When winners are named, there are inevitably losers too. The participants of the e-miglia 2011, however, think differently. They’re all winners because they were able to reach the goals they had set for themselves as well as the final destination.
Experiences and insights were gained that will benefit the further development of e-mobility. That was the ultimate goal of the e-miglia partners Allianz Versicherungs-AG and TÜV SÜD AG; both companies entered vehicles to gather knowledge. Allianz already insures a good portion of the registered vehicles today and the TÜV SÜD performs various safety tests and develops additional testing procedures for the industry as well as for private customers.
The deserving and expected winner of the e-miglia 2011 is Tim Ruhoff of Team Energiebau in the Tesla. He mastered every stage of the event as the best and so gained the victory and the prize money of €5.000,00. He has now participated twice and won twice, both times in a Tesla. Tim Ruhoff loves and lives for the topic e-mobility. Personally, he’s never owned a car and prefers to move around town on his e-bike. He realizes his vision of mobility on business: “We turn e-mobility into a marketing push for companies, that way we bring the energy turnaround to the streets.”
Second place finishers were Lars Krueger and co-pilot/inventor Christian Wenger-Rosenau. They never expected this success. Until now, the Jetcar has only been sold in a limited edition of 5 models with its pricetag of €84.000, which is not really a vehicle for the masses.
Maximum speeds of between 120km/h and 220km/h were witnessed with battery ranges of 100km to 350km from the 2-, 3- and 4-wheeled machines and from one-man power to 600 horse power. Richard Schalber, the Rally Director, was successful in creating an event that sets up a certain equal opportunity. You realize this in looking at the results of the top three: Tesla, Jetcar and Think. It was also noticeable in the many first-time participants that it was no problem to accomplish the e-miglia, provided one prepared according to the regulations. Both of the eRUF vehicles didn’t strictly adhere to the regulations though, which was primarily problematic in the charging process, since they weren’t familiar with the charging technology provided by the organizer. In addition, neither team had trained nor had any rally experience.
The final day began with rain which the photographers were actually happy about. It’s good for dramatic pictures, they believe. By the time the crews reached the finish line in the centre of St. Moritz, the Engadin sun was once again beaming through. Perhaps she needed a break since her energy had flowed into the 31 vehicles the night before. The energy city St. Moritz is committed to environmental consciousness and Clean Energy, because that is its most precious asset. The route began in St. Moritz Bad and first wound its way across the Albula Pass. The test required participants to keep an average speed of 63km/h, to manage 8.4km uphill through narrow twists in 8min. Some participants were faced with obstacles of the natural kind and lost valuable seconds: cows.
E-mobility will come. In this, politicians, as well as the industry, agree and invest millions worldwide. For now, the future of the e-miglia is looking frosty. This coming winter will see the first e-miglia “snow”, e-mobility in extremely cold conditions. According to all competitors, the e-miglia 2011 was a huge success and another milestone for electric mobility.
The final results:
1. Tim Ruhoff, Stephan Willemsen – Team Energiebau/NextGM – Tesla
2. Lars Krueger, Christian Wenger-Rosenau – Team Jetcar – Jetcar
3. Fuzzy Walter Kofler, Claudia Kofler – Team Autotest Motorsport – Think City
4. Reiner Mauch – Team Mauch – Tesla
5. Eric Comas, Peter Podhorsky – Team Green Cars Challenge – Tesla
The rally facts:
4 days, 4 countries, about 780km, 31 participants, 4 passes and the Grossglockner High Alpine Road.
