We’re back!
Trev-heads Chris and Alexandra are in Morocco. They have unpacked Trev, checked over the car, topped up the battery, and driven in the chaotic Casablanca traffic. Apparently they are not the only drivers unsure about which way to go around round-abouts.
Today they will drive to Rabat, the first stage of the final leg through Morocco, Spain, France and Switzerland to Geneva—the end of the first around-the-world Zero Race.
Posted in Uncategorized
In the three weeks since the blog has been updated, Trev and the rest of Zero Race has travelled all the way through the USA, has crossed into Mexico, and has just arrived at the World Climate Change conference in Cancun!
Zero Race arrives in Cancun
Our arrival completes the second leg of the Zero Emissions Race around the world and more than 23,000 km of driving since leaving Geneva in August.
Trev has been driven through North America from Vancouver to Cancun by Nick and Andrew, who have put in an enormous effort to overcome challenges such as reliable charging access, long driving days, cold weather, troubles with Trev’s motor controller, Mexican speed bumps and potholes up to half a metre across and 30 cm deep! A very tired Andrew and Nick have now been joined in Cancun by Peter, and the rest of Team Trev are hugely proud of their efforts.
Trev will help spread the message in Cancun that we need to be developing alternative means of travel with low carbon emissions and low energy use. In a few days’ time we will put Trev on a ship back to Europe for the final leg of Zero Race, arriving back at the start line at the UN headquarters in Geneva in late January.
There have been many highlights of the trip through North America. We will write about these in future blog posts, coming soon.
We are very grateful for the ongoing support of our sponsors who have helped us get this far: UniSA, Google Australia, Galaxy Resources, EcoGreen Electrical, Design Ecology, ABN Newswire and Catcon.
Posted in Events, Sponsorship, Zero Race
When Trev and the other Zero Race vehicles were unloaded from the ship from Shanghai, we were apprehensive about any damage they may have sustained, but we were relieved to find all the vehicles undamaged. Not a scratch, in fact!
Nick and Andrew had arrived in Vancouver carrying spare parts from Australia: a new rear wheel, spare shock absorbers, software updates and various spare circuit boards. They had a couple of days to inspect for any damage to Trev from the long drive from Geneva to Shanghai, to perform some technical upgrades, to get the official paperwork sorted for our North American drive and to sort out an array of electrical sockets and chargers for the different power outlets we anticipate in North America. Busy busy.
Athlete's Village, Vancouver (courtesy of Zero Race)
The North American leg commenced at the Athlete’s Village in Vancouver on Friday 12th November, and headed south to Seattle, where we participated in the Seattle International Motor Show. From there it was down to Portland in Oregon, driving through beautiful, thickly forested landscapes. It has been wet and misty, which isn’t ideal weather for electric vehicles, but so far so good.
Zero Race vehicles with the eVaro EV (courtesy of Zero Race)
Trev at the Seattle International Motor Show (courtesy of Zero Race)
We have been overwhelmed with the enthusiasm from supporters and hosts along the way so far in North America. It’s great being able to speak the same language (unlike most of the first leg of Zero Race), and there have been electric vehicle associations who have been very generous to the Zero Race teams. Vancouver, Seattle and Portland are at the forefront of sustainable transport innovation, and it was great learning about the electric vehicle charging facilities they’re installing in advance of the first wave of mass produced electric vehicles, which are just starting to appear on the streets.
Andrew, our newest Team Trev Zero Race driver (courtesy of Zero Race)
Posted in Zero Race
Trev has just arrived by ship in Vancouver, and should hopefully clear customs tomorrow. The next leg of Zero Race starts on Friday.
In the meantime, here is some more video of Trev in Berlin, being repaired and being driven.
Posted in Zero Race
Trev has arrived in Shanghai, and has therefore completed the first of the three major legs of Zero Race. We’ve now driven about 16,000km on our journey since departing Geneva on August 16th.
Driving into Shanghai
If we wanted to be cheeky, we’d claim that Trev was first across the line into Shanghai and therefore the winner of the first leg of Zero Race, but it’s not that simple. ZeroTracer has consistently been the fastest and most reliable competitor so far, being a high performance, highly refined production vehicle. Trev, on the other hand, is a prototype built by keen amateurs, and is designed for urban commuting rather than circumnavigations, so we’re thrilled at how Trev is performing. Team Vectrix is also doing a fabulous job, overcoming electrical issues to remain in the race.
Zero Race participants in Shanghai
Motorcycles aren’t allowed on the Chinese motorways, so ZeroTracer and Team Vectrix have often been forced onto the secondary roads. Trev has been able to remain on the motorways though because it is a car instead of motorcycle, despite the rules banning three wheeled vehicles. Trev looks like a normal car from the front, so by the time tollbooth operators realise that Trev has only three wheels, we’ve already driven off.
Trev turns heads in China
Congratulations to all Zero Race participants and organisers in making it to Shanghai safely and on schedule. We look forward to the next leg of our journey, across North America to Cancun in Mexico, in time for the UN Climate Change Conference in late November.
Trev in Shanghai
Trev, ZeroTracer, Team Vectrix and the Zero Race support vehicle have been loaded into a shipping container, and will shortly be loaded onto a ship bound for Vancouver. Zero Race recommences in Vancouver on November the 5th.
Being loaded into the shipping container
Posted in Zero Race
Ours fears of being forced onto secondary roads across China proved unwarranted – Zero Race vehicles are allowed on major highways so we’re all proceeding a-pace along the 5,000km towards Shanghai.
Chinese highway (courtesy of Zero Race)
We’ve been driving big distances through vast desert landscapes. Trev has just set its new record for the distance driven on one charge: 260km. This is about what we’d designed Trev to achieve, but we’ve previously only been able to manage about 200km.
Vast desert landscapes (courtesy of Zero Race)
At Jiayaguan we visited the Great Wall of China, at the westernmost section of the Ming Great Wall. It is also the only part of the Great Wall which crosses the ancient Silk Route, which has been our driving route since Almaty in Kazakhstan. Dickson even managed to try out a local renewable energy vehicle (a.k.a. a camel).
Dickson tries a local renewable energy vehicle (courtesy of Zero Race)
Dickson is spending long long hours in the cockpit, keeping the kilometres ticking over and staying on schedule to arrive in Shanghai this Thursday. With any luck he will meet up in Danyang with representatives from our sponsor Galaxy Resources for an opportunity to drive Trev into Shanghai.
Truck stop noodles (courtesy of Zero Race)
Posted in Sponsorship, Zero Race
Team Trev is a group of volunteers who have driven a small green electric car, Trev, around the world in the 2010 Zero Race.
Help design and build more Trevs at Trevipedia.
If you are interested in sponsoring Team Trev, contact us.
