Insider's Guide to Energy

104 – An Electric Car Journey from the Netherlands to Africa and Back

January 08, 2023 Chris Sass Season 4 Episode 104
Insider's Guide to Energy
104 – An Electric Car Journey from the Netherlands to Africa and Back
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Today we are checking in with Maarten van Pel and Renske Cox on their electric car journey from the Netherlands to Africa and back.  Currently in Africa and having been on the road for more than a month, we discuss their logistics, challenges and successes so far on their 60,000km journey by electric car.  With over 60 square meters of solar panels and traveling long distances through countries without charging stations, Maarten and Renske discuss how their trip has been so far.  Join us to learn about their journey and follow them at www.4x4electric.com

02:44.53 

chrissass 

Welcome to Insider's Guide to Energy. I'm your host Chris Sass and we are starting off 2023 with a really exciting interview.  

  

03:05.32 

4x4electric 

Okay, yeah, perfect. 

  

03:18.59 

chrissass 

As you're probably aware. We're doing quite a bit with e easiest year we started our EV mini-series a lot on battery technology. We've done a lot on solar and we've even done things about charging stations and I happened along of seeing a post the other day that I think Martin Noenska posted saying that they were taking a car and driving from Europe. Cross to South Africa and back in a solar car and I couldn't help but reaching out to them because I'm not sure ebs are quite ready for that I'm dying to hear how this condition goes and hear what they say about it. So Martin Rorensco welcome to the program. 

  

03:54.50 

4x4electric 

Um, thank you Thank you for having us. Thank you? yes. 

  

03:58.61 

chrissass 

So I can see in the background that you're at a beach somewhere. Um, that doesn't look like you're so where are you at in this journey and maybe you want to introduce yourselves and tell our audience what you're up to. 

  

04:08.80 

4x4electric 

Yeah, we can do yeah currently we're at the beach in Senegal in the southern part of se negal and we are at the beach because there the reception is the best. So just a quick look. We have a few on the on the beach. And we are sitting here just yeah because the reception is okay. Ah yeah, I'm ah mar one of the co-founders of fork or 4 electric and I'm ah yeah, and an engineer project management and yeah, this is ah this how I am where I am. Yeah, my name is ah reska I am normally a consultant for smese in the Netherlands to help them become more sustainable but also more innovative and I think one and a half years ago we started up with this idea of a new way of travel but then completely sustainable. And yeah, in the end it all worked out and we are now two months in and all is going quite good. So that's ah yeah, it's very nice. 

  

05:06.89 

chrissass 

You and so you started in the Netherlands and you're driving to South Africa this is the plan. 

  

05:15.79 

4x4electric 

Yeah, so what? our plan is basically to drive an electric car from the Netherlands to South Africa and back. So we go ah south via the west coast and we go north by the East Coast so all around South Africa approximately forty Thousand kilometers ah but we are driving with ah, it's go to anyarch just a stock electric car it'sconia let's go to anyo I v yeah 80. 

  

05:38.81 

chrissass 

And so how do you charge the car because I can't imagine there's charging stations along the way it's hard enough here in europe're up to find a charger. Maybe when I'm driving somewhere. 

  

05:45.29 

4x4electric 

Yeah, so that's the most innovative. 

  

05:52.73 

4x4electric 

I have no doubt we had some charging stations in Morocco but then it's done. They are not there anymore and our idea was to become more self-sufficient. So we have sixty Square meters of solar panels in our car. Yeah, very thin and flexible. So it's ah still some weight but it's doable and we put them out of the car on a day when we rest and then we charge a day and then we can drive a day again. So it's um, it's a way of slow travel. But it's completely self-sufficient and. 

  

06:28.48 

4x4electric 

Ah, yeah, we have been traveling now for a month completely on solar and it's ah it's going quite well. 

  

06:34.74 

chrissass 

So you have a solar array. You have panels that you spread out. Do you find a hill that's facing the right way or how do you get your panels to be the most effective when you're doing this. 

  

06:47.67 

4x4electric 

Well good question what we see is that we see ourselves a little bit as like solar farmers and what we see is that well like the closer to the equator we get at the moment ah like the more flat we can put our solar panels because then the sun is just going like almost. Ah, like high up in the sky in a Morocco it all was already down and now it's already more high up so we are looking for hills that are a little bit to the sun. But what we encounter is that the more on an angle. We find a hill the more difficult it for us is to. To put our solar panels because they're sliding down or it's more and more an effort for us to put them in the field. So what we see is that if we put them now flat on the ground we already can getting quite some yield. Ah, for our yeah for our car to charge our car. 

  

07:39.60 

chrissass 

And then so is this something that you have sponsors that are helping you do or is this I mean obviously you're personally passionate about it. We had a very brief pre-conversation getting you guys on the call. Um, is there sponsors that are saying hey go do this that are helping you take as much time as it's going to take to travel like this. 

  

08:00.00 

4x4electric 

Ah, yeah, so we have been preparing this expedition for a year and finding these partners to make it possible. That was the biggest the biggest challenge actually because yeah, we we had the idea but we didn't have the capability to make it all ourselves. So it's a new technique to charge a car directly even with solar panels that has not been done before normally that's always a separate battery in between and recharge directly from the solar panels dc into the car so we don't go to Ac. And this technique was completely new so we needed companies that would help us. Ah yeah, make it happen and um make it possible and as well as ah, yeah, of course and it's innovative. So that's always a bit more pricey so otherwise it wouldn't also be yeah possible for us to finance it all. Ah, but luckily we found them. It was a challenge but in the end it all worked out. 

  

08:53.12 

chrissass 

Yeah. 

  

08:58.77 

chrissass 

And so you left Europe did you go by ship or was there a sustainable transport across water for you. 

  

09:08.10 

4x4electric 

That's ah, that's a fair question. So what we did. We left the Netherlands in November beginning of November and it was already quite cold. So we decided already quite in the beginning of our expedition to ah drive through Europe with fast charging. And that was also ah like to show that even with a car we have so with like a heavyweight. Ah, totally not Aerodynamic. We have a rooftop tent rooftop box and we have like a really like tires like a rough tire so with a lot of grip and. And we consume quite some energy so we want to show that even with this kind of car. You can travel really fast through Europe um, and that's ah, that's how we yeah how we do it how we did it in Europe yeah, but we did need it and we did need to take a boat and courses. That's not the most sustainable way to do so. So we want to try to not take a boat back to Europe so travel overland but we'll have to see if it's doable with all the countries you will have to cross ah fara the east of Europe so we will see it takes a while until we will be there. Ah, but yeah, it's that's also a challenge on a different level. 

  

10:16.15 

chrissass 

That it sounds amazing. So I'm gonna take a time out here. Let's turn off our video because we've been letting it run longer than we intended. So I'm gonna turn you guys off So I did that on my end but that should save you guys some Bandwidth So I'm not trying to not see you I'm happy to see it. But I think you'll be happier. Okay, um. 

  

10:23.17 

4x4electric 

Um, yeah, you're still here. You're still here. 

  

10:33.44 

chrissass 

Okay, cool. So I'm going to go back into questions. So for our editor to please cut that out and then we'll start again. Um, what has the response been when you show up with a car in maybe markets on aren't like Europe we're used to seeing evs us CEvs everywhere what's the response in Africa as you're driving around with this car and pulling out these solar panels. What are the locals thinking of you. 

  

10:57.17 

4x4electric 

Well, the funny thing is that our car is ah is yellow as you have seen on the pictures and we have a rooftop 10 roof of box. So when we just first approach then there's so much to see that people normally don't see. It's an electric car because it's just too much information. But. at customs so at borders and so and so on then people are asking a little bit more and then they see electric car but the funny thing is they want to see under their hoot and under their hoot in our Sco to Antioch is not like you don't see a lot of difference because there's quite some technique and air conditioning and that kind of stuff. So. We have like 2 encounters that we are like driving behind people in in busy cities and they just were scared of us when they looked around because they didn't know there was like a car behind them because usually they hear like a car coming but overall they are. Ah, they understand it. They see that this this is the future and as well with putting our solar panels out in the field that people are ah coming to us. We explain what we are doing and they like almost everybody understands that this is the future. It's quite inspiring that. Ah, even in in like in Africa where there is less money to invest in sustainability that that they also see that there's like a future in sustainability. Yes, but they do are quite surprised that it's already that far. So. 

  

12:25.96 

4x4electric 

Ah, to see a car charge excel itself with a few solar panels next to it. It's it kind of blows their mind. So ah yeah, it takes well for them to get used to the idea that it's even an option. Yeah. 

  

12:40.26 

chrissass 

So I mean you know, many folks have range anxiety with evs. Um, you got kind of a boxy SUV type vehicle from what I could see in the picture. Um, how are the days going and how is it and I mean. Normal people have range anxiety I mean I know you've got solar panels. Um, are you watching the forecasts are you downloading on your phone weather cloudy days rainy days things like that or how how's the range affecting your day to day. 

  

13:10.10 

4x4electric 

Yeah, so what we are seeing is that we can do like four hundred and fifty kilometers on ah on a full battery and we have the ah like the any up with the big battery. So we have like a little bit over. Seventy Kilowatt hours of energy we can store ah giving us this four hundred and fifty kilometers but ah we drive only like fifty kilometers per hour so we don't drive fast and therefore we see ourselves more like sailing because we are really depending on the weather. So with the weather is good. We have a lot more energy. So. But we now normally do is we check the weather on clouds and if a few days of clouds are ahead then we just drive a little bit slower. We drive. Well not slower than 50 kilomets per hour but we drive less on a day and we estimate. How far we can drive and then charge on ah on ah the next day or the day after with the solar panel. So we're really ah looking for the weather. Yeah. 

  

14:05.94 

chrissass 

You and you don't do any slow charging. You don't you don't get to a hotel anywhere or truck stop or anywhere and plug into conventional grid. 

  

14:14.99 

4x4electric 

Ah, yeah, we did do this in the beginning so we started with the solar charging in Morocco and ah yeah, our aim is to charge at least the half of the time. Ah with our solar panels. Um, so in Morocco we used also sometimes a bull outlet also because we were ourselves getting used to the technique as we didn't test it that much in an Netherlands before but now that we actually since we arrived in Maritania we have only charged with solar. As we got used to it and we now feel very comfortable in this way of charging so in the beginning it's mostly getting used to like how do you find the spots where you can put all your solar panels out in a safe way and in a good way. But at some point you notice that's actually quite doable and. Nobody means any harm and they actually find it more interesting. So yeah that that gives you ah more comfort and the way of travel and now we have been traveling this way for a month and so a month and then like over fifteen hundred kilometers in a row yeah so that's just. For us. It's still like feels so surreal but our car is like two and a half tons and we are driving already fifteen hundred kilometers purely on solar in four weeks that's just something it. It works like sustainability like solar panels. It just works. It's just yeah and the funniest. 

  

15:39.80 

chrissass 

But how many meters of solar panels when they're all laid out how many meters do you need. 

  

15:46.70 

4x4electric 

Yeah, so sixty square meters Eleven-Kilowatt peak of solar and what we normally now doing on a day on a good day. We do like a little bit over 40 Kilowatt hours we can generate ah like of energy. 

  

16:00.11 

chrissass 

So did you bring spare panels or do you have a supplier that will ship you things if you have breakage along the way. So. 

  

16:08.52 

4x4electric 

And we didn't bring any spare so we have 60 and if a couple of them would break that wouldn't be an option. We wouldn't be a problem and we would charge a bit less quickly but it would still work. Um, so if at least. Well at least half of them stay active then it's no problem. We just go slow slower. Ah so that yeah, that's kind of ah the way we want to do it but we have agreements with so with our suppliers. So yeah, ah like our whole. Ah, it's an experiment this expedition. So some things can go wrong. Ah, for example, we had like ah yeah, it's a funny story but we had a goat that that run over our solar panels a few weeks ago and for us it was quite um well ah we scared ah a lot because we thought okay it damaged the solar panels. It. It happened suddenly. But it didn't damage them because they're still working but we have ah like ah agreements that if a couple of solar panels will break. We can have like spares but up to now we don't need them. 

  

17:10.49 

chrissass 

It and so what do you hope the message I mean obviously your message is sustainability for folks that are listening there. There is a website that that I'd encourage you to check out and I assume there's updates and we can follow you on the website but what's the message you want to get so I get that that you can. A solar car. You can try fifteen hundred kilometers to start with I mean hopefully it's going to be a lot more. Um, how is this impacting or how is this going to show the world that that we're ready for this kind of energy. 

  

17:37.27 

4x4electric 

Yeah, our aim is but mostly to inspire people that a lot more is possible than we expect. So what we are doing hasn't been done before and we are just too regular ditch a ditch couple that had this idea and started investigating if it was possible. And now we are doing it and it's going way easier than we expected. So our aim is mostly to challenge people to try something else as well and that it's a lot of fun to do that so up until now sustainability is always something we have to do and we should do more and we don't do enough. And we want to make it something fun that that can have a very good impact as well. Yeah in and in addition, we we're going to fish with all kinds of sustainable initiatives in Africa and we kind of gather their story and we want to share their story with what's already happening in Africa. So we already visit ah tree initiatives in Africa for example, 1 is ah like a small village that is completely off-grid but completely on solar energy and batteries. So it doesn't use any fuel or whatsoever to power the village on electricity and we want to. Get at those stories and inspire people all over the world that like sustainable is like a fun thing and it's like really the future. Ah, for mankind so to say. 

  

19:04.55 

chrissass 

So Are you Also I mean we're talking on a ah mifi device that you charged up before our call based on your text earlier in the day. So What other electronics are you heating water solar are you doing everything. Off the grid during this trip or is the vehicle. The main point. 

  

19:20.40 

4x4electric 

Ah, yeah, yeah, it's a good question so actually indeed we do everything on solar. So the Sixty Square meters of Panels those we use solely for charging a car. Um, but all the rest. And we do with panels on top of the car. So on the hoot on the rooftop tent and on the books we have also panels to charge. Also while we are driving and it's a separate battery and that battery we use to cook induction ah to purify water that we filter ourselves to drink. Ah, but also this laptop is charged with the solar panel. So everything we do is. Ah yeah, solar based and ah yeah, it feels very good I have to say. 

  

20:03.98 

chrissass 

Now Are you tracking this is there. Do you have a satellite link that's tracking you guys when you're going along. 

  

20:11.23 

4x4electric 

Yeah, so we have ah and another thing what we do in our expedition is that we share a lot of information about electric driving. So we have ah 2 different devices in our car that that are collecting a lot of information from our car. So ah, just how much energy we generate with the solar panels but also how much generate how much energy our car is consuming but also how much energy we regenerate while driving going down a hill but also on like different roads. For example, like the roads here in Senegal they are not that good. So you have a lot of holes so constantly you have to accelerate and then decelerate and accelerate decee and what we see already is that our electric car doesn't use way more energy compared to fuel cars fuel cars constantly has to. Accelerate and decelerate on the brakes and not on like a regenerant the energy. So in this way, we yeah, ah we share that. Ah so we collect a lot of information and we also have like an and satellite device in our car at this general like pushing our. Um, like our position constantly and that's shown on our website with three days delay to be honest, also for our safety but on our website a lot of this information can be can be found. 

  

21:30.66 

chrissass 

So why don't you share your website for the audience. Um, we'll put it in the show notes as well. But if you want to say it that'd probably be helpful. 

  

21:35.81 

4x4electric 

Yeah, of course you can find us on 4 x four electric dot com and that's also how you can find us on most social media. So ah, on social media. We share more the daily updates on how it's going where Twitter is more. Ah, scientific and in style more the pictures and the adventures that we yeah, have like a couple of days ago we were stuck in the mud I really stuck really stuck and also there an electric car works different than ah, a fossil camera ah car. So David we share as well. The stories on how we solve it and yeah, so we try to take people as much along with us on this expedition as we can. 

  

22:21.42 

chrissass 

And so how many followers have you got these days with this adventure going on. 

  

22:27.59 

4x4electric 

Well at the moment we are close to 5000 followers on the different social media channels. Ah, but we are still quite surprised that what we are doing is quite exceptional in our opinion of course, but that we are traveling over a month now just purely on solar. That's something that yeah for us, it still feels really crazy. So I hope we can inspire way more people in the future if people listen to this podcast and see that what we are doing and hopefully we can inspire other people too to yeah, don't follow exactly what we are doing but just start their own. Journey or own expedition in sustainability. 

  

23:05.20 

chrissass 

Well, it's interesting because I've always thought you couldn't get enough just charging reasonably with your car from solar panels without having to put a big solar array in our big farm. It seems that if you can take it and pack Itt with you that someone in a remote area could have electric vehicle if they weren't. If they planned carefully right? if they didn't have to have their car every day or as much mileage as some might um, which is kind of interesting that that's eye-opening to me I mean I think the issues that we've dealt with electric vehicles are the infrastructure you know are people there ready you know like I said people have range anxiety. Um, when you looked for a vehicle for this trip. How much of it was a function of the range and the battery capability or how much was it a function of who helped sponsor and help you get there like did you spend a lot of time worrying about the vehicle they had the longest range or what attributes were you looking for. 

  

24:01.30 

4x4electric 

And that's ah, that's a good question and the question is quite difficult to answer like in ah briefly but I will I will give it a try. So um, what our thought was that we needed like ah a brand that is quite common. So also on the spare part level. We know that in in Africa there are ah not many electric cars and they are not sold here in Africa or not that much so like a lot of garage is here. They don't know electric cars so that's not what we're what we're aiming for. But. If something breaks and there's a good spare part network in Africa then we need a brand that has that spare part network. So in the end we ah we went to the Volkswagen ah group so to say and in the end we needed a big car for all our stuff. So we had the I d four and the go to Antioch in our yeah as our first choice and in the end this code to Antioch was more what we liked. Ah yeah, we like it more as a car how it looks um and in the end. Yeah so it went for it. We went for this code to Antioch. Ah, because of the space. And we and we explicitly choose for the like with the big battery. So we have quite some range and then yeah with the range anxiety we can charge the car a lot and then still drive over four hundred kilometers 

  

25:22.19 

chrissass 

So what have you learned so far so you're well into this, you're probably getting into the routine by this point. Um, what? what? what? What didn't you expect or what have you learned? that's different than a year and a half ago when this was all in your mind. Yes. 

  

25:35.38 

4x4electric 

And well I think mostly that as you said like if you have this idea you would expect. It would be very challenging as it hasn't been done before but what surprised me most is for us. We had to get used with as well. But now that we are. For us. It's like almost normal to travel this way and it's so much more comfortable than I had expected so I would have thought I would have to wait longer at places to be able to charge and couldn't drive or ah. Yeah I don't know ever but get stuck or I don't know and it's going so fluently we are if we compare us to other travellers that are crossing Africa we are just as fast traveling as they are. They also have a day of rest every now and then so it's not that big of a. Difference in that way. So actually I'm mostly surprised how easy it is and I think that might be also the problem why we are not that. Yeah, known yet in the mount of followers as everything is going quite well so almost too smooth too smooth people like stories where it's going wrong. And yeah, they want it to be challenging and you need to solve an issue that's almost unsolvable, but. 

  

26:46.20 

chrissass 

So it's early. It's early innings guys. 

  

26:56.47 

4x4electric 

Yeah, everything's going so good. We are like yeah we can make up stories but that also is not what we want to do and also an interesting thing is that we what they already mentioned we drive quite slow. So we never drive over fifty kilometers per hour and that sounds very slow but on the other hand we see. Quite a lot of the country so when we're driving you have still quite some time to look around as one of us are driving then still the driver can look around and what you normally hear we ask the question on our on Instagram on other to other. Ah, overlanders as this normal as the way of living is called and they drive ah like constantly eighty kilometers per hour so they're really focused on the road and yeah, so for us, it's just like traveling slow is really like ah feeling very relax, relax. Yeah. 

  

27:48.11 

chrissass 

So are the highways when you've been on Highways though. That's a bit slow. So are you causing traffic people getting frustrated with you at that speed. 

  

27:57.35 

4x4electric 

Well be? Yeah, so what we doing is so we don't take ah well first of all, you don't have a lot of highways in in Africa to be honest, ah but what we normally do we take secondary roads because when we drive on a highway and drive 50 and. 

  

28:03.40 

chrissass 

And not anymore. 

  

28:14.20 

4x4electric 

We were ah we are passed with like one hundred to one hundred and twenty that doesn't feel safe so when we are really on a highway. We drive a little bit faster just to have like the difference in in philosophy is not that high but normally on secondary roads you drive 50 and the funny thing is that driving 50 we are still. Ah, getting overtaken a lot but then because we are driving so slow. It's not that dangerous and what we heard of other overlanders who driving like 80 they got also overtaken. But then they overtake with 90 or one hundred kilometres per hour and then it's getting me ah way less safe because the overtaking costs more. Meters on the road compared with the traffic ahead. 

  

28:54.50 

chrissass 

So what I've heard so far is that it's been easier than you thought you had European charging across Europe when you went down and then a little bit in Africa then you switched to 100% solar so your intent now is to stay on one hundred percent solar 

  

29:00.49 

4x4electric 

I. 

  

29:12.89 

chrissass 

As much as the journey as possible and that that it's been pretty carefully it. It seems to work and it takes you about 24 hours to recharge or 12 hours how long how long does it take the to get a reasonable charge to go the next day like you drive one day and you rest today. 

  

29:26.37 

4x4electric 

Yeah, if it's if it's um, if it's a blue sky then we can charge. Yeah, above the 50% in a day. So yeah, you never drive the car completely empty and you never charge it completely full. So. Normally we charge one day and we can we can drive then 1 or two day days depending on how far we drive. So that's yeah like on ah on ah on a good day like ah what you normally have here in in Africa are blue skies. Ah, full day of charging gives us like roughly two hundred and thirty two hundred and fifty kilometers of range. 

  

30:01.16 

chrissass 

And then the 1 thing that comes to mind to me is can you ever leave your vehicle like I mean security wise you've got a lot invested in this trip and a lot of gear in that car. So do you guys go exploring away from your vehicle at all or you're pretty tied to your vehicle because of the adventure. So. 

  

30:17.80 

4x4electric 

Well, we are at the moment we are at the beach and the car is somewhere else so we do leave it. But when we are charging then we always somebody stays at the car because as well that the panels are just laying out there. And yeah, you want to be there if like a goat or a human is there and he doesn't know what it is that you can make sure it's all done well or our dromedary we had likeary quite some ah dramaary close to our solar panels. Yeah, but yeah as Well. Our we have like ah a wrap on our car. And you cannot really see what's in the car when you walk around the car. So therefore our car is quite safe and what we notice is that because you are so visible. Ah, for everybody that's giving us some kind of ah extra safety because people don't dare to. Approach our car when we're not there because yeah, if they do something then yeah, it's too visible. 

  

31:18.74 

chrissass 

You got it got it? Yeah I just was wondering that that this was coming to mind with all this gear and looking at the pictures of how you have it all loaded up. Um, well I think it's pretty exciting. Um, obviously I reached out to you is as motivated to hear the story and I really appreciate you sharing it. Um, I'd love to hear more from your adventures. We'll share on the video we'll share some images and somehow to get in touch with you guys or how to follow you guys any final thoughts you want to share with the audience because generally it's energy Professionals. It's people studying Energy. It's the future energy leaders and that's who listen to our show. So. Anything you want to share with them. 

  

31:53.30 

4x4electric 

Well like for the engineers. What is what's quite interesting is for how we are charging is that we are charging with Dc. So as your engineer knows that and other peoples of course as well. But solar panel is generating Dc. And a battery is also required dc to charge and what we are doing is that our solar panels going into our Dc Converter and ah, ah like Dc is coming out of the converter as well. So we charge fire the ccs ah port of our car. So. And we have a very efficient way of charging our car and maybe up to 20% more efficient than if we first went to ac so on a technical side. We have quite an interesting equipment with us with we still testing. It's not really for the market yet. Ah, but and with a few software updates. It will be ready, but that's ah, that's something I really yeah would ah give some engineers if they are interested just contact us and we can explain a little bit more about it. Yeah, and maybe as well. 

  

32:57.88 

chrissass 

So do you expect people to I'm sorry did you expect people to then have solar panels of their own to be kind of charging their vehicles or are you expecting more commercial application of Dc to Dc based on what you're saying. 

  

33:13.55 

4x4electric 

Well I think I see more like the commercial. Ah the commercial options for this. So what you normally see nowadays is that like big solar. Fields are ah they they're like on the on the top of like generating the energy on like 12 or 1 ah 1 in the afternoon then ah, the grid cannot accept all the energy. So it cuts down and then what you know what? you now they see is that it will store it into batteries. But then. The batteries first normally go to Ac and then back to Dc to chart the batteries. But then you lose quite some energy. So what we're seeing is that this could be a solution that is used for more commercial solutions and less for ah like the consumers. So yeah, that. 

  

33:59.51 

chrissass 

And Renska yeah I'm sorry I cut you off, you were going to add something or say something. 

  

34:03.17 

4x4electric 

Yeah, another thing that maybe would be interesting is that as Martin said we are gathering a lot of data out of the car as well as how we drive what if but. Parameters have an impact on the on the range for example of the car like if we go uphill it descends quite quickly and if we have headwind as well. So we measure a lot of data but we are always looking for questions people have with yeah the data is not. Something as long as you use it in the right way and you make interesting combinations. So if people have questions about it then we would happily yeah hear from them to see if we can answer those as well. 

  

34:44.56 

chrissass 

And so 1 thing that would come to mind. You're in very warm climate and you get these kind of ranges if you were doing an arctic expedition or if you were in Sweden or something in the winter. What kind of range would you expect from this same setup. So. 

  

35:00.19 

4x4electric 

Um I think ah the range would be quite less. Ah, but there is a but so what I what I explained to people is that ah, when you're like commuting with your car then you don't use like the ski box or the rooftop tent on your car. Because you don't need it so we are driving with a car that's not like mate or like not the setup is not made for just commuting like on a daily base. So therefore it's difficult to say because we will not use these tires in Europe. If we use other tires. Our range would probably like maybe 15 or 20% even ah, more than what we now have but what we see is that we can drive now roads that we were not able to do with like standard roads. So it's difficult to explain that black and white and say what it will do in. In Europe because it's ah we will use a different configuration. Yeah. 

  

35:56.66 

chrissass 

Got it Well cool I Want to thank you both for making the time to share with other audience. It's been fantastic I Wish you? Well it's an exciting journey. So thank you for sharing with us. Thank you. 

  

36:09.26 

4x4electric 

Yeah, thank you for having us and if there are any questions of people are listening just ah contact us yeah fire the different social media channels, we are happy to answer any questions and ah yeah, happy New year 

  

36:21.10 

chrissass 

You? Well for audience, you've enjoyed another episode of insider' guide to energy. We look forward to speaking you again next week please if you like this episode follow subscribe follow them on their website. Follow them on social media and don't forget to comment. We'll talk to you again next week all, bye.  

Introduction
Electric Vehicle Road Trip Plan
South African Reactions
Battery Logistics and Planning
Goats and Unexpected Events
Solar Power for Cooking, Water Purification and More
Selecting the Electric Vehicle
Lessons Learned to Date
Final Thoughts