Bridgestone is recharging its batteries after an enlightening insight into electric vehicle mobility and infrastructure, after successfully covering 1,200 miles across the UK and Ireland at the EV Rally.
Encompassing all five capital cities, across both the UK & Ireland with 25 stop-off points between July 3rd and July 7th, Bridgestone was able to navigate the route seamlessly with more than 50 other vehicles, in a first-hand appreciation of improving EV infrastructure.
Both the new Bridgestone Turanza 6 and Duravis Van tyres were ready-made products for this spotlight on electric vehicles, with both being ‘EV Ready’ tyres, making them the perfect choice for the rally.
Bridgestone Mobility Solutions telematics business Webfleet and event data partner had on-board devices in the 23 vehicles tracked during the rally, they revealed that 4.87 tonnes of carbon were estimated to have been avoided, 6,797kWh was utilised and 27,495 miles were covered with zero emissions. These figures were taken from a mixture of electric cars and vans.
The Volkswagen ID.4 took the team from Bridgestone from stop-to-stop, equipped with newly developed modular electric drive matrix (MEB) and a fast-charging battery system consisting of different numbers of modules, depending on the desired range.
Bridgestone embarked on the EV Rally following the results of a survey, they commissioned earlier this year, in the UK with 2,000 drivers, which revealed that 40% would buy an EV by 2028, up 11% from when asked in 20222 (29%).
However, 67% raised fears about the availability of charging stations, (up 1% on 2022) with exactly half of all respondents continuing to have range anxiety, which represented an increase of 21% from last year.
Through its EV Rally experience, Bridgestone believes that these concerns are already being addressed in UK and Ireland and will ease rapidly further in future, owing to improving infrastructure and the focus of a range of businesses in this area, many who had participating teams in the EV Rally.
Bridgestone’s North Region Vice President Andrea Manenti said: “The journey across the UK & Ireland, wasn’t without its challenges, but they were overcome through a highly efficient VWID4 car, Webfleet’s onboard telematics and our ‘EV ready’ Turanza 6 tyres, which allowed us to extract more mileage from each charge.
“The Brigestone Turanza 6 was perfectly suited to the journey, featuring low rolling resistance to save battery life and address range anxiety concerns, excellent control and higher wear tolerance. Meanwhile, Webfleet’s on-board devices offered insights to determine who on the EV Rally was driving at an optimal levels to maximise the EV performance.
Bridgestone was proud to partner with the EV Rally, as the company makes a long-term pledge to the environment and sustainability to earn the trust of future generations”.
As a leader in mobility solutions, Bridgestone is already tackling some of the issues raised by developing its tyre technology to ensure that EVs can travel further between charges, whilst prolonging battery life.
*Fleet Publications also participated in the EV Rally, throughout its Irish leg visit.
Bridgestone participated in the recent EV Rally with a VW ID.4 running on Bridgestone Turanza 6 EV ready replacement tyres. Pictured at the Bridgestone Mondello Park check in on The EV Rally (L-R) Ger Tully, Bridgestone, Richard Parker, Webfleet, Jackie Wherity, Bridgestone, Colm Conyngham, Bridgestone and Conor Burns, Bridgestone.