Electric cars are getting better and better in terms of drivability, performance, range and tech. The charging network here in Europe, where I live, is also improving at a rapid pace. Now you can pretty much go anywhere and do anything in an EV, attempting trips that a few years ago would probably have been very difficult or best tackled in a combustion car.
So what about some of Europe’s most legendary driving roads? I’m about to find out.
This year, I’m taking part in Eurocharge by Schaeffler, where I’ll be driving eight new electric cars around some of Europe’s most renowned mountain passes. The trip, which should only be mildly stressful thanks to ever-improving EVs and charging networks, will start off in Bucharest, where I’m based, and as an early treat, we’ll go over the Transfăgărășan.
Yes, that’s the road Jeremy Clarkson raved about 15 years ago. No, I won’t shut up about it either, because it’s still ridiculously good.
Photo by: Autocritica
It’s in my backyard, so I’ve driven up and down the Transfăgărășan countless times, but this will be the first time I’ll be tackling it in an electric car, which should be pretty interesting.
After crossing this fabled road, we’ll drive into Hungary, where we’ll spend the first night, and the next day proceed into Austria, then into Switzerland and Italy, where our foray into the Alps’ most famous sets of twisties will unfold. The photos in the article ar from last year’s edition of the trip.
Photo by: Autocritica
(Full Disclosure: Autocritica, the organizer of the Eurocharge trip, will be paying for everything, including charging the cars, road tolls and accommodations.)
We’re going to take EVs through the Stelvio, Pordoi, Gardena, Furka, St. Gotthard and Grossglockner passes, among others, and we’ll be documenting every step of the journey.
But I’m going to behave, more or less. No hooning this time. No Macans going sideways or handbrake turns in Renault 4s. Just everyday driving, because apparently that’s what normal people do.
Hypermiling every last mile of range out of the battery isn’t what we’ll be doing, though. We’ll be driving these cars normally, sticking to the speed limit, and our main point of focus will be to see what efficiency numbers and range results we can get when going around challenging mountain roads.
The real test isn’t just about the cars. It’s about whether Europe’s EV charging network can keep up with eight caffeine-addled journalists plugging in, sometimes all at once. The trip’s charging partner, OMV eMotion, has a pretty vast network of over 220 DC fast-charging stations in Austria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, which should meet most of our needs for the trip, although you never know with these things.
We’ll also be AC charging the cars overnight at the various hotels where we’re going to stay, and we don’t expect to have any issues with charging throughout the trip.
Since we’re doing this trip in mid-September and it’s already started snowing at higher altitudes in the Alps, the organizers of the trip brought on Michelin as another major sponsor of the trip, which fitted all the cars with the new CrossClimate 3 Sport all-season tire, which should cope well with the changing conditions that we expect to encounter as well as my sometimes unorthodox choice of braking zones. They are not EV-specific tires, but since they are a new model of tire, they have been designed with EVs in mind.
The eight cars taking part in the trip are the Audi A6 Sportback E-Tron, Hyundai Inster, Mazda 6e, Porsche Macan Electric, Renault 4, BYD Seal, Volkswagen ID.4 and Volvo EX90. Quite an eclectic selection, I know, but all are new models (or revised versions of older models in the case of the ID.4), and having such a broad selection will really put each vehicle into context.
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Source: Autocritica
So the main goals of the trip are to test the cars and their efficiency on challenging mountain roads, as well as on the more relaxed roads getting there, and to see if the fast-charging network is up to scratch. We want to prove that it’s not only possible to do a trip like this in an EV, but that it’s easy and it can be fun too.
We’ll be covering around 3,800 miles (6,000 km) in less than two weeks, so I’ll have plenty of time behind the wheel to see what each car is all about. This is definitely a bold test of electric mobility and charging, or just a contrived way of trying out what the gas station sandwiches taste like in five different countries.
By the time you read this, my journey will be underway. If there’s anything you would like me to look out for, keep an eye on or test during this almost two-week-long trip, write it down in the comments and I’ll do my best to make it happen.
At the end of the trip, I’ll be publishing a detailed report of everything that went down, as well as a breakdown of the range and efficiency of all the cars. Stay tuned.
