Toyota is a sponsor and participant in the third EV Rally Cymru, a two-day challenge testing electric vehicles on roads the length and breadth of Wales.
More than 25 EVs, including cars, vans, trucks and trailers, were due to set off from Cardiff on 21 October. The event is designed as a “mythbuster”, giving a very public demonstration of the real-world efficiency and viability of electric vehicles.
The 385-mile route covers all types of roads, from motorways to rural lanes, and passes through nine checkpoints where each vehicle’s miles-per-kilowatt-hour performance is logged. It includes an overnight stop in Aberystwyth before finishing at Toyota’s engine plant in Deeside, where the final efficiency results were to be declared.
As an official vehicle partner to the event, Toyota is supplying bZ4X SUVs to the organising team. It has also entered a Toyota C-HR+, crewed by economy driving expert Richard Seymour, a former member of the Toyota (GB) PR team, and content creator Rod Kirkpatrick.
Their car is a Design grade model on 18-inch wheels with a 77kWh battery. It has an official WLTP driving range of up to 377 miles and an energy consumption figure of 4.64 miles/kWh.
Emma Johnson, Toyota (GB) Director, Brand and Customer Experience, said: “The EV Rally Cymru lets us showcase our electric vehicles in real world conditions and help customers learn more about them. We know people have many questions when considering buying an EV, so this gives us another opportunity to show them all the details and demonstrate key points such as how easy the charging process is.”
She added: “We are also keen to increase awareness of our multipath approach to powertrain technology. Toyota believes that not one single powertrain can be the right solution for every customer but that hybrids, plug-in hybrids, EVs and hydrogen all can play their part in carbon reduction.”
Toyota currently has 10 EVs in its UK model range, including cars, vans, people carriers and the newly launched Hilux BEV pick-up. Its Deeside engine plant in North Wales has recently become the first Toyota manufacturing centre in Europe to start carbon-neutral production.
The teams’ progress is being shared on social media using the hashtags #evrally, #cymru and #collaboration.
