RGE joins forces with Drayson Racing

Form Technical Partnership to develop electric drivetrains with high performance and endurance

4 November 2011; London, UK: Drayson Racing Technologies LLP, the leading green racing R&D business, has teamed up with Vantage Power Ltd, the team behind the world record breaking SRZero electric car that last year drove the 26,000km Pan-American Highway in 70 days as part of the Racing Green Endurance project. Together, they will tackle the 60 mile RAC Future Car Challenge Race from Brighton to London on November 5^th 2011, and look forward to a series of exciting events in the future.

Vantage Power Ltd and Drayson Racing Technologies LLP also announced today the formation of an official technical partnership which aims to combine Vantage Power’s experience in extreme endurance runs with Drayson Racing’s knowhow in high performance motorsport, to develop drivetrains for electric vehicles with both high performance and long range.

The SRZero will be driven in the RAC Future Car Challenge by the co-founder of Drayson Racing, former Science Minister and Le Mans racing driver Lord Paul Drayson, and the Head of Imperial College’s Energy Futures Laboratory Prof Nigel Brandon.

Quotes:

Paul Drayson said: “For electric cars to really take off we need to show that they can offer the performance and range that consumers expect from modern cars. Although 60 miles is a lot less than the 26,000 km that the Vantage Power team achieved last year – and the 70 mph speed limit a bit less than the 220 mph plus we target when racing, it will be fun driving the car and competing in this exciting event. Participating in the RAC Future Car Challenge is a great way to showcase the experience and knowhow that Drayson Racing and Vantage Power bring in developing electric cars that offer both high performance and long range.”

Alexander Schey, Managing Director of Vantage Power, said: “After completing the Pan-American challenge with the SRZero, Vantage Power is looking forward to the collaboration with Drayson Racing, and building upon its extensive experience by applying it to the vanguard of the high performance electric vehicle industry. The RAC Future Car Challenge, though different to the style of driving both Vantage Power and Drayson racing are used to, will demonstrate our desire to participate in a range of events as well as our motivation to win them!”

~Ends~

Notes for Editors

About the SRZero

The SRZero was designed to be the world’s longest range electric vehicle, and over the summer of 2010 succeeded in becoming the first EV to drive the 26,000km Pan-American Highway from Alaska in the far north, to Ushuaia in the far south; the world’s southernmost city. Along the way, the project generated a huge global following that culminated in an 8 part documentary series broadcast by the BBC in over 220 countries. Following the trip, Drayson Racing and Vantage Power have worked together to prepare the car for the Brighton to London RAC Future Car Challenge, entering the car in the sports-car class of the event.  For more information, please visit: www.racinggreenendurance.com or follow us on Twitter: @RGEndurance

About Vantage Power:

Vantage Power is a start-up company formed by three Racing Green Endurance team members who, over the past four years, have accumulated substantial know how in the conceptualisation and implementation of high performance electric drivetrains. Working with components from many different suppliers, the company has acquired a broad range of experience and contacts in the electric vehicle industry. Vantage Power has focussed specifically on developing robust control, drive and energy storage solutions, and will apply these technologies to the automotive, aerospace, and marine industries. For more information, please visit: www.vantage-power.com

Media contact: Alexander Schey
alex@vantage-power.com
+44 (0)7733 223143

About Drayson Racing Technologies:

Drayson Racing Technologies LLP is a research & development business based in the heart of the UK’s world-leading motorsport industry at Kidlington, near Oxford. Paul Drayson, a former biotechnology entrepreneur and the UK Minister for Science and Innovation in the previous government, formed Drayson Racing Technologies LLP in 2007 with his wife, Elspeth, to act as a racing laboratory to pioneer the development of green technologies in the challenging environment of motor racing. Since then Drayson Racing has achieved a number of notable firsts racing second-generation biofuels and has latterly focused on the emerging field of electric racing and is currently developing an all-electric prototype race car, the 850hp Lola-Drayson B12/69EV in collaboration with Lola Cars International Ltd.

For more information please visit: www.draysonracingtechnologies.com or follow us on Twitter: @lorddrayson and @DraysonRacing

Media contact: Lady Elspeth Drayson
media@draysonracingtechnologies.com
+ 44 (0)7787 128483

As busy as everyday life gets it has been difficult finding time and resources for the SRZero. She survived the 26,500km journey from Alaska to Argentina majestically but, as those who have watched the documentary will know, she went through a hell of a lot! I remember one of the main observations from people when we were building the car was that we would never complete our journey with a ground clearance of 8cm. Well we proved them wrong but you can imagine what a beating she took – 100’s of kilometres of gravel stretches, entering numerous underground garages, on and off ferries, Central and South American monster speed bumps; not to mention the full on crash in Quito, altercation with a truck in Lima and the list goes on. Nevertheless she still drove wonderfully after getting back to the UK. However, it was clear to us that we would have to put in some serious time and money to replace the parts that had been fixed in a hurry on the trip. We were getting lots of enquiries to show and tell the car and story, so it was imperative to make sure she looked the part! So that is what we have been doing over the last few weeks and she is now looking nearly good as new although we have left some of the tell-tale scars to prove what she has been through!

The SRZero is now on her way to a large, 9 day exhibition in Hanover, Germany called the “Ideas Exposition”. It’s all about getting young people enthused about Science and Technology and showing them what is possible with it. As you no doubt know this fits in perfectly with our ideals: Sustainability, Education and Adventure. It will be a pleasure to show people what we have achieved and share some exciting stories from our own adventure!

So if you are around in the vicinity of North Germany, please come along to the “IdeenExpo” (www.ideenexpo.de). It starts 25^th August and is on for 9 days until 4^th September. Entry is free, so there can be no excuses!

Even though it was only a short leg of 215km from Rio Grande to Ushuaia, we didn’t want to leave even the slightest of things to chance! As such, we planned to leave at 10am on Tuesday morning so that we would be sure of meeting our scheduled arrival time of 4.30pm. As we wanted to have a proper breakfast, give the car a quick inspection, and do some pre-finish filming, we were up at 7.30am despite some of us getting a little nervous the night before and not getting much sleep!

However, we left on time and made our way off into the cold and gloomy horizon. As fate would have it, our last driving day was the worst weather we had had since entering Argentina over a week ago. For much of the drive, the cloud and mist was so thick that I can’t even tell you what the scenery was like. Water droplets were perpetually condensing on my helmet visor, which made the driving that much more demanding. Couple with this a road which was continually throwing up surprises, and it made for a very nerve wracking and somewhat slower than normal drive!

As you would expect though by now, the car performed perfectly throughout, and after about 120km the weather began to clear just as we entered the tiny village of Tolhuin. As it was only 12pm, we thought it wise to have some lunch here as we didn’t know when we would next eat, and also so that we could time our arrival appropriately. So, we spent our last meal on the Pan-American Highway munching down a delicious parrilla, which is a selection of grilled meats and sausages for those of you who have not had the pleasure of trying this Argentine speciality!

With lunch finished at around 2pm, we headed off for the final 104km of the journey. To put this into perspective, this equates to just 0.4% of the entire length of our journey, or 5 minutes to midnight after a long 24 hour day…this is how close we were! Yet we were still determined to stay focussed right until the very end, and despite how difficult this was with our hearts and minds literally exploding with excitement, it had to be done. It is not exaggerating to say that anything could still happen in these remaining few kilometres, and to drop our guard now could spell disaster.

Almost immediately after leaving Tolhuin we began to climb up into the mountains, and the roads became twisty again; another feature of the journey which we hadn’t experience since crossing the Andes. The scenery, perhaps appropriately for the end of such an epic adventure, started improving as well, and before we knew it we were driving through pine forests with absolutely spectacular views of the massive Lake Fagnano beneath us.

In fact, so incredible were the vistas we encountered that, in order to capture them in their full glory, we often doubled back on ourselves to ensure that Claudio could fully capture it on film. You can see a small portion of the results of this in the latest video, so if you want to get a real feel of what it was like to drive into the world’s southernmost city, I encourage you to take a look!

The time for reflection, at least for the time being, was now over as we passed between the last 2 mountains and the city of Ushuaia appeared in the distance! We had seen pictures of this place, we had dreamed of this place, and now we were driving towards it! The scenery could not have been more dramatic; with the city nestled between huge snowcapped mountains on one side, and the sea on the othe;, I could not imagine a better place in the world to call this the finish line!

But, just as we were about to enter the city limits, we had our last delay, and what else could it be other than being pulled over by the police?! Why oh why would they want to stop us on our home run! It turned out that they wanted to check our paperwork, and then escort us into the city, but as is usual with these stops, this one being our 46th, this took around 10 minutes. It was frustrating, but as soon as we pulled off and entered the city, we forgot all about it!

With the crystal clear waters of the Beagle Sound on our left, and the mountains on our right, we drove into the most southern city of the world! As driver of the SRZero, I was literally shaking with excitement, and before long a huge crowd of people who had gathered to greet us appeared on the side if the road. We drove up onto the pavement and brought the car to a halt amid a cheering crowd and clicking cameras, and, just as we did so, the clouds parted and we were bathed in warm sunlight…we could not have asked for a better entrance!

As soon as the car was stopped, myself and Toby jumped out of the car to be greeted by the rest of the team who was running full pelt towards us from the van. I honestly can’t remember what we were shouting at each other or the general order of events over these few minutes, but my lasting memory will be of all of us holding each other and jumping up and down in a state of complete and utter joy!

Right at that moment we proved to the world not just the viability of electric cars and how different they are to peoples’ perceptions, but just how much a small group of “fresh” graduates can do if they put their minds to it. And this includes those members of the team that chose to stay at home; they were absolutely crucial to this project’s success and it was a real shame they could not be there with us at the finish line.

After the hugging and screaming with delight, Toby, Nik and I retrieved a secret stash of 3 champagne bottles which we had bought the day before unbeknown to the rest of the team. And so, in front of the crowd and cameras we popped the corks and sprayed the champagne everywhere in celebration! No-one was spared from the onslaught, and before long we were all thoroughly drenched!

Before the team had a chance to be approached by the media, Claudio put down the camera for a brief moment and waded into the crowd to present us all with a surprise. Since being in Argentina, the only thing he has wanted was a penguin ambush! He had a vision of us driving along a desolate road to find ourselves blockaded and then slapped about by these flightless birds, but unfortunately this was not to happen and the best he could arrange was to present each of us with a fluffy penguin toy! The thought was very much appreciated by the team, and at this point we also had a chance to sincerely thank Claudio, Paul, Chris and Cynthia for all their help on this trip. In their own ways, they have been instrumental to the project’s success, and we thank them profusely.

In summary, the next few hours consisted of media interviews, photoshoots, and an impromptu presentation to a bunch of school kids, many who had come to see the car arrive. The finish was completely fitting of the journey we have had, and I cannot put in words how proud I am of the team for getting this far, and to each of our sponsors for supporting us to such great lengths.

The feeling of arriving in this beautiful city, for Ushuaia is really quite breathtaking, after being on the road for so long and pushing so hard is indescribable. It still hasn’t sunk in even though I write this 2 days after arriving, and I suspect it will still take some time for each of us to appreciate the journey we have accomplished. As such, this will be the one blog post that I will continue to update as our thoughts and feelings about the last 5 months crystallise, and once I find words to describe such acute emotions!

This will not be my last blog post as there are still a few things other bits and bobs I want to get out there, but at this point I would like to thank each and every one of you for continuing to read and message me about them; you have been a constant source of motivation to get these blogs up even when I have been absolutely exhausted at certain points on the trip!

However, the story is not over yet; while the trip has now finished, the project still has a long way to go in achieving its objectives. We still want to encourage the younger generation to take up science and technology subjects, and we still want to make people aware of the benefits of electric cars.

To this end, we have been fortunate enough to secure investment to produce an 8 part documentary series for BBC World News; the world’s largest TV channel with over 74 million viewers a week in over 220 countries. Each documentary episode will be broadcast globally 8 times every weekend, starting on January 1st 2011. So, whatever you’re doing on New Years Day, make sure you watch the first episode! I hope you find it just as fresh and exciting as we did whilst actually doing the trip! The website will continue to be updated with what’s going on, events that we are attending, and details of the forthcoming documentary and DVD, so please do keep checking back on our home page.

And so this leaves me with just one last thing to say; thanks to everyone and our best regards to all! This is not the last you will see or hear from us!

P.S. If anyone knows how we can sell on our support van during the next 8 days we are in Argentina, please get in touch! We’re working on a number of options, but if you have any ideas we would certainly love to hear them. Just for reference, the van is a 2009 silver Ford E350 with about 45,000km on the clock. It still works fantastically with great power and comfortable ride, and after a quick clean up it will be in great shape again!

We were received in an absolutely fantastic style as we arrived into the world’s southernmost city, and the whole day from start to finish has been spectacular!

As we are now going out to celebrate, I don’t have the time to give a full account now, but rest assured that by the end of tomorrow, you’ll have all the information of today’s action at your fingertips!

Until then, goodnight, sleep well, and thank for you all for your support over the last 2 years!

If this was safely completed, we would then need to traverse over 100km of unpaved, gravel roads, and if the car survived this, we would reenter Argentina, and drive 80km into Rio Grande. Could this all be completed in one day though, and would the SRZero be able to survive the inhospitable roads of the Land of Fire? Or, would we end up stranded with a broken car in one of the world’s most isolated locations? There was only one way to find out…

As the team were sleeping over in the Sanchez family farmhouse some 150km away from Rio Gallegos which is where the car was being held, we had to get up very early to ensure we could drive back to the city, pick up the car, and make our way south before it got too late. So, at 5.30am, the team was up and getting ready, and after a quick breakfast of coffee and bread with Gonzalo, we said our goodbyes and thank you’s, and headed off east into the rising sun.

At 8am we arrived at the race track to pick up the car and to meet with Chris and Cynthia. They had been up until 4am that morning getting the bike fixed, and how they had managed to succeed and be at the rendezvous on time and awake is a real testament to their resolve to see the trip through. We thank them for this because without them, Claudio would be unable to capture some of the incredible shots that he does.

With everyone assembled, we started the day’s drive, and I don’t mind admitting that I was feeling pretty nervous. I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen today; there was just so much that could go wrong what with the crossing of 4 border posts, a ferry across very turbulent waters, and a huge length of gravel road which we had been told would be uncrossable with the SRZero.

With the finish line so near, and all that we have worked for over nearly 2 years in the balance, there was so much to lose. We could afford no slip ups or mistakes. There was no safety net, and there were no second chances. Today required the utmost concentration and dedication from everybody. Despite all this, we were ready, we were focussed, and we were determined.

The first 60km to the Chilean border was quick and smooth, and there was nothing much to report here. However, despite being told that the border crossings down here should be fast and easy, we quickly found ourselves sorely disappointed. Huge queues to get our passports and paperwork stamped awaited us, and there was nothing we could do other than stand in line and twiddle our thumbs. With every second counting to ensure that we were not driving those gravel roads in the dark, this was not the best start to the day!

Finally we made it to the desk where a bunch of what looked like fresh new recruits where messing around and trying to flex their newly acquired power. For some reason, it took nearly an hour to certify that we, and the vehicles we were travelling in, were leaving the country despite this only requiring one stamp in each of our passports. Fortunately, when it came to dealing the with the vehicle paperwork, we were greeted by a very friendly woman who completed all the paperwork in a matter of seconds. With all the papers signed and stamped, we ran back to the vehicles and again continued south.

Before entering Chile, you have to pass through the Chilean border post, and alongside getting your passport stamped, you also have to reregister the vehicles despite having been in the country just a week earlier! Fortunately, this border post was exceptionally efficient, and we were in and out within about 20 minutes. This enabled us to quickly move on towards the coast and to hopefully be in time for the 1pm ferry.

Arriving at the ferry with 25 minutes to spare, we joined the back of the short queue, and went to pay for our tickets. With this done and a few more minutes to spare, we drove the van back up the road to check some signs that we had seen, but could hardly believe. On both sides of the road, for several kilometres, big red signs warned people not to step off the road and into the fields as there were still active mines peppering the farmland. Apparently this area is still hotly disputed between Chile and Argentina and hence the minefields. We were tempted to throw stones into the field in the attempt to cause some sort of explosion, but we didn’t want to miss the ferry so we headed back!

At 1pm bang on time, the ferry arrived and lowered its ramp to allow the cars and trucks on board. This was not a massive Calais/Dover style operation with harbours, big modern ferries and huge ramps; this was just a normal slipway and a small ferry large enough for perhaps 40 vehicles.

As the SRZero lined up to drive up the ramp and onto the deck, I was not feeling particularly confident. Despite the ferry having its ramp resting on the ground, it was swaying wildly left and right in the fast waters of the Magellan Straits, and how the car was to board mere centimetres above the water and with the ship swaying to and fro was, at the time, a mystery.

However, the captain managed to hold the boat steady just long enough for us to drive up the ramp and onto the ferry, and we all breathed a huge sigh of relief when the SRZero made it safely aboard. The efficient operators of the ship promptly loaded up the rest of the vehicles, and within minutes we set sail. The wind was strong but the waters remained relatively calm as we made our way across the short channel, and within 15 minutes we had reached the other side and unloading could begin.

Getting down the ramp was more of a problem than getting up because the angle was steeper and our long front splitter was grounding out as we tried to get off. However, with the help of the ship’s operators and some handy wooden planks, we got the car off without a scratch! We were all exceptionally chuffed! For some reason, the crossing of the Magellan Straits was a big deal despite its quite small physical stature. This was the point where, nearly 500 years ago, the first sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was discovered which completely revolutionised world sea trade until the opening of the Panama Canal over 350 years later.

Anyway, with the ferry complete and one less thing to worry about, we preceded towards Cerro Sombrero; the last village before the gravel roads began. We thought it best to eat here as we didn’t know when we would be able to eat again, and after an initial struggle to even find a restaurant in this village of only 900 inhabitants, we found a place to eat. The food took quite a while to arrive and so we ended up leaving somewhat later than anticipated, but by 4.30pm we were driving again, and the surfaced roads had well and truly run out…

We were lucky in some ways as the weather was good and daylight was scheduled to last for another 6 hours, but the roads were not as kind. The gravel was very bumpy in places, and the air was extremely dusty, especially so when some of the heavy trucks rolled past. From the van we could see the SRZero bouncing around, and we were hoping with all our might that we wouldn’t have another shock absorber failure!

Meanwhile, Andy and Toby in the car were just praying that the car (and themselves!) would stay in one piece after hours upon hours of constant battering! For nearly 6 hours we pushed and pushed, constantly staring at the odometer to see how much torture we still had left to endure. Each of us had driven gravel roads before, but nothing anywhere near as long as we had today. Each of us knew how tiring it is, and as time ticked on we were becoming more and more impressed with the way Andy manoeuvred the SRZero along the best possible line on the road without making any mistakes. Here is a fantastic reason as to why the word “Endurance” is etched into our name and ethos!

Before the gravel road ended, we had to exit Chile and we were keen to make this a fast process. Fortunately, the guards took great interest in the car, and when it came to sorting out all our paperwork, they sped it through and we were on our way very quickly. However, by now the sun was getting very low in the sky, and long shadows were being cast over the road making it very difficult to spot bumps and potholes. These last 14km were probably amongst our slowest, and we were pushing it as fast as we could to ensure that we were off the road before nightfall.

Finally, we could see the lights from the the Argentine border post twinkling in the distance, and this signified the end of the gravel road. Before long we had made it, and for the first time in 6 hours, the SRZero felt smooth tarmac under its wheels! We were absolutely delighted; the car had conquered the most challenging road yet without missing a step, and Andy had done a fantastic job driving it! Both Andy and Toby jumped out of the car and collapsed onto the road, stroking and kissing it with joy! The pictures and videos will not show how tough and draining this road was for the SRZero and her occupants, but take it from me, it was a massive achievement and the boys deserve every credit for sticking it through nonstop and without a word of complaint!

Fortunately, to help with our progress, the Argentine border guards were quick to help with the paperwork, and again, we were through the border without much hassle; 3 quick borders out of 4 in a day is not bad going! Next to the last 100km, the following 80km, which were on perfectly smooth road, are literally not worth talking about, and despite the night driving which is always slower than driving during the day, we arrived in Rio Grande just 1 hour later.

We were now just 210km away from Ushuaia, the object of our dreams for so so long! Despite being on the road for 17 hours in total, we were pumped with energy and so excited to be here! The feeling was fantastic! What was not so fantastic however, was the hotel we had booked; it turned out to be dingy and pretty unsafe-looking. We were not about to keep the precious little SRZero and our van full of equipment in such a place, so we made our way to the best looking hotel we could find, strolled in, and made a deal.

We managed to get 50% of the cost of our rooms which brought it well within our budget, and given the quality of the hotel and rooms, this was an absolute steal! It reminded us of Las Vegas where we did something very similar. So, after checking in and having a quick shower, we met back downstairs for some food and a very excited chat over how well the day had gone.

After dinner, which finished at 2am, we were all utterly exhausted! The day had been tough on so many levels, and the team and car had come through absolutely fantastically. Despite some high stress situations, we worked as a team through it all, and that’s the main reason why we now find ourselves here at the bottom of the world with just 210km to the finish line! I am very proud of the team as well as Claudio, Paul, Chris and Cynthia who have also pushed themselves to the limit in order to get here…well done guys; just one last stretch to go!

All this being said, we are not celebrating yet. There is still one last drive where anything can happen, and all our focus and attention is on that. For Sunday and Monday we will be staying in Rio Grande organising the last few things in Ushuaia as well as a lot of things to come afterwards; the work isn’t over yet. As such, the next blog post you read will hopefully be once we’ve reached Ushuaia…please keep your fingers crossed!

This constituted a marked change from business as usual on the trip, so we were very excited to see what was awaiting us. After a light brunch and sorting out a few pieces of work, we left the city at around 4pm and headed out into the wide open spaces of inner Argentina. The drive over there was typical from what we had seen in our drive down; huge, wide, open spaces stretching as far as the eye can see. Occasionally the view was broken up by the odd sheep or llama by the side of the road, but essentially we barely saw any man-made structure for the entire 150km drive out to Chali-Aike, the name of the farm.

We didn’t really know what to expect as we pulled off the road and made our way down the gravel driveway towards the farmhouse. What exactly are we going to do at this farm in the middle of nowhere? Part of the answer came as we walked into the beautiful old farmhouse and were greeted as family by our hosts; we were going to eat! We were shown outside to a beautiful lawn and to a massive, and I mean truly massive outdoor grill!

Here we were offered drinks as one of the staff completed cooking an entire lamb which looked absolutely delicious. After this was chopped up, we were asked to sit at a table they had prepared outside, and alongside some home grown salad, we munched to our hearts’ content on some of the most delicious meat we had ever eaten. Slaughtered only the night before from their own livestock, this was about as fresh as you were ever going to get!

While eating, Sandra and Gonzalo (mother and father of Gonzalo junior) told us about their lives on the farm and what they did here. The land that they owned, which had been passed down through the family over 3 generations and 103 years, was absolutely mind bogglingly huge!

Their land measures 25km long by 22km wide which is 550 square kilometres, or 55,000 hectares! To put this in perspective, this is over one third the size of Greater London where over 7.2 million people live! Sitting on the immaculate lawn in front of the farmhouse, which is in a slightly elevated location, everything the eye could see, and more, in every direction, belonged to the farm…the sight was truly incredible and quite unimaginable.

What do they do with this land? Primarily, they use it to graze sheep, some 4,500 of them! In addition, they also raise horses and cows, and there were plenty of ostriches running around too. The main business however is derived from sheep wool and other sheep related products, as well as a small amount of oil which has been found on their vast piece of land.

We often hear about farms with very cramped conditions where the animals are force fed and live in absolutely disgraceful confines. This was the absolute polar opposite; the sheep are free to run around wild in the 55,000 hectares, and once a year they are brought in for shearing. Our hosts were very keen to show us how this all worked, so after the meal, we were taken out into the fields. We were told to wait by one of the barns while the sheep were collected. In order to do this, Gonzalo mounted a dirt bike, and sped off with Pancho, his trusty sheep dog, who was sat upon his lap as he drove!

A few minutes later, the sheep were herded into the barn with the help of Andres. I haven’t mentioned Andres yet, and perhaps I should have because he is a symbol of the real, traditional Argentina, and we had the pleasure of meeting him over lunch a little earlier.

Andres is a real, bonafide gaucho. Despite his age of 65, he still works the fields every day in the same way as he has done all his life. Standing tall and straight in the full atire of a traditional gaucho, and replete with rosy cheeks acquired after years of work in these windy fields, he was living proof that in some parts of the world, the old way of doing things still exists unchanged after many years.

Anyway, back to the barn where Gonzalo returned upon the bike, and the sheep where being ushered into a pen by Andres. In some farms where conditions are sub-optimal, you may expect the animals to be restless or a little agitated when put in a confined space and surrounded by people staring at them at them and patting them, which of course is what we were doing. However, they were completely calm and nonchalant with the attention, and one of the newborn lambs, just 15 days old, was happy to sit in Clemens’s arms while we stroked it and took pictures of it.

Next up was something we were really looking forward to seeing; a shearing! Gonzalo walked into the pen and inspected the sheeps’ wool to see which one was due for shearing. After deciding, he plucked one from the herd, and sat the sheep on its bum and began the shearing process. Throughout, the sheep did not make a sound, and apart from the occasional wriggle here and there, it barely squirmed as the razor went over its body and removed a thick layer of soft wool.

This was done so expertly that the coat came off all in one piece, and after a few minutes it was all over and the sheep, now looking much smaller, was allowed to rejoin its comrades in the pen. Check out the pictures (which will shortly be uploaded) to see what I mean; it really was an awesome thing to see, and gives you an idea of where much of our clothing comes from.

After seeing a bit more of the farm, the sun began to set and it started getting pretty chilly, so Gonzalo invited us back into the house where we sat and chatted in the warm kitchen for several hours. Before we knew it, it was dark outside, and much of the rest of the family arrived from Rio Gallegos for a big meal. This again consisted of the delicious lamb we had had for lunch as well as some pasta and a variety of salads.

The only 2 words I can think to describe the evening, and the whole day in fact, are unique and magical. None if us had ever been on a farm like this in the absolute middle of nowhere, nor shown such extreme hospitality by a bunch of people we had never met before. We well and truly had a fantastic time!

I wish I could go into more detail about the day because I fear the above description does not do it justice. The smells, the fresh air, happy dogs running around the place, good food, great hospitality, and total serenity relaxed the team to a huge extent even though we still had a really tough day of driving awaiting us the next day. However, we probably needed the break because the following day would require every ounce of energy we had as we drove south and entered Tierro del Fuego; the land of fire!

As such, after dinner we went to bed early in lieu of the 5.30am start the next day, and our penultimate push towards Ushuaia!

N.B. The farm had no Internet hence the lack of blog and photo uploading!

Today, in contrast to pretty much every other recent driving day, was blissfully relaxed. We only had a 220 mile drive into Rio Gallegos, Argentina’s largest southern city, so we could afford to catch up on a bit of sleep. The last few days had really drained us, and as we are now so cautious to not mess anything up before the finish, we decided that more sleep is safer than less, despite the later leaving time this would entail.

Nonetheless, we were all up at 9 o’clock, and after showering, getting ready, and generally taking a long time about it, we were ready to leave at 12pm on the dot. Surprisingly for this far south, the weather was boiling! When we were packing the van, if you were wearing anything more than a tshirt, you would start sweating.

Anyway, we got on with the drive south to Rio Gallegos which was also our last stop on the North/South American landmass. After this we hit island territory as Ushuaia is located on Tierra del Fuego which is separated from the continental landmass by the famed Magellan Straits. However, for now we were just concentrating on the drive; no mistakes, no close shaves, just a solid and safe drive all the way to the finish.

Each of us were thinking the same thing in that we had come so far, risked so much and worked so hard for anything to happen in the final stretch. So, when Clemens got behind the wheel of the SRZero today in what would be his last drive in the pioneering car before the finish line, he was focussed more than ever on making sure absolutely nothing goes wrong to jeopardise our position…tension was running high!

However, much to our delight, the road conditions throughout the drive were excellent, and we were able to keep up a good average speed and fit in a delicious sit down lunch in the only building between our 2 stops. That really gives you an idea of how remote and isolated this part of the world is; in 220 miles we saw only 1 building which was a petrol station with an adjoining restaurant. That’s it! If anything were to go wrong, you would be truly on your own!

Fortunately, nothing did go wrong, with us at least (more about this later) and we arrived in Rio Gallegos at around 6.30pm. An old racing friend of Sebastian called Gonzalo Sanchez was there to meet us and take us to our charging point, which in terms of location, was a first for us; we were to charge at a race track!

After the car was put on charge, we had a barrage of local press turn up all keen to know what a car like this was doing at the bottom of the world. We spent quite a few hours fielding these interviews before the next phase of the day began. Here in Argentina, everything happens a lot later than it does in Europe, so don’t be surprised when I say that we left the race track at around 9.30pm, went to the hotel to check in, and were then invited to Gonzalo’s family’s home for a sumptuous dinner of empanadas.

However, it didn’t stop there; after the meal where we were made to feel very much at home, we moved on to the next activity…go karting! We returned to the race track at around 12am, and the go kart track was absolutely buzzing!  We set up a mini tournament splitting Sebastian and Gonzalo between the 2 heats as they were both pro racing drivers, and the rest of us drawn randomly. The winning 3 from each race went through to the final, and after all was said and done, Nik took the title at around 1.30am!

It was even more fun than our previous go karting experience in Santiago, and the track was really fantastic. The karts were more equal than last time, although there were still significant differences in the way they handled. After this, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep!

We were now within striking distance of Ushuaia! All over the town we could see signs directing us to Ushuaia, and we could not wait to travel the last 550km! However, the bad news which I alluded to earlier would prevent us from leaving tomorrow as planned. The alternator on Chris’s bike had failed which meant that the bike could not be started as normal, and that the lights wouldn’t work. This occurred while Claudio was riding it out in the wilderness, and the only way he could get it all the way to Rio Gallegos was by push starting it!

Anyway, it was essential to have the bike with us all the way to ensure Claudio could film the last few kilometres, so we gave Chris the next day to fix his bike, which meant we wouldn’t be leaving until Saturday. This wasn’t too bad as we are only due in Ushuaia on Tuesday now to allow for more government officials and press to make it down to see the finish. As such, we still had 2 days contingency to cover us for one of the most risky roads ahead; the 100km of unpaved gravel “roads” of Tierra del Fuego!

Only 550km left!

As can be expected now, the team was up at 6am and before long the van was packed, we bolted down a quick breakfast, and headed over to the cultural museum where the car was waiting to be picked up. From here we rejoined the main road and continued south east for 150km until reaching Comodorro. An interesting point arises from this actually; remember the range issue I was talking about a few weeks ago, and how the starting temperature of the car drastically effects how the first 15% of energy is used?

Well, here we had a perfect test because for the first time in a long time, the car was charged overnight inside a warm building, and not outside in the freezing cold. As such, the theory should predict that the car has a normal energy consumption straight from the word go, and fortunately, this is exactly what we experienced. As such, for the 150km to Comodoro, we only used 25% of the battery pack and so our intermediate charging time was subsequently less than it would have been. This proved our theory to be correct.

However, we were in a rush to charge up and get back on the road if we were to get to San Julian on time, so every minute counted. Upon reaching the outskirts of Comodoro, we realised that we would waste a huge amount of time driving into the city to our prearranged charging point, so we were keen to come up with a new plan.

Looking back to our previous experiences for inspiration, we remembered that we had a very successful intermediate charge at a Toyota garage on our journey between Quito and Machala. Coincidentally, as we were discussing this, we found ourselves driving past a whole row of car dealerships. This was a chance to charge up quickly without having to get into the city centre, but also a time gamble because if we did not succeed in securing a charging spot we would end up wasting our time.

The nearest dealership was a Mercedes Benz one, so the convoy pulled off the main road and came to a halt outside the smart building. Toby and I strolled inside and managed to convince a manager to come out and take a look at the car. They immediately agreed to help, and within minutes we had located a suitable charging spot, and the car was inside the garage sucking up billions upon trillions of tiny electrons! Actually, just to clarify, no electrons are sucked up from anywhere; the energy from them is merely used to reverse the chemical reaction in the batteries to restore the chemical potential, and the electrons are returned to the grid.

Anyway, seeing as the car was now charging for a couple of hours, we had some time to do something extremely crucial; fix the broken shock absorbers. We needed to be 100% sure that even if we had another shock absorber failure in the next 1,200km, we would be able to keep on moving, and seeing as we had now used up all our spares and there was no chance of getting new ones, fixing the broken ones was our best alternative. We had done this before in Texas and Mexico to great success, so we were inclined to do it again.

So, while Nik, Toby and Sebastian went to a workshop with Gustavo from Mercedes, Andy, Claudio and I showed some of the Mercedes staff some videos and photos from the project; they loved it and we quickly became amigos! After the shock absorbers had been fixed we went to a local restaurant for a lunch of meat, meat and more meat, and after this, we went back to the dealership. Before we took the car off charge, we quickly replaced the front shock absorber which hadn’t broken as we suspected that it was near to failure too.

With this done, we took the car off charge and after thanking the Mercedes staff profusely, we rejoined the main road and begun the 440km leg south to San Julian. Contrary to previous advice, the road was actually very bad to begin with and we had serious concerns about making our destination before midnight! However, the road soon improved to a very good standard, and we were able to pick up the speed.

Stopping only once for a quick bite to eat, we pushed on through the wilderness. The isolation was incredible; rarely did you see another car, and a huge variety of wildlife including llamas, ostriches, sheep, snakes, and a large cat even (we suspect a puma) roamed the wide, flat spaces which spread far into the horizon. The vegetation seemed to be just more than a desert with no trees at all, but a constant amount of low level grasses and bushes. It was simple, and it was beautiful.

As the sun set to our right, and darkness encroached upon the southern Argentinian plains, you couldn’t help but feel that we were approaching the end of the world. The sky seemed bigger, the clouds different somehow, and it felt like you might just fall off the edge of the world upon reaching the horizon!

Just after nightfall, we arrived in the small town of Puerto San Julian, and we quickly located the hotel where we were to stay. While Toby and Sebastian took the car to a local garage to charge, the rest of us unpacked the van, and after a bit of work, we headed straight to bed!

Just 2 days awaited us now until Ushuaia, and we were buzzing with excitement after such a successful day’s drive!

However, not a bunch of people to shy away from challenges, the entire team was up, packed, and ready to go at 6am despite the dark and cold conditions. Nonetheless, we were all yearning to hit road again, and with the van packed and just about to leave the car park, Andy and I jumped into the SRZero in order to follow. But this is where the day’s plan first began to unravel; the car would not start!

The standard procedure in such scenarios is to call Toby, who promptly emerged from the van with the laptop and Ethernet cable to allow him to connect to the car’s inboard computer and diagnose the problem. However, this didn’t seem to help either; the car remained lifeless, and the only thing he could glean from the diagnosis was a very strange error code concerning the way in which the computer handles its database. With none of us having the slightest clue as to how to fix this problem, we had only one option available; call for help!

Now, who do you call at 7 in the morning in order to help you fix a problem with a CompactRio controller? The answer is National Instruments, one of our most dedicated sponsors, who immediately responded to our call and went away to search their database to see if anyone had experienced a similar problem and the method they used to fix it. They had promised to call us back with an answer asap, so in the meantime we went and stood outside the cafe I mentioned yesterday, and pleaded with the cleaner to let us into the warm and comfortable interior!

Fortunately, our luck with National Instruments was better than with the cleaner (she wouldn’t let us in!) as they called us back very quickly indeed. They suggested that Toby do a complicated reintroduction of the database, and that this should work with luck. What this actually means, I don’t know, and if you have a burning curiosity to find out, I suggest you email Toby! But after completing the steps they mentioned, we were able to start the car as normal, and this was a big relief! Visions had been running through our head of being stranded and having to ship in our spare cRIO which is currently in Belgium…this would have delayed us for weeks!

Having now been delayed by an hour and a half, we thought we may as well have breakfast now, so we headed back to the cafe, indulged in coffee, waffles, and ham and cheese sandwiches, and headed off back into the Pampas. Despite the delay of around 2 hours, we were far from worried; the weather was absolutely perfect with not a cloud in the sky, and we had plenty of time to reach Sarmiento, charge, and carry on to Comodoro. In fact, the only slight worry was the remoteness of the journey; we were completing a 250km stretch of road without even a fuel station existing, so we had to stock up on jerry cans for the motorbike which has quite a limited range.

The drive began very smoothly with fantastic roads and spectacular scenery, and we were making excellent progress. However, for the second time in one day, we had something delay us and on this occasion the outcome could have been far more serious. I was driving with Andy at the time, and all of a sudden, I observed a large fracture in the road ahead, and I took action to prevent any damage this may cause to the car. Very smoothly, I applied a little bit of braking, and moved over to the right to avoid the obstacle…

Suddenly, just after passing the obstacle, the front of the car spun to the left, quickly followed by the back, which caused the car to end up going backwards off the road! Despite how surprising this was, instinct took hold, and I firmly pumped the breaks to slow the car, and managed the steering wheel to stop any further spinning. Fortunately, the car came safely to a stop on a slight slope of soft soil on the side of the road, and both myself and Andy were completely unharmed. I had no idea how this could have happened, especially as we were only travelling at around 35-40mph when the spin occurred, but the priority was to check that everything was still working, and to get the car driving again.

When I was in the car during the event I actually felt very calm, and it was only upon exiting the vehicle that I realised I was in shock somewhat as my legs were shaking! However, everyone was safe, the car wasn’t smashed (as it could have been if it had gone much further) so I put my thoughts to one side and, alongside the team who came rushing out the van to see what had happened, worked out a plan to get the car driving again.

The first priority was to get the car out of the soft soil, so we hooked up a tow rope between the front of the car and the van, and we hauled it back onto the hard shoulder. It was exceptionally fortunate that there was no traffic as this would have made the situation somewhat more precarious, but with the car back on a flat surface, we could assess the damage.

Firstly, we hooked up the laptop to run a diagnostic on the electronic systems, and we were pleased to see that everything worked perfectly normally, which is what we were expecting given the very soft stop. Next up we removed the front and rear body work, and we discovered that both the front and rear right shock absorbers had failed. This was hardly surprising given that it was about time for them to fail by our calculations, but what was surprising is the effect it had on the car; on both previous failures the car had continued driving perfectly straight.

Further inspection of the car revealed no other damage, so we got out our spare shock absorbers, and replaced the broken ones. Interestingly, they had failed in the exact same place and manner as the previous 2, so clearly there is a design flaw here which needs to be addressed by the manufacturer. With the suspension fixed again, we checked the alignment and ride height setup of the car, and did a few test runs up and down the road to see how it handled. The car felt completely back to it’s normal self, so we pointed our wheels in the right direction, and headed off!

The team had done a fantastic job in working together to get the car driving again, and our spirits had not been dampened. The whole experience had served to remind us of the dangers of driving in general, and we remained resolved to continue to drive carefully and to keep our focus up until the finish. It should be noted that we do actually drive very safely on the road at all times, and aside from this occasion and the light brush with the truck in Lima, both of which were not driver errors, we have had an incident free traversing of the Pan-American Highway…may it continue all the way to the end!

The delay did mean that we would not have enough time to have a top up charge in Sarmiento and then make Comodoro in good time, so we set a steady pace to Sarmiento without the added pressure of needing to get there faster. This turned out to be to our benefit as the road condition deteriorated rapidly, and our average speed was drastically reduced. Nonetheless, we avoided any big impacts, and arrived in the small town of Sarmiento with the strong evening sun on our faces.

Awaiting for us as we entered the town was a huge group of people eagerly anticipating the car’s arrival. This was organised by the town’s tourist office as this was the first electric car ever to pass through, and their keenness to see what it was all about was palpable! Interestingly, we came to a stop right by a monument of 2 horses which commemorated a Swiss man riding these horses all the way from Buenos Aires up to New York between 1925 and 1928; now this was a true adventure!

Anyway, as always, the car had to be attended to, so we were shown to our charging location which, amazingly, was inside the town’s cultural museum. This was a perfect place to charge, and the town had kindly organised for a guard to be stationed by the car overnight to ensure everything was alright. With this done, the tourist office was very keen to show us to their pride and joy; a park filled with life-sized dinosaur replicas! Apparently this area is famous for dinosaur fossils, and it does not take a big stretch to imagine these ancient creatures roaming the Argentinian plains.

This was very enjoyable, but before long we were in desperate need of food given our quite vigorous day, and so we were shown to a local steakhouse where we enjoyed a delicious grill of mixed meats. After this, we headed back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep before the next day which also required another early start!

Despite the topsy turvy nature of the day, the team was so excited! We only had 4 days left of driving until we reached Ushuaia, and we were more focussed than ever! We had had a close shave today, but everyone was still safe, the car was driving perfectly again, and the dream was still very much alive!

However, due to good planning and a momentous effort from the team, we had actually made up time in travelling between here and Santiago and so we had 3 contingency days between here and Ushuaia. So, rather than leaving in the afternoon after the car had charged and take the risks associated with driving at night, we decided to enjoy a day in the beautiful town of Esquel.

The day started out with us grabbing breakfast at a really beautiful cafe replete with comfy sofas and fast Internet…everybody had big smiles! We got down to the usual batch of work, and the breakfast extended to lunch, and before we knew it, it was 3pm and we were still sitting in the exact same seats as we had been 5 hours ago! It was enough we had decided; we could not spend all day on our backsides working and not appreciating the fantastic weather and beautiful landscape!

So, we walked outside, sniffed the crisp clean air, and looked around for things to do. Being a small town during off season, there didn’t appear much to do. However, a nearby mountain standing high above the town took our fancy, and on a whim we decided to go and climb it! So, after grabbing some jackets and changing into more appropriate footwear, we headed out.

The town was right at the base of the mountain so before long we were climbing. There was a rough path cut into the mountain side which wound its way gently to just below the summit, but we wanted a bout of more vigorous exercise so we took the wild route and trundled straight up.

The hike, for that’s what it had become, was very steep with lots of vegetation afoot which made it a little difficult at times. However it was extremely refreshing to be doing something physically strenuous for a change, and after around an hour and 500 vertical metres, we reached the extremely windy summit. The site that met us from the top was quite spectacular, and we could see for miles into the empty wilderness beyond. The small town of Esquel lay beneath us, and for a while we just stood there and admired the view. Fortunately, Claudio had been thoughtful enough to haul up some drinks and cookies, which by this stage were most welcome!

After a while at the top, and after being sufficiently chilled by the wind, we decided to make our way back down, which ended up being a much faster affair than the ascent. By this time it was pushing dinner time, and after a quick freshen up at the hotel, we headed out for another delicious steak!

In order to speed up progress for the following morning where we intended to leave very early, we packed up the van after dinner with everyone taking just the bare essentials into the hotel, and by midnight we were fast asleep.

We were hoping the good weather we had experienced today would hold; we didn’t want more rain!