The Electric Odyssey

In February 2012, the first world tour in a standard electric car will leave Strasbourg (France): 25,000km, 8 months, 17 countries, 250€ of electricity consumption. The purpose of the Electric Odyssey is to promote the image of the electric vehicles towards the large public and to reassure them about the ability of this transportation mode to answer their need.

You are probably remembering now a few things about the electric car. In particular the autonomy of 150km (in standard conditions) does not allow you to ride the vehicle all around the world in once… Actually, the car will have to be charged every 110km which means more than 200 stopovers and meetings with local people so that they share with us few megawatts. Thus, beyond the technological challenge, this journey is seen as a true human adventure that will give us the opportunity to be in close contact with people all around the world, through the American Rockies, the heart of Japan, the silk road between China and Kazakhstan and Europe.

The Electric Odyssey will be the first world tour done with a standard electric car. Every challenge has outstanding figures to set forth. The Odyssey is not an exception to the rule.

The Odyssey, it is:
250 € : this is the average cost of the electricity to make this world tour.
More than 250 charges at local people’s homes : every day, the crew will have to convince local population to share their outlets.
No carbon emission due to the vehicle : The C-Zero (Citroen / PSA vehicle used for the world tour) will emit neither carbon nor any polluting particle. Carbon emission only depends on the way to produce electricity.
25,000 km : this is the distance traveled with only 250€ of electricity
17 countries : in some of them English language will be enough to communicate, but in most of them sign language will be mainly used to find outlets!

The crew is made up of Xavier and Antonin, two young engineers convinced by the electric mobility. This ambitious project aims to prove that this new mean of transport is an opportunity in the future and to contribute to its fast expansion.Xavier Degon, 27, was graduated from the Ecole Centrale Paris in 2009 and then joined EDF (State owned French Electricity Provider Company). He is engineer in the optimization of the energetic balance at EDF.Antonin Guy, 28, was graduated from l’ECAM at Lyon and then ESSEC at Paris. He has been consultant for 4 years at Capgemini Consulting in the public sector. He has been driving several studies about the electric mobility in collaboration with ESCP Europe since 2009.