Outright winner of e-miglia is electromobility
Munich/Rovereto - A total of 560 kilometres, four daily legs, several thousand metres in altitude – these are the statistics of e-miglia, the toughest rally for electric vehicles to date, which finished in Rovereto on Friday. The winners of the first prize of EUR 10,000 was the team "Energiebau" in a Tesla Roadster. But the outright winner is electromobility itself. e-miglia has shown that electrically powered transport is no longer a dream of the future, and the 25 vehicles all proved their ability to master the challenge. The two teams from TÜV SÜD, technical partner of e-miglia, scooped seventh and eighteenth places in Karabag 500es.
Technological maturity, suitability for daily use, range – all these aspects are the subject of controversial discussion in relation to e-mobility, and were put to the test in the toughest and longest exhaust-free rally over the Alps. "The declared goal of e-miglia was to demonstrate the maturity of electromobility technology to a broader public", explains Dr. Axel Stepken, CEO and President of TÜV SÜD AG, which was responsible for vehicle safety as the technical partner of e-miglia. "We aimed to show that today's electric vehicles are already able to master a demanding route safely - but also that e-powered travel can be great fun. At e-miglia, we have experienced the future of mobility at first hand."
The starter's orders for the 170-kilometre leg from Bolzano to Rovereto were given on Friday morning at 7 am. Although the 25 emission-free rally competitors had already dispelled any doubts about e-mobility by mastering the Alpine routes, the last leg was designed to win over the most diehard sceptic, featuring a further three mountain passes and two special challenges. The first to cross the finishing line at Rovereto were Tim Ruhoff and Steven Hofmann of the "Energiebau" team; second place was won by Carlo Bermes and Wulf Biebinger of the "JuWi Racing" team, also in a Tesla Roadster, while Markus Spiekermann of the "Move About Bosch" team took third place in a Think City. In seventh place was the first TÜV SÜD team, comprising Klaus Balow, managing director of TÜV HANSE, and his co-driver Christian Reiter from TÜV SÜD Product Service, in a Karabag 500e. "The greatest challenge was the special tests assessing driving consistency, and thus economical power consumption", said Balow. The second TÜV SÜD team of Markus Wimmer and Michael Winter, also in a Karabag 500e, finished in eighteenth place.
Economical driving and recuperation technology, in which braking energy is retrieved to recharge the batteries, are the make-or-break criteria for an e-rally. Charging and battery status were hot topics in the drivers' paddock before the last leg; on the critical last day one team in particular started for Mendelpass insufficiently charged, with only 75 per cent of battery capacity. But at the end almost all teams succeeded in finishing on their available power supplies, with 24 out of 25 vehicles crossing the finishing line. The toughest e-rally, held this year for the first time, proved that the future of e-mobility is powerful, safe, and - electric!
More information about the competitors and vehicles and pictures are available at www.e-miglia.com More information on e-mobility at www.tuev-sued.de
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