Well-known car enthusiasts set new Lithuanian record with electric car

 

Vitoldas Milius and Dainius Jaks

While hundreds of powerful internal combustion cars gathered in Palanga for the traditional Aurum 1006 km endurance race, a crew of two experienced drivers, with a car that symbolizes the future of our roads, quietly and patiently racked up the kilometers on the outskirts of Lithuania. 

Although Vitoldas Milius and Dainius Jaks were not overwhelmed by the excitement of the race, they could not complain about the lack of adrenaline either - the well-known men of the motoring world did their best to drive their electric Kia e-Niro around Lithuania as quickly as possible on asphalt roads.

 After almost twenty-four hours of driving, the car enthusiasts could breathe a sigh of relief that they had a new Lithuanian record in their pockets - the duo of seasoned travelers had completed the 1176 km route along the border with the neighboring countries in 20 hours, 28 minutes and 22 seconds.

The crew is still awaiting official confirmation from the record agency, but they have no doubts about the result themselves. To reach their goal, the men drove in compliance with traffic rules and speed limits, and their electric e-Niro was constantly monitored by global positioning system equipment.

Interestingly, this year, Miļum and Jak managed to better their own record, set three years ago on the summer solstice in a previous generation electric Kia e-Niro. Back then, it took a total of 21 hours 58 minutes and 41 seconds to complete four battery charging breaks and the distance.

"We wanted to do everything exactly the same way as three years ago. Only the car we were driving was a newer model and the infrastructure had changed. But our goal was clear from the start - to beat our own record," said Milus.


Progress test in practice

 V. Milus and Jaks started on Friday morning and drove non-stop, pausing only to recharge the battery. The route was the same as three years ago - from Palanga to Klaipėda, Šiluti, Jurbarkė, Šakiai, Kibarty, Druskininkai, Varēna, Šalčininkai, Vilnius, Nemenčini, Pabradi, Švenčininkai, Ignalina, Visaginas, Zarasai, Rokiškiai, Biržai, Pasvaly, Žeimele, Joniškiai, Žagari, Mažeikiai and back to the Lithuanian summer capital via Skoda.

According to V. Milius, publisher of Auto Bild Lithuania magazine, the idea to set a new Lithuanian record for driving an electric car came from a decision to see how this, probably the fastest growing segment of light transport, has changed in recent years. The journalist also notes that not only electric cars, but also related services and mobile apps are growing rapidly.

 "In a way, we wanted to see if everyday life is really getting easier for electric car users in Lithuania, because overall a lot has changed in these three years. Whether these changes were directly reflected in our route is and will remain an open question, but you have to understand that part of chasing a new record is always like a game," says Milus with a smile.

The new Kia e-Niro, chosen by hardened motorists, is powered by a 150 kW electric motor that drives the front wheels. The 64.8 kWh battery and 16.2 kWh/100 km average power consumption allow the almost 4.5 meter long electric crossover to travel up to 460 km on a single charge. These parameters have made the enthusiasts' path to a new record much easier.

According to the author of the blog 100procentuelektrinis.lt, D. Jaks, the new generation e-Niro is fundamentally different from the previous model. The only thing they have in common is the name.

"The car is built on a different platform and is completely different, but at the same time much more comfortable to use. We had a newer car that could go a bit further on a single charge and a battery that charges a bit faster, so it was inevitable that we would reach our destination sooner. You could say that we made progress at the finish, because if we had spent more time on the road, that would mean no progress," laughs the electric car expert.

It cannot be denied, however, that the pace of development of charging stations is still lagging far behind the geography and pace of movement of electric car users. So for longer journeys, motorists are still largely dependent on the capabilities of their cars - battery capacity and car performance.

"In some regions, the infrastructure is still exactly the same as it was three years ago, but the number of EVs has increased significantly," says Mr Jaks.

The answer to real life

V. Milus points out that setting a new electric car record during the traditional 1006 km race is no coincidence. Every year at this time, the journalist tries to test the true capabilities of different types of cars and, in his opinion, electro-mobility is inevitably entering traditional motorsport.

"Car manufacturers are moving very fast towards electromobility. So motorsport and electric cars, if you like, are on the same wavelength in terms of the future and technology, as well as today. It will be difficult to switch to pure electric propulsion in endurance racing in the near future, but we can already see the benefits it brings," the record holder is convinced.

Finally, the new Lithuanian record holders reveal that they have not prepared any special tactics for their race and have already calculated the possibilities to recharge the battery during the race. In addition, they had to take into account various variables, including the occupancy of roadside charging stations and the battery's energy reserves at the time.

"Driving an electric car nowadays you have to be pretty smart because you can work out in advance where you need to stop, but the situation can change drastically during the journey. In such cases, various mobile apps can be useful. For the two of us, the journey was quite comfortable and easy, as one of us drove and the other kept an eye on the situation. This way, you can react quickly and adjust your next steps at any time and, for example, decide where and for how long to charge the battery. And remember that even with a detailed driving and charging strategy, a number of constraints remain, including traffic regulations," explains Mr Milus.


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