Valentin, you drove the CUPRA Born right up to northern Europe. How long did it take you and what route did you take?
It took me a total of 12 days, of which five were for the journey to Norway and back and then I had seven days for hiking in Norway. I broke it down into sections and immediately after our second «E-Champion Cert-E-fication» completed a leg to my hometown near Ulm in the evening. From there, the journey through Germany took me past Hamburg and Lübeck as far as Puttgarden, where I boarded the ferry to Denmark. After passing Copenhagen, I crossed the Öresund bridge to Malmö in Sweden. From here, I followed the coastal route northwards, passing Helsingborg and Göteborg, until I reached my destination for that leg just outside Oslo. The last leg took me through the middle of Norway as far as Trondheim. During my stay there, we spent time in the mountainous region in the west of Norway. The return journey took me via Lillehammer along the same route back through Sweden and Denmark towards Germany. Then, instead of travelling via Ulm back to Zurich, I went through the Black Forest.
Where did the idea for this trip come from?
That was actually a mixture of different circumstances: since I had to plan the timeframe for meeting my friend in Trondheim at very short notice, the costs of the flight to Trondheim and car rental in the area were prohibitive, especially for a cost-aware person from Swabia. In addition, I happened to be in the fortunate position of having the CUPRA Born as a company car, which was not only great fun to drive but also showed me that electromobility is, indeed, a realistic option. Thanks to my soft spot for cars, and my interest in the subject, I have quickly developed into an unofficial e-mobility expert at AMAG Services, which meant I felt I was in a certain role model function and I felt the need to prove to myself, my colleagues and also our customers that it is possible to undertake even long road trips with fully electric vehicles. Last but not least, there was the fact that my old childhood friend that I wanted to meet in Trondheim is currently doing his doctorate in battery research, so it seemed logical to make the journey in a BEV. Together with my preference for road trips and driving cars generally, these were plenty enough reasons to drive to Norway.
Where did you like it most?
That is difficult to say because Norway is generally so incredibly beautiful. However, I think I would say that the mountainous region of Jotunheimen appealed to me most because it was there that we undertook an unbelievably tiring but rewarding hike. The mountains there are completely different from those in Switzerland and the fact that we could easily hike until 10 pm thanks to the midnight sun was a unique experience. The trip through Sweden was also quite spectacular and there was always the hope that I would see a moose (which, I’m afraid, didn’t happen).
In view of the length of the trip, did you set off with a touch of uneasiness?
No, I was not at all uneasy, quite the contrary. I considered it to be an opportunity to run a practical test and take it to the limit. How can we possibly convince customers that a trip from Zurich to Geneva in a BEV is absolutely no problem if we have not had the experience ourselves? I had enough time, or rather, I took the time I needed and was not under time pressure in any way, so that even the queues at the charging points were not a serious problem for me.
Was good preparation necessary to schedule the recharging stops?
A certain amount of planning using the tool «A better route planner» is certainly a good idea to get some feeling for the number of recharging stops and the time required. But during the journey, I relied exclusively on the CUPRA on-board navigation system which always accurately predicted the next recharging stop by assessing the current energy consumption. That was particularly valuable in Germany where energy consumption was much higher than in Sweden or Norway because of the extensive motorway use. It’s also a great help if you can keep a watchful eye open for overnight hotel accommodation with charging facilities so you can set off the next morning with a fully charged battery.
Did you take any specific precautions?
No, I just set off on my adventure rather ingenuously and next time I would definitely plan it better. For example, on the outward journey, I charged up almost exclusively with IONITY, which is currently one of the most expensive charging options around. Since I signed up for a subscription for cheaper charging rates much too late, the outward journey was really quite expensive (on the return journey, I charged up for about half the price). I also bought the tickets for the ferry and road tolls in Norway and Sweden at short notice so I no doubt paid more than necessary for them as well. The road toll systems in Sweden and Norway are really good, you can pay the charges easily with a phone app or credit card. Germany could take a leaf out of their book and see how a toll system can work really easily.
In which of those countries is the car charging system organised the best and which is the worst?
The system in Germany was, in fact, the best, but I must add that I only travelled up the A7 motorway there and there were charging points set up at all the larger service and petrol stations. In Norway, it wasn’t always easy to find a charging point because of the remoteness and even then, there were not many that were actually manned. My own theory is that most Norwegians have their own chargers fitted at home so they are not so dependent on the public charging station network.
Were you ever faced with serious problems or any really critical situations?
No, everything always worked perfectly and I never suffered from the well-known “range anxiety”. Occasionally I had to wait a while until I could charge up and that was a bit dull. But then, you can make use of the time for other things (I can recommend the “Moove” podcasts from auto motor und sport which cover fantastic topics relating to mobility and are really entertaining). The only time we felt a bit queasy was when we drove up the Sognefjellsveien, the highest pass in northern Europe (1434 m ASL) at 3 °C in the rain, with summer tyres and rear-wheel drive – that demanded absolutely peak concentration. But it was actually good fun because the CUPRA Born has a low centre of gravity which gives it really good road-holding capabilities.
Did you have any special encounters or experiences?
I got into conversations with a lot of people so I was able to learn more about the drivers of electric cars from other countries. That was great fun, especially when a Norwegian lady asked about my Swiss number plate (AI) and asked if I would recommend driving all the way to Switzerland in an electric car, which is what she and her husband were thinking of doing. This led to a short but pleasant exchange in German in the Norwegian hinterland, which, with hindsight, would never have happened if I had been on the road in a petrol-driven car.
Would you take on a trip like this again or recommend it to others?
Yes and no, to be honest. Yes, I would take on such a journey in an electric car again as long as the old adage “roads are made for journeys, not destinations” applies and I plan for more time and more half-way stops for day trips. No, I would not recommend it if you’re travelling only to arrive, possibly with children that do not want to have to wait frequently for half an hour until you can get back on the road.
How would you describe the difference if you had taken on the trip in a petrol-driven car?
The journey would have been simply a means to an end to get from Zurich to Trondheim cheaply – the excitement and adventure would not have been the same. Also, I would not have had all those wonderful encounters with other drivers of electric cars, and I would not have had so much to tell you about.
And the journey in a nutshell?
Electromobility also works for long journeys but presupposes a different mindset – if all you want to do is get there, you shouldn’t do it at the moment. But if the journey is the reason for travelling, or if you’re travelling alone, it is a good option. There is still work to be done to make travelling in an electric car easier to organise, but that should not stop us exploring the limits of e-mobility and daring ourselves to leave the comfort zone.
