• A team of EV aficionados takes on the challenge of 100% e-driving from Barcelona to the North Cape (Norway) and back in 40 days
• Embarking on 2 May, their e-NV200 will be powering this 10 000-km journey through eight countries with CHAdeMO chargers along the way
• Reporting the trip via social media throughout the trip, Team intends to demonstrate the capability and pleasure of electric driving as well as the development of fast charger network and its interoperability

Lionel Suissa, Canadian, is part of the group of artists set up in the French town of Perpignan to “mix Art, Internet and sustainable development.” Passionate about EVs and greatly concerned over the climate change issues, he has thought of a big trip to promote electro-mobility across Europe.

“The young generation, the trend making generation, have yet to embrace the electric mobility revolution like they once embraced Internet or smartphones. Even though the protection of the environment is one of their main concerns, the millennial generation is undecided and under informed when it comes to electric vehicles,” says Lionel, “that’s how we came up with our idea of Electrip.”

First mission: convert his Nissan 100% electric e-NV200 van into a camping car. Lionel put in a bunk bed in the luggage compartment in the back with some wooden boxes underneath for storage and a makeshift kitchen table.  Pasting sheep wool blanket all over for maximum isolation from the anticipated cold weather in the north, while obtaining all sorts of cables for local AC charging for the night, the van was ready.

Second mission: find sponsors. This dynamic young man has started contacting all sorts of stakeholders in search of like-minded supporters, and found solutions for charging in all of the eight countries the Team will be going through: Spain (Nissan Spain), France (Sodetrel, Freshmile), Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany (PlugSurfing), Denmark, Sweden and Norway (Fortum and CLEVER). These charge point operators and charging network managers showed support for Lionel’s big project and granted free charging along the way.  Colas, the French provider of photo-voltaic road surface WattWay, was the next to echo, as well as Leaf France Café, an association of Leaf fans based in Lyon, and ChargeMap, a leading French charger location information provider.

Encouraged by the increasing network of supporters, Lionel and his co-pilot aim to drive about 250 km per day, fast charging twice a day and slow charging during the night. They will speak about the journey in their blog all along and host small events at places they visit. Kicking off his trip at Nissan’s Barcelona factory, the birth place of his e-NV200 (or ALL e-NV200s for that matter!) on 2 May, the team will be heading north, passing by the solar road in Tourouvre, France, up to the North Cape, and then back to Barcelona mid-June, charging at the various fast charge points along the way, including  those financed by the TEN-T and CEF projects by the European Union.

Lionel feels that there is a lack of entertaining communication that allows the young demographic to relate to the movement of electro-mobility. “During the entire trip, we will gather testimonials of happy customers of the technology around the electric mobility. These testimonials will be presented as picture or video portraits and shared on social media. We hope this type of ‘the fun factor’ will help imprint the young minds.”

The details of the trip are still in the making and the Team is looking for partners.

For further information please contact: lionel at fymo.life (replace “at” with “@”)