Why?
When a colleague asked whether I would you be interested in taking part in the EV Rally of Scotland (EVROS) I jumped at it.
They then asked me how many days I would like to complete. I looked at the map and had two thoughts:
- How would I ever get back if I left after Day 2 or 3?
- How could I possibly miss any of those truly iconic places in the Highlands?
So that was it. I signed up for the full five days and 1,200-mile trek around Scotland. EVROS was an ingenious idea devised by Green Fleet as a ‘demonstration’ of Scottish EV charging infrastructure, combined with clean and innovative vehicle technology. The idea was to prove that EVs can be used across Scotland, and indeed the rest of the UK, daily as a great way of getting around. The extra challenge was, like approximately 35% of households without off-street parking, we couldn’t charge overnight. The event also took place during COP26 environment talks in Glasgow and attracted the attention of the media and politicians.
The start
We all met up outside Glasgow at Arnold Clark’s stunning new EV Innovation Centre. That’s when I saw the AA Team car, a white Polestar 2. I had read all the reviews and the car looked up to the part. Polestar gave us some EV tips and SWARCO gave us some charging tips. I got to know the car. The AA was there in force as the official breakdown assistance partner of EVROs and indeed DriveTech as the official EV driver training partner. I had Dean Hedger as my co-driver/navigator and Gavin Franks, from AA B2B, joined us for the first few days. All in all, about twenty EVs, including Maxus vans, were taking part. I was lucky to have Dean as he had meticulously plotted just about all the charging points in Scotland and marked them up on a laminated sheet. This proved to be a saving grace later on in the rally.
Poll position
Before the start I caught up with Nicholas Hamilton who was launching the event. Nicholas was probably more used to hanging out on the grid with his brother Lewis at Grand Prix around the world but seemed genuinely interested and intrigued with the feat ahead of us.
Luckily, we were in poll position and Nicholas flagged us off on our long journey into the unknown. I had a slight difficulty finding our way of the car park but our navigation from that point was spot on.
The route
We left in a fanfare of media attention from the centre and then wound our way through the city, heading for the first of 30 Checkpoints, in Edinburgh. At each checkpoint we had strict instructions to get out the cardboard branding from the boot, take a picture and then post on social media with numerous hashtags and handles. I found the hashtags more difficult than the driving.
@TheAA_UK @TheEVROS @TheforthBridges @Polestarcars @COP26 #EVROS #COP26 #Togetherforourplanet #####
My eNavigators were great at plotting the route, from charge point to charge point, and after swinging by the first Checkpoint, we headed down south-east to the Wallyford & Choose EV charging hub, run by East Lothian Council, before making our way towards the border and headed for Gretna Green. The Gretna Green train station car park wasn’t too impressive, and the charge point looked like it had been defunct for some time following a vehicle collision a while ago.
After no weddings at Gretna, we headed to Kilmarnock for the first overnight stop.
The following day we started to see the beautiful countryside and headed for the Sloy Hydro Power Station on Loch Lomond and then onto Ben Nevis, before overnighting in Fort William.
The Beast
Day 3 was labelled “The Beast” due to the 320-mile route and tricky terrain. I was determined to drive the whole way to put the Polestar to the test. Again, my co-driver came to the rescue by spotting a charge point in a derelict filling station in the middle of nowhere. It was quite surreal filling up amongst rusted fuel pumps to a mountain backdrop. Two minibus loads of school kids pulled in, so Dean gave the teachers a couple of squidgy AA vans to relieve their tension. The teachers seemed happy, but one pupil gave Dean the finger as they pulled away. Illusions of peacefulness shattered, we got on with the journey.
Our next stop was the Isle of Skye. I have visited Skye several times and love it. The first time we had to take the ferry which added to the adventure. Today it is easy to drive across on the beautiful toll-free bridge.
Once on Skye I was slightly perturbed when a Volvo started tailgating and pulled out to overtake but didn’t….I then realised it was a camera crew filming our car. But as we pulled into the checkpoint in a Co=Op car park the crew vanished. No interviews today.
From Skye we headed north to pick up the North Coast 500. The NC500 is a 516-mile scenic route around the north coast of Scotland, normally starting and ending at Inverness Castle. The route was launched in 2015 to link many features in the north Highlands of Scotland in one touring route.
I have driven parts of Route 66, and the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to LA numerous times but must say in terms of driving and stunning scenery the NC500 is right up there. We stopped in Ullapool and were very pleased we still had 66% charge as there was a queue of five vehicles from the rally and one local in a Leaf without enough charge to get home, all queuing for the one working rapid charger. We checked our laminated bible and cracked on via the single track roads with passing places towards the north coast.
Further round the coast in Durness we located a working charging post and were joined by a local with his dog, Sam, who had heard about the rally on social media. He greeted me with the immortal words: “I knows yous off the telly.” Dean was suitably impressed that even in the most northern part of Scotland someone knew who I was, so forced the poor man to have his picture taken with me for the checkpoint social media post.
From there it was quite a journey as the light faded onto to Thurso. The last bit was tricky with sheep, deer, tractors, and potholes that all needed to be avoided. Unfortunately, the queue in the Ulllapool car park meant some competitors weren’t back until after 10pm.
The Monster
Day 4, known as the monster, was another long journey. First, we all met at John O’Groats and positioned all our vehicles proudly showing off their poppies and paid our respects to the war dead with a two-minute silence. It was incredibly moving with the eery silence cushioned by the North Sea’s waves in the background.
I did an interview with a journalist from the John O’Groats Times which I later found was behind a paywall so I couldn’t actually read the feature, but the photo looked good.
We then drove south to Inverness and via Loch Ness to Aberdeen. The late afternoon light at Loch Ness was just stunning even if no monsters could be seen.
Dundee
After a recharge, we headed for Dundee on the final day. We stopped at the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc where there were some brilliant futuristic transport modes on display in a COP26 exhibition. I was interviewed on stage by EV advocate extraordinaire, Sara Sloman, about the climate crisis and role of the AA in the rally.
There was an incident in the exhibition hall as our Tukker (AA dog) was dog-knapped from our Polestar with a ransom note left on windscreen. We suspected the involvement of the EV Café. We were right. Thankfully Tukker was found unharmed but later during the tour was dog-knapped again by the one and only Sara Sloman. This time there was no way back as Tukker was hidden in Sara’s jacket…..
From here we did a round of TV interviews on the key-side near the impressive V&A with the Scottish Transport Minister, Graeme Dey. I wasn’t just an advocate for EVs and a keen advocate for visiting Scotland and indeed Dundee.
The Kelpies
Then it was back to the car to drive through the rain to visit the The Kelpies. The Kelpies are 30-metre-high horse-head sculptures depicting kelpies, located between Falkirk and Grangemouth, standing next to a new extension to the Forth and Clyde Canal, and near River Carron.
The Falkirk Wheel
From here we rushed to The Falkirk Wheel. I was slightly confused as The Falkirk Wheel doesn’t look like a wheel but is an amazing rotating boat lift in Tamfourhill, Falkirk, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It reconnects the two canals for the first time since the 1930s. It opened in 2002 as part of the Millennium Link project. Unless we didn’t have time to explore as it was then back through the COP26 traffic for our final checkpoint.
The finish line
We arrived at the finish line in a blaze of glory at the Western Commercial Mercedes-Benz dealership in Glasgow to birthday cake for our EV Explorer and leader, Chris Ramsey, and a Champagne reception. Sadly, we had to wave goodbye to the Polestar 2 which had been a marvellous companion.
There was a great sense of joy, delight and achievement have completed a brilliant EV drive around Scotland. It can be done. I will be back.
Edmund (24 November 2021)
Lessons learnt
The charging network
- More chargers needed
- Charger reliability must improve
- Rapid chargers aren’t always rapid
- Long journeys need planning
- Historic technology in networks needs updating
- Use chargers for short charge and often
The vehicles
- Tyres are commonest breakdown
- Electric vehicles all performed well
- Brand new tech in vehicles works
- Reliable
- Home charging important
- 200+ mile range is ideal
- AC (alternating currents) is slower but better than nothing
- DC (direct current) is faster charging on journeys
- After 80% charge, the charging slows right down
What’s needed
- Grow the networks
- Maintain the networks
- Introduce more affordable vehicles
- Power from clean sources
- 200 plus range required
- AA - the go to organisation for EV Drivers
#POWERTOELECYTRICDRIVERS
Team AA
- Edmund King OBE President
- Gavin Franks Director of Business Services
- Dean Hedger Business Development Manager
- Kirsty Pendleton Head of B2B Marketing
- Clive Willcocks B2B Marketing Manager
- Keith Miller Head of Technical
- Ben Sheridan AA Patrol of the Year
- Chris Bain RSS Patrol
Team DriveTech powered by the AA