Monday 20 March 2023

Taking an EV to the South Pole?

Taking an EV to the South Pole?

A couple are planning to drive an electric car from the Arctic to the Antarctica.

Aberdeen-based husband and wife Chris and Julie Ramsey are setting off on the 17,000-mile expedition this week – with the electric vehicle (EV) mainly powered by renewable electricity.

Expected to take 10 months, the trip will see them travel from North America into South America – from extremely cold climates to extremely warm.

Explaining how a power source will be maintained to charge the car, Mrs Ramsey said: “There will be a wind turbine and full double solar on this device which will be towed along, harnessing the renewable energy sources - the wind and the sun - to power the car.”

The idea behind the global trek is to “dispel” the common myth around charging anxiety for people considering switching to an electric car, she added.

Mr Ramsey said this attempt to drive from the North to South Pole had not been done before, let alone in an EV.

On maximising the energy nature has to offer, he explained: “People might think it’s [a 10-month trip] because of the limitations of the car but it’s not. We're travelling in 10 months because we’re going from season to season.

“So, summer season in the Arctic, we’ll benefit from the Sun for solar and in Antarctica the expedition season is December. And that's 24/7 daylight as well, which helps us with the solar.”

The couple have already successfully driven an EV from London to Mongolia in 2017, which Mrs Ramsey says has “given [her] confidence that we can do this.”

“What's an adventure without a challenge?” she concluded.

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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