CHAdeMO in Action: WAVE 2014

We were so busy during the last days of the rally and afterwards, that we were not able to do regular updates. Now WAVE is over, everyone, including us, got back home/ to the office so it’s time for our last post. Covering 2000km electrically as part of the WAVE was a great adventure, even if tiring at times. We presented the cars in cities and at schools, always bringing forward the message: e-mobility is the way to go. We showed that electric cars can go long distances, high up the mountains, provide for a great driving pleasure and, the most important for us, they can be fast charged in series and put back on the road quickly, even if they have an empty battery.

Our purpose at the WAVE was promoting CHAdeMO fast charge. We did it not only by speaking about CHAdeMO at numerous stops and giving out the badges (see a special mention on the badges below), but most of all by providing charging to CHAdeMO-compatible teams using an EVTEC portable charger. Although we were not a supporting team at the WAVE, we still provided a great deal of juice to the rally-participants. The portable charger proved especially valuable:

during a night charge in Garching one phase went down and thus the cars that were plugged into it found themselves empty - and with 130 km to cover as part of the next stage of the rally (team Still Married and Watt-Wrum),
After a 131 km driving, partly up hill from Garching to Schwangau (8 teams charged),
When a team arrived at Wolpertshausen with 5km of automomy and still had 30km to cover to the hotel (team Marie and Benoit),
before traversing Furka pass - climbing to 2400masl with our EVs, a very energy-vore exercise (10 out of 11 teams benefited from the CHAdeMO top up).

Of course, the charging was also important at other points of the journey, but its impact was less visible and much more about 'working behind the scenes'. Giving a CHAdeMO-charge to EVs that needed it meant that we were often one of the last ones to leave from charging spots and the last ones to arrive at the hotel. But, our efforts were not for nothing. The winners of the 2^nd and 3^rd place in the ‘Popular’ WAVE category were teams driving Nissan LEAFs that both said after having been given the awards ‘without CHAdeMO, it would have been impossible’. Although we as a team did not win anything, it is indeed great to know that we contributed to the success of others.

1/2 of the winner of the 2nd place, team Watt-Wrum on top of Mountain Rigi with its trophy:

Team Still Married, 3rd place winner, with their trophy

And here, Still Married right after they recieved their trophy calling CHAdeMO team to thank them for the charging and to say 'without CHAdeMO, it would not have been possible'.

What also needs mention was the team work of the CHAdeMO-family, i.e. teams driving CHAdeMO-compatible EVs. Special thanks to teams: Marie and Benoit, StillMarried, Watt-Wrum, Chargemap, Blue Drive and Slovakia who were always there to help, be it in finding 32A plug to plug the charger, or an adapter from 63A to 32A, or enough power, or, last but not least, taking the 65kg charger out of the booth.

Group photo at night

Group photo day time

As part of our CHAdeMO-promotion efforts we were giving out the 'I love CHAdeMO badges'. They were, as always, welcomed and worn with pride. And, as we found out at the final WAVE stop, mountain Rigi, they are now famous and circulate way beyond our own give-aways. While waiting for the presentation of our team to the public gather at the finish, we were approached by a gentleman with our badge pinned to his shirt who said 'I got it from my friend from France'. No better way to show the importance of CHAdeMO for e-mobility!