Now in its 57th day, the around-the-world-in-80 eDays tour finds itself in Ukraine, having crossed China, Kazakhstan, and a big chunk of Russia since mid-July. Alan Soule’ a CAFE board member, drives the only American entry, A Tesla S sedan. From time-to-time, he is joined by assistant drivers on the long trek. He and the Czech team are well ahead of the other drivers, still clustered in the Moscow area.
The trip through China involved obtaining driver’s licenses for everyone, negotiating many ways to pull electricity from the main power supplies to charge the 11 teams’ vehicles, and enjoying the local cuisine.
Alan Soule’ giving a farewell address to his Chinese hosts
As one might guess, there aren’t necessarily a lot of Tesla Superchargers or Aerovironment Turbodocks in the Ghobi Desert, and the Swiss team shows several alternatives they jury-rigged on their expedition.
Swiss team found many “alternative” charging stations. This looks like the most conventional
Whether you remember David Niven, Jackie Chan, or (Heaven help you) the Three Stooges in the cinematic version of this epic journey, they didn’t have to find charging stations, often totally unsuited to the task at hand, and improvise connections potentially (unavoidable pun) harmful to car and driver.
Swiss team improvised with great alacrity on their trip through western China
Was it the red wire or the blue wire? Swiss team’s options probably didn’t include instruction manual
With only 23 days left in the run, it looks like most teams will complete the earthly transit on time. We wish them all well, and look forward to Alan’s report of his adventures.