Travelling around the world on EUR250 of electricity

Nhan Dan Online – The first world tour in a French standard electric car, which travelled 25,000 km across 17 countries using only EUR250 (US$310) worth of electricity, has come to Vietnam.
Xavier Dedon and Antonin Guy with Citroen C-zero car in Hanoi
Xavier Dedon and Antonin Guy with Citroen C-zero car in Hanoi

The project is entitled ‘Electric Odyssey’ and was conceived by two friends, Antonin Guy and Xavier Dedon, in October 2010. Two young French engineers met with media agencies in Hanoi this afternoon.

The long journey began February 11, 2012 in Strasbourg, France and the return trip to the same city will happen eight months later.

The average cost for the ‘electrical’ trip is EUR250, which is five to seven times cheaper than using gasoline.

The goals of the adventure are to promote the use of electric cars and to reassure the public about the capabilities of electricity-powered transport.

Although undergoing over 200 stages during the journey totaling about 110km each, the electric charge of the car does not emit carbon dioxide nor any other polluting particle.

Xavier Dedon, 27, who is working for Electricity of France, said: “Each charging point provides us exciting opportunities to meet with citizens of the countries crossed during the 25,000 km journey”.

28 year old Antonin Guy said: “The public does not have much information on the use of electric vehicles, such as the cost, autonomy, safety, how it can be charged… I can assure you that they are quite effective means of transport”.

“If we can travel around the world with a standard electric car, you can also use it for your daily rides', Guy added.

However, the journey of the two young engineers is not that easy. Dedon shared that the biggest challenge is finding a charging point. They had to carefully consider where to stop to charge their car.

“When going through a desert in the American West, we only saw a small factory on our map and we had to contact people there in advance to borrow their outlets”, Dedon said.

The Electric Odyssey car is a Citroen C-zero with a maximum speed of 130 kph. It uses a lithium-ion battery which runs on six hours of charging using a 220V connection. When using a quick charge station, it takes only 30 minutes to charge 80% of the battery using a 400V electric outlet.

After travelling through Vietnam, the Electric Odyssey tour will stop in China.