Students from the University of British Columbia hope to set a record for the fastest coast-to-coast drive across Canada in an electric vehicle, range anxiety be damned. Better yet, they’re making the trip in a slick home-brew electrified classic VW Beetle.
The students set out from Vancouver last week on their 4,000-mile trek in E-Beetle, a ‘72 Vee Dub the UBC Electric Car Club converted to run on electricity. With a three-phase AC induction motor hooked up to a lithium iron phosphate battery, the car has a range of around 185 miles at 60 mph and over 340 miles at 30 mph. Top speed is around 85 mph, and recharging the pack takes about four hours. The car sports four wheel discs with regenerative braking.
Those are impressive specs, but Canada’s roads can be unforgiving. From winding mountain passes in the west to deserted stretches of highway across the prairie provinces, driving across Canada requires forethought even in a gas powered vehicle. That’s why the team carefully mapped out places to spend the night and plug in the car. You can follow their progress on the team blog.
So far, they’ve made it up to the summit of the steep Coquihalla Highway — a challenge for any car — but had to recharge at a convenience store the next day after discovering their remaining range was about half the distance they had left to travel.
Be sure to say hi if you happen to be in any of the major Canadian cities where they’re stopping, and we’ll be following their journey online. If all goes well on the cross-Canada trip, the team plans to enter the car in the next Zero Race.
