A few scratches and a damper, that’s it
The fact that both partners drove from the Netherlands to South Africa and back in an electric car proves that this sustainable way of travelling is feasible. “Driving on electricity is simply different compared to internal combustion engines. As you can see, anything is possible. For us, electricity has become normal. One has to get used to this way. We live in a world where electricity is practically everywhere. And you can go everywhere using it. Or consider the solar charging. We’d never done it before and only tested it twice before setting out. We started in Morocco and by the time we left the country it seemed perfectly normal to us. You have to get used to the changes and you have to make yourself take that big leap and be open to new things. It’s a lot easier than people think, though,” reflects Renske.
For the moment, the explorers are keeping the specially equipped car for a lecture tour, but in time it will head to the Škoda Museum.
What are the adventurers’ plans when they return to normal European life? Family, friends, Christmas and the end of the year are on the agenda. They haven’t thought about their other travel plans yet, but they admit that next year will be marked by their desire to share their story. And maybe even inspire others to do the same. So lectures, maybe even a book? “Yes, we are working on both. We have so many stories to tell,” they reply in unison.
On their way home, they stopped for a few days in Mladá Boleslav, visited the factory where their car was made and met with Škoda Auto board member Martin Jahn. He glued a Czech flag on their car as a souvenir from another country they visited.
Škoda board member Martin Jahn stuck a Czech flag on the car.
The expedition car also underwent a thorough service inspection in its birthplace. “When the technician connected the car to the computer, he asked cautiously: Are they aware that it’s a rear-wheel-drive car and not the four-wheel one? Of course we know it’s rear-wheel drive, but people thought that we simply had to have a four-wheel drive car to accomplish all this. There was one single issue: one of the dampers broke during the last kilometres of the corrugated roads, so the car limped 500 kilometres more to the harbour in Kenya and then another 2,000 from Greece to Czechia. The car is heavy and it just didn’t like the bad African gravel roads and the damper just gave up the ghost,” says Maarten, adding that apart from this they didn’t have to deal with a single technical problem the whole time.
“We are surprised because we really pushed the car over the limits. The skid plate got its share, but no big holes or something, it is just scratched and a bit dented. But apart from a cracked windscreen, that’s the only thing. There was no maintenance done, we only refilled the windscreen washer fluid regularly. And some minor plastic body parts were replaced. But the core of the car is so strong! We didn’t have to do anything at all. For me the most stressful thing was shipping the car to Europe. We disconnected the 12-volt battery so the high-voltage battery was automatically disconnected. First, we drove in the container and disconnected them, and I thought: okay, it will be six weeks in the container, how does it work when we connect it back? But I just stepped inside the car and drove it out as if it was driven yesterday!”
The sea journey to Europe begins with loading into a shipping container.
What happens to the specially modified car and its equipment such as the solar panels? “We don’t know yet what we will do. In the beginning, we will keep it all, as we want to share the story and it’s a lot easier to explain how something works if it can be shown immediately. But after that, we are not yet sure what we will do with the car and the whole setup. We might offer it to Škoda, maybe it’s convenient for the museum. But we will see,” says Renske.