Two British fans of electric vehicles have signed up for the adventure of a lifetime. A team will drive a LEAF in the Mongol Rally.
If you have never heard about the event, it refers to driving 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers), from London to Mongolia. The challenge is completing the journey, not how fast one finishes it, and this has been proven difficult for conventional propulsion vehicles.
The Nissan LEAF AT-EV, which stands for All Terrain Electric Vehicle, will be the first all-electric automobile entered in the event. Nissan has responded to the request of Plug In Adventures, the adventurers who will make this trip, and helped upgrade individual elements of the vehicle to make it withstand the journey.
The first upgrade involved fitting Speedline SL2 Marmora wheels with Maxsport RB3 tires. These are narrower than the recommended ones, but they are best suited for “unsealed” roads. The underside of the car got welded plates under its suspension components, a set of mud flaps, a sump guard, and braided brake lines.
Nissan commissioned the fitment of a modified roof rack to enhance storage space, and equipped the element with a Lazer Triple-R LED light bar for additional forward lighting.
The 16,400-lumen light will be used in remote parts of the trip. All of the work on the car was done by RML Group, a high-performance automotive engineering company in the UK.
Impressively, the front passenger space’ only modification is the addition of rubber floor mats. The rear seats have been removed to add more storage space. Regardless, this will be an adventure that the two crew members will remember for the rest of their lives.
The LEAF has access to an extensive network of fast charging options in Europe, but things will not be that good once the vehicle reaches the wilderness.
It can still be charged with a 240-Volt "Commando" (tri-phase) connection. Chris Ramsey, the founder of Plug In Adventures, has pledged to log the locations of some uncharted charging points, which could be used by future adventurers.
Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland. Full profile
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