Electric Odyssey -- around the world in a Citroen C-Zero

[haven]

Two French engineers are attempting to drive around the world in a Citroen C-Zero, a vehicle powered by electricity and recharged by plugging into a mains power outlet. The pair are traveling alone, without additional support. They plan to stop and recharge at 60 mile intervals. At this writing, they are in Wyoming, and heading west.

The Electric Odyssey web site is http://www.electric-odyssey.com/lodyssee/le-projet?lang=en

Follow the team on their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/electric.odyssey

The C-Zero was developed by Mitsubishi, and is sold outside France as the Mitsubishi i-Miev. A slightly larger version will be available in USA starting in early 2012. Here's the USA web page http://i.mitsubishicars.com/?ic=MN_vehicle-menu_100007_04012011

 

[mervifwdc]

It's a great idea, but I hope they brought a really really long electric lead..... I dont think 60 miles is going to cut it in a lot of places.

 

[witt]

This has to be a REALLY slow trip - In areas with no dedicted EV charging infrastructure, they're going to charge on regular 110V outlets. If the car has a 16kWh battery (that's what the mitsubishi i has according to wikipedia) it will take about 16 hours to charge on 110V. Even if they're not running it to empty every time, you're looking at 12+ hours of recharge time for every hour on the road.

I'm all for EVs, but while they're very well suited to a daily commute, road trips present more of a challenge!