It started out as a crazy thought when Renske Cox and Maarten van Pel from the Netherlands wondered what it would be like if they could charge their electric car with solar panels to be more flexible, travel longer distances, and reach more remote places. Fast-forward a few months and a truck-load of research later, and the couple is now planning their first long-distance trip with an electric car. Their plan is to drive from the Netherlands to South Africa and back while visiting sustainable projects on the way.
We asked Renske a few questions about their lifestyle, their trip, and what it’s like to travel by electric car.
What made you decide to live a more sustainable lifestyle?
We both love nature and travel a lot. However, while traveling, we started noticing the impact of global warming on the climate. When we were in Iceland, for example, people told us how they could see that the glaciers became smaller and smaller each year. Then, when we visited Namibia, we saw that people were struggling because of the drought.
There was something like this going on in nearly every country we visited, and that’s when we started asking ourselves if there was something we could do about it. This is how we discovered that there’s actually a lot we can do, and it felt great to start implementing these things in our daily lives. Some of the changes we made were to buy seasonal food, eat less meat, buy zero-waste products and, of course, drive an electric car.
How did you come up with the idea to go on a road trip from the Netherlands to South Africa with an electric car?
While traveling around Europe in an electric car, we asked ourselves the question: what if we could charge our car with solar panels? This way, we’d be far more flexible, and we wouldn’t be restricted to locations with charging stations.
It actually started out as a crazy idea, but the more we started thinking about it, the more we realized that it might actually be possible. We decided to research the possibilities and concluded that our idea was in fact possible! We’re going to start our trip in November 2022, however, before leaving for Africa, we’re going to test our equipment in the Netherlands.
Can you tell us something about the route that you’re going to follow?
We’re not planning too much in advance because we think it’s important to keep an eye on the travel advisories of our destinations. At the moment, our idea is to drive from the Netherlands to Spain and to take a boat to Morocco from there. From Morocco, we will drive to South Africa along the west coast, then head back home along the east coast.
What’s the purpose of your road trip?
We want to inspire people to live and travel more sustainably by offering responsible (travel) tips and sharing our experiences. On top of that, we want to share stories of other inspiring people and projects we visit along the way. By doing this, we also want to prove that it’s possible to travel long distances with a regular electric family car.
We’re also partnering up with an organization and students that will help us measure what it’s like to drive an electric car in different circumstances. They want to provide more research. For example, – we know headwind has a negative impact on the range, but how big is this impact, and what’s the impact of crosswind?
Can you tell us something about your car?
Initially, our idea was to go with an electric jeep but as these are very expensive, we started looking into more affordable cars that fit more people’s budgets. We ended up buying a regular electric car, which we equipped with a rooftop tent. We also removed the back seats and are currently researching how to fit both our luggage and the solar panels in the car.
When it comes to these solar panels, we’re going to test out a new technique, which is pretty exciting! The goal is to charge the car directly through the solar panels. We’re planning to bring around 60 m² of thin panels on the trip. This should allow us to drive about 150 km for every 4 hours of charging.
Your plan is to visit and promote sustainable projects along the way. How will you choose these projects?
True, we want to interview projects to give them more exposure and share their learnings. Our idea is to create vlogs, articles, and maybe even podcasts. I have to admit that it’s quite a challenge to find the right projects. While there are many innovative projects out there, we want to make sure the projects we feature truly are focussed on sustainability. That’s why we have a critical eye and do a lot of research about them in advance.
We were able to find some cool projects we can’t wait to visit, though! One of these is Ridecake, an initiative that uses electric motorbikes for anti-poaching efforts. As electric bikes are quiet, it gives an extra advantage in the chase. We’ll keep our eyes open for other projects on the road, as we’re not planning too much in advance.
Finally, what’s your number 1 sustainable travel tip?
Be creative with the methods of transportation that you choose. It may be tempting to fly but you can also travel by train, which is far more sustainable.
Do you want to follow 4x4electric’s sustainable travel adventures? Check out their channels via the links below.
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