14 hour Electric car trek nearly came up short on “almost impossible journey”

They dubbed it “the almost impossible journey” — and it very nearly was.

A team from Belfast-based Action Renewables set out from Larne, Co Antrim, to a conference in Cork on renewable energy — and almost didn’t make it because a car charging point on the route wasn’t working.

In what sounds like a new kind of road movie, Team BATTERIE took 14 hours to get from Larne to Cork in a Nissan Leaf EV. The trek is believed to be the longest journey undertaken in Ireland by electric car thus far.

The team, including Jonathan Buick, project manager at Action Renewables, was attending the Energy Cork Transport Alternatives 2022 conference in the Clarion Hotel on April 4 setting off from Larne on April 2.

With a 30-minute charge typically allowing for 130km on the road, the car was charged four times before it reached Dublin — in Belfast, Newry, and then on both Apple Green stops on the M1 south of the border.

The car was also charged in Dublin and at Junction 14 on the M7 in Kildare. Then came the decision to truck on to the next fast charger in Cashel rather than taking the option to turn off to Kilkenny en route.

“It was our mistake,” Jonathan said.

While some of the team travelling in a support car — a regular Audi — had known from the previous day that the ESB charge point in Cashel wasn’t working, the message hadn’t got through to the team in the Nissan.

The car pulled in while the Audi went ahead to doublecheck that the Cashel charger was still not working, confirming that it wasn’t. That meant having to divert to Thurles where there is a slow charger — and the car only just made it.

“We were flatlining,” Jonathan said, adding that some members of the team switched to the Audi and removed luggage from the Nissan to ensure it had a lighter load for the trip to Thurles. “At least we had the support car behind us,” he said. “We knew that we were not going to reach the next charger beyond Cashel.”

Even that encountered a problem, however — on leaving Thurles, the Audi hit a pothole and got a puncture.

The Nissan did make it to Thurles and underwent a two-hour slow charge.

They then made it to Cahir and the next fast-charge point before finally hitting Cork, 14 hours after setting off.

“The technology will continue to develop for the charging,” Jonathan said.

The journey from North to South may not have been quick, but it was cheap — costing nothing.

And as for the return journey? A cool nine hours.