More than 50 electric vehicles. A 1,200 mile journey from John o’ Groats to Land’s End. Welcome to the Great British EV Rally.
When Ford asked me if I’d like to do the first leg of the GB EV Rally in an electric Transit van I jumped at the chance.
My job would be to take the car from the northern tip of Scotland all the way to Dundee, a journey of 250 miles.
After an overnight stay in Thurso I headed to Castle of Mey for the official start of the EV Rally. Around 50 vehicles – roughly half cars and half commercial vans – were lined up outside the Queen Mother’s former residence.
With their longer ranges the cars would be heading west and tackling a more remote route with fewer charges.
Myself and the other van drivers would be staying east, heading down the A9 through Inverness, Perth and to the checkpoint in Dundee.
With a fully charged battery the onboard computer said I had a range of 134 miles. The journey might just be doable with one stop, but a two-stop approach seemed more likely.
At around 9am we set off, with a fanfare of tooting from happy EV drivers.
My van was the full fat long wheelbase Transit. Nearly seven metres long and 2.7 metres high it was a big beastie.
Charging along
The first couple of hours passed very nicely indeed. The scenery this far north is glorious. The rainy start slowly gave way to a sunny morning. I put some podcasts on, got up to 50mph and cruised along.
Over a glass of wine the previous evening I had looked at the location of chargers and planned to make my first charging stop at Tain.
I dropped into this beautiful Highland town and after negotiating a one way system found the charge point.
Then my heart sank. The charger was in a parking space that was fine for a normal car. My 6.7 metre long van stuck out so much it completely blocked the exit, preventing any other cars from leaving.
Drat. With 30% still left in the battery I left Tain behind and pressed on.
Around 20 minutes later I reached Invergordon. A sign outside town proclaimed Invergordon is the home of World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman and his brother Luke – billed as the world’s strongest brothers.
The charging station was located outside the local school and had oodles of space around it. I plugged the Ford Transit in and walked 10 minutes into town for a coffee and some Stoltman spotting.
Sadly neither of the gentle giants were in town that day but 40 minutes later I returned to the van to find the batteries at 85% and range listed as 120 miles. Back in business.
Another hour later found me cruising through Inverness en route to the first checkpoint of the day. Dores Beach is a beauty spot on the eastern shore of Loch Ness. Having checked in with the organisers and quickly used the facilities I pressed on.
Making progress
Mid-afternoon saw Inverness and then Aviemore fall into my rear view mirror. Around 3.30pm with body and batteries both drained, I pulled into the Highland town of Kingussie.
Again I found plenty of chargers in a spacious car park with lots of room to manoeuvre the big van. I plugged in and headed for a late lunch.
Around 4.45 I returned to the Transit, ready for the final push. Again the battery was above 80%. The screen said I could do 120 miles and sat nav told me I had 96 miles to go. It was going to be close but I might just make it.
And I did! Just over two hours later I reached the final checkpoint in Dundee with 25 miles of range left in the battery. Job done. I handed over to another motoring journalist who was doing the next leg the following day.
Was it easy? Apart from one charging snafu in Tain, yes it was. Whereas electric cars can cover 250-300 miles between charges, big and un-aerodynamic vans only get half that range.
It took me two hours longer to do that journey that it would have in a diesel van but I did it at a fraction of the fuel cost.
Most Ford Transit owners don’t do 250 miles in a day. I’d bet that a 130 mile range is more than ample for the average joiner or plumber’s working day.
With infrastructure ever improving there’s little to be afraid of when it comes to electric vehicles.
