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Formula E's Alexander Sims sets record for shortest charging time on drive from John o' Groats to Land’s End

Formula E racing driver Alexander Sims has broken the Guinness World Record for the shortest time charging an electric car on the run from John o' Groats to Land's End.

Sims teamed up with Zero Carbon World charity trustee Dean Fielding and EV specialist David Peilow to demonstrate recent improvements in the UK’s EV infrastructure by driving from one end of the UK to the other, spending just 1hr 31 min 32sec charging. This was more than two hours faster than the previous record of 3hr 44min 33sec, set in 2015.

“We’re ecstatic to have achieved this incredible time, which is less than half that of the previous record,” said Fielding.

“The attempt was in the planning for just two weeks, when David realised that a high-speed Ionity charger had been installed in Cullompton, Devon. This made it possible to attempt a new record with high-speed charging stations at suitable points along the way."

Sims said: “We didn’t overcharge the car at any time. We were mostly charging to somewhere in the 50-60% region, with one of our charging stops taking the car to 80%. We would make it to the next charger with around 4-5% remaining.

During the Zero Carbon World-sponsored run, Sims and his team-mates drove a standard production version of the Tesla Model 3 Performance electric saloon. To accomplish the feat, the trio stopped to charge just four times, at 350kW Ionity chargers in Perth, Gretna Green and Cullompton, as well as a 150kW Tesla Supercharger station.

Sims said that he used a production car and public chargers to show that driving between John o' Groats to Land’s End with minimal stops is possible and to encourage motorists to switch to an EV.

Peilow said: “Since I last made this journey back in 2011, the charging infrastructure has improved dramatically across the UK. High-speed charging networks such as Ionity use the CCS charging standard that many EVs use. It’s fantastic to see the national charging network growing in the UK and across Europe to make such long journeys easy and accessible for more EV drivers.”

Zero Carbon World has funded more than 700 EV charging points across the UK, working with businesses to improve charging infrastructure and encourage uptake of EVs. The charity has the mission of reducing the UK’s CO2 emissions, challenging misconceptions surrounding CO2 reduction and encouraging sustainability.

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Grey_Rav4 11 September 2020

Easily done!

There are Ionity chargers at Collumpton, Gretna and Perth so you could do it in 3 chargers, but it may be quicker to include Blackburn Ionity charger and only charge for a shorter time at each of them.

Tycoon 11 September 2020

Don't think there's many

Don't think there's many 150kW+ chargers on that route bar the Tesla SC network, everyone else is so far behind, 50kW is not fast @OEMs @ChargingNetworks
Peter Cavellini 11 September 2020

Interesting?

 Could be, could be,