The Barcelona (Spain) to Lisbon (Portugal) leg of the 80edays Around-the-World Electric Vehicle Rally was completed on June 20th, according to a new press release sent our way.
The race-leg was finished by all 11 international electric-vehicle-driving teams participating in the rally — which, as the name implies, involves traveling around the world in 80 days or fewer, while driving in electric vehicles (EVs).
With 11 electric vehicles participating in the race — piloted by teams from Spain, China, Austria, the US, Germany (2 teams), the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, and Switzerland (2 teams) — the 80edays Around-the-World Electric Vehicle Rally is the largest such around-the-world EV rally to yet take place.
The press release provides some more information: “All the EVs have been thoroughly inspected by Dangerous Goods Authority and have been given the green light to pursue the rally. The odometers of each EV were also documented to keep tabs on the total distance covered by teams and the CO2 emission savings compared to fuel dependent cars.”
Team Spain pilot Rafael de Mestre was quoted at Arc de Triomf as stating that “the technologies are more than ready to take the steering wheel! Hopefully, our journey increases more awareness for sustainable transport and proves that the electric cars are as good, if not better, than fuel consuming cars across different conditions and terrains.”
The rally will see teams travel across 3 continents, and through more than 40 major cities. The North American leg of the race began in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The end of the North American leg will be in Los Angeles, on July 8th. The rally will then continue across China, and neighboring countries, and then back through Europe — with completion slated for September 4th.
Apparently, teams are being given the option to “take a free ride from Astana (Kazakhstan) to Bucharest (Romania)” — it should be noted.
More information on the rally can be found here.
Seeing that the route skips most of east Asia, India, San Francisco, this 80 days isn’t much like the novel. Might was well take a plane trip. It would be great to have real 80 edays following the original route using el-cheapo EV (like SparkEV), but I don’t know if that’ll ever be possible due to politics.