UPDATE: The trio from Zero Carbon World set a new record at 22:16 on 12 September 2020. The drive took them 15hrs 46 mins, where they only charged for 1hr32mins32s.
Three representatives from UK charity, Zero Carbon World, will attempt to make the fastest journey in an electric car from John O’Groats to Land’s End on Saturday 12 September 2020. If the trio manage, they’ll break the Guinness World Record for the journey’s shortest charging time in a fully electric vehicle.
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Zero Carbon World Trustee Dean Fielding, charity chairman and ABB FIA Formula E Championship racing driver Alexander Sims, and EV specialist David Peilow will together attempt the record, which currently stands at 3 hours 44 minutes and 33 seconds. The previous record, which was set in 2015 was achieved by Jeff Allan and Ben Cottam-Allan.
Long-time EV enthusiast Peilow was the first person to set a record for an electric car on this journey when he travelled the 840 miles (1,352 km) of roads between the most northerly point of Scotland, John O’Groats, and England’s most southerly point, Land’s End, back in 2011.
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Together with the founder of Zero Carbon World, Kevin Sharpe, the journey took two days due to restrictions in the charging infrastructure and the charging rate at that time. However, nine years on and the trio making the 2020 attempt predict the journey will take under 17 hours, with the charging time anticipated to amount to less than two hours.
“We are planning for around 15-16 hours of driving and four short recharge stops along the way, which we hope will amount to a maximum of two hours,” says Zero Carbon World Trustee, Dean Fielding.
“Electric vehicles, charging capabilities and the charging infrastructure have come on in leaps and bounds over the past decade, and we want to bring attention to the fact that the UK is increasingly becoming EV-friendly and that making the switch to an EV is feasible, practical and enjoyable for both long and short journeys,” added Fielding.
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The Guinness World Record attempt will be made in a Tesla Model 3. The charity plans to use a 150kW Tesla Supercharger station and three 350kW Ionity chargers during the journey. The latter company is a joint venture of BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, Mercedes Benz AG, Volkswagen Group, Audi and Porsche, which has the aim of building a high-power charging network for electric vehicles along major highways in Europe.
The Zero Carbon World trio will be documenting the Guinness World Record attempt progress and sharing updates on the charity’s Twitter and Facebook account.
