Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

 

Two electric vehicle (EV) enthusiasts have completed the epic journey from John O'Groats to Land's End and back again - for free - in an all-electric Nissan LEAF.

 

Taking just over two days to finish the 1,652-mile journey, Chris Ramsey and Jonathan Porterfield, both from Scotland, used only publicly available EV charging points, taking advantage of the UK's growing charging network, comprising more than 7,000 charging stations.

 

Many of the charging points that the pair visited form part of Ecotricity's Electric Highway - Europe's largest rapid charger network. These chargers are entirely free to use and are powered by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
The Nissan LEAF was ‘refuelled' 33 times along the Electric Highway with each charge taking as little as half an hour. 

 

Chris and Jonathan, who are both members of EV enthusiast group Plug In Adventures, took on the challenge to highlight the breadth and scale of charging infrastructure in the UK and to prove the capability and practicality of electric cars.

 

Chris said: "Being a LEAF owner and knowing its capabilities, the result was never in doubt. The most important thing was demonstrating in a unique and different way that EVs and the existing infrastructure can easily meet the needs of every day drivers.

Jonathan added: "The trip went very smoothly and was a lot of fun. I regularly hear from drivers of diesel and petrol cars that say you can't drive far in a LEAF, but of course you can and we've proved it!"

 

Robert Tweedie, EV Manager, Nissan Motor (GB) Ltd said: "What Chris and Jonathan achieved was pretty extreme but it's yet more proof of the capability, performance and reliability of the Nissan LEAF.

"There are now free-to-use rapid charge points at 95% of UK service stations and so longer journeys are easily within the range of the LEAF and are much more affordable."

 

Read more from the press release here.