Electric cars are becoming mainstream and while it might be daunting to switch full-time to an electric car for everyday use, a Dutch couple decided to see what electric cars were really capable of. It is important that they try to drive on solar energy as much as possible.
After tons of research, Maarten van Pel and Renske Cox built a SKODA ENYAQ iV 80 electric vehicle for a massive expedition from their home in the Netherlands to the southernmost tip of Africa and back, calling the journey the 4×4 Electric Expedition. Jennifer the origin of the trip unwrapped in an article last year and the team has since completed construction and hit the road. They recently hosted a webinar with their solar and charging partners where they unpacked the custom solutions developed for the expedition.
For this they worked together with a local company in the Netherlands, sun mythto design and install a custom solar panel on the hood, on their rooftop tent and on their Tilbox cargo box on the roof. Mito Solar built its business around the need for custom solar panels to power lightweight racing vehicles on land and sea and continues to push the boundaries of what is possible with the latest solar technology. This fixed array is supported by a huge array of thin portable panels designed to be laid on the ground and wired to charge the car. So far the system has worked flawlessly with no errors.
If necessary, Renske and Maarten take entire days to lay a custom-made array of solar panels on the ground to charge the car directly with direct current. The process of laying all the panels is a bit cumbersome, but really isn’t the end of the world. A time-lapse they posted recently shows it takes about 12 or 13 minutes to break down the system and a similar amount to set it up:
Charging their EV directly from solar panels is a fascinating concept, as typical solar EV chargers convert DC from solar power into a DC battery (~3% loss), which converts to AC to run directly into the car ( ~5% loss), which is then converted back to DC (~5% loss) to charge the car’s battery. Renske and Martin worked together with a Dutch company Venema electric mobility to develop a custom DC to DC charging system that uses the direct DC output from the solar panels and charges the car with a net loss of just 3%.
These numbers were all unpacked in the webinar linked above where they discuss the process of building out the EV charging system for the Expedition. Direct solar charging has a number of clear advantages. Instantly you eliminate the need to run the solar DC power through a second smaller battery. That means less weight and less storage volume – a top priority for a single-vehicle expedition.
It also eliminates the need to convert the DC power from the smaller battery to AC power and then back into the car. This eliminates the need for a separate inverter in the car, which means one less point of failure and less weight and volume to carry. Minimizing the weight and volume carried is critical, especially for the 4×4 electric team. Their solar panel, while compact, still consumes most of their Skoda’s volume.
Venema E-Mobility developed a customized solution on a super tight timeline especially for Maarten and Renske. They specialize in designing and developing DC to DC charging solutions, mainly building portable high-performance EV charging solutions for heavy equipment. They tested the first prototype of the 4×4 Electric Expedition solution on July 6, 2022 and quickly iterated, testing a second prototype a few weeks later on September 22. The expedition was scheduled to depart on November 4, 2022, so the timeline was extremely tight.
The solution developed by Venema E-Mobility focused on a compact design, high efficiency and, of course, safety. The solution is more of an exploratory project, as Venema E-Mobility currently has no plans to bring it to market. The 4×4 Electric Expedition and their collaboration with Mito Solar and Venema E-Mobility show how capable today’s clean technologies are. In comparison: for the average person who lives in the same house day in and day out, electric driving is relatively easy.
Most people reading this have access to consistent electricity and that fact alone makes electric vehicles a viable option for everyday use. Of course, by region we have challenges for multi-family housing, challenges for densely populated cities and rural environments, but these are all solvable. As the 4×4 electric team has shown, we have the solutions. All it takes is the willpower to consider electric vehicles and solar energy as options first.
Doing the work to understand what it takes to make them work in your life is the real deal for us. This could include installing a Level 2 charger, asking to have a charger installed at work, or finding the nearest fast charging options. If Maarten and Renske can get an electric vehicle from the Netherlands and drive it all the way to the bottom of Africa – and they are well on their way on this journey – what is stopping you from driving an electric vehicle to work, to the supermarket and to the park?
If they have the willpower to define and develop the solutions needed to make this journey and to power most of their journeys with solar panels that they have to take and set up at every stop, how much easier is it for us to use electric vehicles? vehicle in the luxury of plugging it into a local supermarket, mall or fast charger?
The future is electric.
The future is now.
Big thanks to Renske and Maarten for taking on this huge expedition. They open people’s eyes to the potential of electric vehicles and solar energy. Through their efforts, they are raising awareness about the possibilities of these solutions in Africa and beyond. And they push the boundaries of what our current solutions can bring us by identifying gaps and developing meaningful, robust solutions to these challenges along the way.
They’re out there get stuck in the mud. They are remote troubleshooting solutions. They are drive through densely populated cities. They are out in the wild every day. They’re taking the risk and with this massive effort they’re taking a step forward for all of us into the all-electric, zero-emission future.
You can learn more about the 4×4 electric expedition on their website, with regular updates their Twitter feedand further their YouTube channel where they document every step of their journey. If you want to contribute directly to their efforts, you can donate directly to the nonprofit set up to finance this expedition.
Finally, it’s also worth checking out their sponsors, including their flagship sponsor Yellow Counterflow because these are the companies that push the boundaries of what today’s clean technologies can achieve and fill the gaps with creative, innovative, new solutions.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored article and we have no affiliation with the 4×4 Electric Expedition, Renske, Maarten or their sponsors. We simply love clean technology and the power it has to transform our planet into a sustainable, renewable planet that can sustain humanity for future generations.
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