Easee and Renault completed a 1,000-mile drive from Land’s End to John O’Groats powered entirely by solar energy, using no grid electricity. A production Renault 4 E-Tech electric was charged via an Easee Charge Pro charger connected to fixed solar arrays and portable battery storage during the five-day solstice journey.
Easee and Renault have completed a 1,000-mile drive from Land’s End to John O’Groats powered entirely by solar energy, using no grid electricity or fossil-fuel-generated power at any point on the route.
The five-day journey, timed around the summer solstice, used a production Renault 4 E-Tech electric plein sud techno+. The vehicle was charged through a three-phase Easee Charge Pro charger connected to a combination of fixed solar arrays and portable, solar-charged battery storage units positioned along the route.
The Renault 4 combines a 52kWh battery and 150hp powertrain with a WLTP combined range of up to 242 miles. The plein sud version adds an electrically operated canvas sunroof. Easee, based in Stavanger, Norway, selected the model in part because its name translates as “due south” — the optimal orientation for solar panels in the northern hemisphere.
According to Anthony Fernandez, chief executive at Easee, the project was intended to show what clean mobility can already deliver.
“The Easee Sun Run goes a long way to showing what clean mobility is capable of today. In connecting electric vehicles, renewable generation and energy storage into one flexible ecosystem that works together efficiently, clean transport can become more resilient and more accessible,” Fernandez said.
At the start near Land’s End, the Renault 4 and one of the larger portable storage units were charged using solar energy alone. Further energy was supplied northward through a coordinated network of solar installations and pre-charged mobile battery units. Easee’s charging technology adapts the charging rate to available power, tracking energy production to make greater use of locally generated renewable electricity.
The route took in several solar-energy sites, including the UK’s first commercial solar farm at Chard, Somerset, and an off-grid system at Whaley Bridge Cricket Club in Derbyshire. The team also visited research into flexible, rollable solar materials at Swansea University, solar-powered vehicle work at Durham University, a solar pyramid south of Edinburgh, and off-grid solar and battery installations at Dunrobin Castle in Scotland.
“Many of the technologies needed to deliver that are already here, and they’re in action today – from intelligent home charging to scalable, business-ready solutions that help fleets make the switch. The journey we’ve just completed may be poetic, but it’s squarely grounded in the reality of smart, clean technology available to consumers and businesses now,” Fernandez said.
The drive builds on an earlier Easee solar-charging pilot in Canada’s Northwest Territories, conducted in sub-Arctic winter conditions, which tested portable solar generation, battery storage and smart charging beyond conventional grid infrastructure.
