The ZERO Race has travelled 28 days and 9500 km since its departure on August 16 in Geneva, Switzerland. This marks the completion of a third of the entire journey of an 80-day journey around the world with 100% electric vehicles. The aim of the race is to show that zero emission vehicles running on renewable energies are technologies for the future that are ready, and reliable already today. With shrinking resources and the impacts of global climate change, the ZERO Race strives to present the solutions for a better and greener future. Four participating teams from Australia, South Korea, Germany and Switzerland are taking part in the challenge during this inaugural event.
Vehicles are reliable and efficient
The ZERO Race is not about speed, but about other judgment criteria including vehicle reliability, energy efficiency, utility to every day life, design and safety. Almost each day, the teams face competition against new criteria in these categories, and they receive points according to their performance in each. So far, the Swiss team is leading ahead of Germany and Australia, while the South Korean Team had dropped out temporarily in Berlin, as they had to install a new battery management system. The team is optimistic to rejoin the race soon.
The Zero Race is the world's longest green event
The ZERO Race is a "green" event, and participants are doing everything possible to travel in a responsible way. Any greenhouse gas emissions created from the event, including the shipping of cars and flights by participants, will be compensated by investments into renewable energy projects through myclimate. Each team already produced enough power for their vehicle from renewable energy sources including as solar and wind, and this has been fed into the grid in their home country.
The challenges so far
During this longest and hardest electric car race ever, during the past weeks, the teams faced different challenges, including almost non-stop rain across Eastern Europe and Russia, and difficult road conditions. Despite these difficulties, according to tour director Louis Palmer, "the teams are doing extraordinary well, and the race has arrived according as scheduled in Astana, Kazakhstan, where they enjoyed a day for vehicle repairs and maintenance. So far, no major technical difficulties have occurred, although shaking from bumpy roads, shorter daylight periods and very limited sleep made it a hard challenge physically for each team member".
What is ahead
The four vehicles from Switzerland, Germany, Australia and South Korea are expected to arrive at the next World Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of November, and the race should come to an end in January where it started: at United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. If that comes true, Jules Verne's dream of travelling around the world in 80 days would have come true - via a more ecologically sustainable way.
The next Zero Emissions Race plans are already under way, and it will take place in 2012.
ZERO EMISSIONS RACE ONLINE:
at http://www.zero-race.com/
The entire ZERO Race is documented with stories and photos on Zero Race Daily Blog:
http://www.zero-race.com/en/follow-zero-race-online/
ZERO RACE COMMUNITY
Join the Zero Race community on Facebook for more daily updates and photos about the race.
Some of the sponsoring companies include:
- Galaxy Resources Limited (
- Google Inc. (
- Oerlikon Corporation AG (
- ABN Newswire
About Zero Emissions Race
In 2008, Louis Palmer became the first person ever to drive a solar powered car around the world. This project was known as the Solartaxi. It took him 534 days to complete his circumnavigation and spread his powerful message that renewable energies are reliable, affordable and ecologically responsible!
In 2010, he intended to take things even further. This time Louis Palmer challenged the world to a race via the The Zero Emissions Race. This global event was planned to be a thrill, as well as an opportunity to harness public interest and generate new ways of thinking about mobility, cars and renewable energies. The Zero Race also aims to make zero emission energy solutions accessible to a worldwide audience.
Competitors from all corners of the globe are invited to drive their own zero emission race vehicles. Each competitor's lean, mean, green machine will be designed to run strictly on renewable energy, such as solar, wind, wave or geothermal. Thus, when the chequered flag will finally come down at the end of the Zero Race, the ultimate winner will be Planet Earth.
Contact
Louis PalmerTour Director
Email: louis.palmer@zero-race.com
Mobile: +41-79-343-88-01 (sms)
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