt: Zero Carbon World MPC
- Yellow Pin: Independent MPC)
Hotels used for charging for the John o'Groats to Lands End drive were:
Ackergill Tower, near John o'Groats (HPC)
Macdonald Aviemore Resort (PH22 1PN) (HPC)
Dalmahoy, a Marriott Hotel and Country Club, Kirknewton, Edinburgh EH27 8EB (HPC)
Radisson Blu Hotel, Durham DH1 5TL (HPC)
The Nottingham Belfry – Q Hotels NG8 6PY (HPC)
The Arden Hotel and Leisure Club, Bickenhill, Solihull B92 0EH (MPC)
The Castle Hotel at Taunton TA1 1NF (HPC)
Whitesands Hotel near Land's End, Cornwall TR19 7AA (MPC)
On this John o'Groats to Lands End trip each charging stop of around 3 hours afforded the drivers time to freshen up, relax, catch up on emails and phone calls, eat, drink a tea or coffee and (for the night-time stops) sleep, ensuring safety on a long drive.
The hotels listed were selected to provide a national "drive anywhere to anywhere" network for electric Tesla Roadsters in the UK, proving conclusively that electric cars (which are already acknowledged to excel for commuting and daily driving) can also be used for occasional longer trips. This John o'Groats to Lands End trip acts as a concrete demonstration, however the network as easily enables journeys like:
- London to Edinburgh
- Bristol to Norwich
- Bath to Aberdeen
- Plymouth to Newcastle
- Channel Tunnel to Anglesey
The hotels all generously offered to host these chargers and contributed to their installation. They make the chargers available to all visiting motorists with compatible electric cars, either offering the electricity free, complimentary with a modest purchase or for a nominal fee.
Their support in making the trip possible, and their ongoing commitment to a lasting legacy, is gratefully acknowledged.
Additional HPCs can be found at Westmorland Tebay Services on the M6 in Cumbria and the Heathrow/Windsor Marriott Hotel; two more will be available soon at The Moat House Hotel at Acton Trussell, near Stafford and the Ashford International Hotel - Kent, handy for the Channel Tunnel. A resort in South Wales also will host an HPC. Further independent 32A charging points (equivalent to MPCs) across Britain have aligned themselves with this ground-breaking network. **These additional stations give Tesla Roadster and other EV drivers even greater flexibility to explore Britain.
It is important to note that a nationwide enabling network of EV chargers was established in months by a volunteer effort for a total budget of under £20,000. No public money was used. *There is a tremendous opportunity here for government to learn how to get best value when deploying it's own funds for electric vehicle charging.
Original Press release announcement here:
http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/tesla-unveils-high-power-charging-network-lands-end-john-o’groats
That's correct - I meant the pure cost of the kWh used at business rates. In my ICE this journey would cost £200.
Thanks! Coming from TMC's range-meister that means a lot :smile:
A really big thanks to Andrew for putting this excellent announcement together in the early hours of the morning so that we could hit the UK news wires in time for breakfast. And an even bigger thanks to Mrs Bissell for putting up with that going on!
Jaff
Active Member
Great job guys & thanks for both setting up the charge network & proofing it with your test run...a banner day for EV's for sure!
(Hey, is it true that you passed Jeremy pushing a staged out of charge MIEV near Dursley?...did you guys really moon him?
:biggrin::wink
(Hey, is it true that you passed Jeremy pushing a staged out of charge MIEV near Dursley?...did you guys really moon him?
:biggrin::wink
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