Electric cars are a fancy thing. They are a great concept, but in terms of practicality, not so. Back in 2012, an all-electric car like the Renault Fluence Z.E. had a range of just 130km. This may seem reasonable, but a full charge takes about eight hours, and charging stations back then were few and far between - just 37 publicly available.
Cars like the Renault Zoe now have a usable real-world range of about 300km. Still, the task of driving an electric car over long distances might induce what some call 'range' anxiety, or the fear of running out of electricity.
While charging times and distances have improved, filling up a tank of petrol still takes just under 15 minutes. But a petrol-powered vehicle might give you some sort of anxiety too, when faced with an almost empty tank and a long stretch of highway with no petrol pumps in sight.
The challenge - one single charge
To prove that driving long distances with an electric car is possible, Wearnes, the official distributor for Jaguar in Singapore, devised a challenge. Drive the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE all the way from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, on one single charge. Our final destination would be Hilton Hotel in KL, a good 360km on the map. With the I-PACE's range of 470km on paper, it should be a piece of cake. But with different driving styles and start-stop traffic, it may not be.
We turned up at the Jaguar showroom, the starting point for the One Charge Challenge
We weren't the only I-PACE heading up North. The second I-PACE, in Photon Red, was scheduled to ferry the Wearnes support staff to KL; a sign of confidence that the I-PACE can in fact complete the challenge.
Our I-PACE, with a fully charged battery, showed a range of 410km. Not too far off from the range on paper, and enough - in theory - to reach KL. Right out of the Jaguar showroom, we drove the I-PACE a little more spiritedly. After all, with a century sprint timing of 4.8 seconds, it is not a slow car by any means.
That resulted in some heavy-footed driving before reaching our first stop at Gelang Patah. By then, the short, spirited drive meant we were down to about 370km in range - enough for KL, albeit too close for comfort. At this point, range anxiety started seeping in.
We headed off from Gelang Patah to our next stop, now with more careful throttle modulation. As the kilometres passed, things started to look a little less risky, as we started to earn about 15km more in range.
Playing with electricity
Balancing the gauge between charge and power required a delicate foot. We looked out for slopes, where we would speed up ever so slightly to overcome one, and let off when going downhill for regenerative braking to kick in.
But the I-PACE was far from a stressful car to pilot. It is incredibly comfortable, thanks to the plush seats and air suspension.
Plus, if we wanted to take a break from the power balancing game, turning on radar cruise control allowed you to sit back and relax. The roads started to open up once we crossed through Malacca. With more lanes, we could maintain our own pace of about 80km/h to 90km/h without being too much of a road hog.
At around the halfway mark to our destination, we pulled into the Ayer Keroh rest stop. The range showed 144km. On our GPS, we still had 114km to go - a good 30km buffer. By then, we were trying out different methods of increasing the range - like turning off the aircon and lowering the suspension, in a bid to reduce drag.
We made it!
It wasn't long before we entered KL city limits. We still managed to maintain a good 30km lead in range, but we were still slightly concerned, because to get caught in good ol' KL traffic, our range will certainly start to drop.
Surprisingly, the journey was very smooth through the city. With less than 10km to go, it was a clear victory for the I-PACE. We started to get a little spirited behind the wheel again - electric torque is indeed hard to resist.
With one last turn to our final destination, we made it the hotel. It wasn't long before the second I-PACE arrived too. Both cars on one single charge. Our I-PACE showed a range of just 32km, with the other I-PACE with 31km. Unfortunately, fast chargers are few and far between in Malaysia. The charger we had was a 7.4kW AC charger, meaning it would take about 12 hours for the I-PACE to be fully juiced up.
Would we do it again?
The whole challenge took almost eight hours from the start, including one lunch break and multiple bio stops. For us, it was one of the longest trips by car to KL even with smooth traffic.
The I-PACE isn't just about its electric powertrain. It is a true luxury car with a well-appointed interior. It doesn't skimp because its electric - in fact the absence of an engine allows for a stretched out and bigger interior. Plus, its quiet nature lets you enjoy your music or a conversation, something nice to have over a long drive.
If one charge is all you need to get to KL, we wonder what the future will bring. It certainly proves that owning an electric car may not be impractical, after all.
