Oh, You’re Worried About an EV’s Range? This Dude Drove One Across Africa

Lotsa people out there who drive 4×4 trucks around town (when riding a bike would suffice) are awfully concerned an EV off-road capable vehicle that gets 300 miles on a charge won’t be enough when they head out to their local BLM dirt tracks. I know because it’s a constant refrain in comment sections on every site on the internet when someone writes about the Rivian, or the new Ford Lightning, or any other upcoming EV (right behind jokes about how they actually run on coal in popularity).

Well, just like how you don’t *really* need a jacked up 4×4 for 90% of the dirt road driving most folks do, you also don’t need a gas engine to drive the length of Africa. And Europe. As Arkady Fiedler showed a few years back when he drove a Nissan Leaf north from South Africa clear to Poland. Fiedler is the grandson of another Arkady Fiedler who is an exploration legend, so the dude has it in his blood to say “screw it” and give things like this a go.

The little car was completely stock. Only thing he did was take out the back seats for more storage space. Pretty impressive.

You can read an interview with him here at Expedition Portal, and check out the video below showing the first stage of the journey.