EV ‘range anxiety’ becomes a thing of the past

DEC

2013

Renault-Nissan Alliance Team
.

EV ‘range anxiety’ becomes a thing of the past

If anyone told Werner Hillebrand-Hansen he couldn’t go far in an electric vehicle, he wasn’t listening.

The committed EV fan has just completed a trip in an electric Renault Zoe from Munich to Barcelona. He crossed five countries – Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Spain – covering 1,375 kms… and he did it in just two days.

There were two key elements behind the success of this pioneering trip: the lithium-ion batteries that give Renault Zoe an impressive 210kms range (NEDC) and the ever expanding network of fast chargers which ensured that Werner and co-driver Annette Schwabenhaus spent as little time as possible recharging the Zoe.

It took 40-50 minutes to recharge the Zoe en route using 22kW quick chargers, but a 44kW charger installed at an IKEA store in the South of France meant the couple were back on their way after less than 30 minutes.

“The capacity of the charger is decisive,” said Werner, “but this trip shows that ‘range anxiety’, so often mentioned in the media, is a thing of the past.

“It also makes it clear that the network of charging opportunities must be expanded further to increase accessibility and convenience for EV users,” he added.

Werner estimated that the trip used 210 kWh of electricity at a cost of just €51.50. Best of all, of course, the Zoe produced zero CO2 emissions. And that was important as Werner’s trip finished in the Catalan Capital at the 27th International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition – better known as EVS27 – where news of their trouble-free drive was greeted with enthusiastic applause.