Well that was fun!! It turned out that there were actually two entirely separate EV events taking place around the NC500 last Thursday and Friday. There was the EV-Rally of Scotland and the FIA contender event for the Bridgestone ecoRally Cup. I was doing the latter event. The EV/Rally Of Scotland was a very corporate affair with teams entered by big companies/organisations. They all seemed to be using swanky BMW i5 large comfortable saloons with a variety of support vans along for the ride too. it was really a Grand Tour type of thing, just driving around the NC 500 with no timing.
The ecoRally on the other hand had 5 entrants and sadly 2 of these pulled out. So there were only three of us competing. As soon as I heard of the EV/RoS I thought, "uh oh, that's going to make charging more of a challenge". And so it proved. Yes, there are chargers around the NC500 but when you've got two EV events running simultaneously there was competition for the chargers! The other two cars on the ecoRally were a Cupra Born and a Honda N/EX. The driving was fantastic and it really is far more challenging than you might think to maintain a 35km speed through a long 30km+ Regularity Section. We were being timed to the second through these stages/sections which meant a lot of concentration required from both members of the team.
Anyway, the NC500 was magnificent. The side roads were great fun to drive, the competition was close - we finished second. I liked my MG4 a lot before the event, now I absolutely love it. Charging infrastructure could be better - but how often does the NC500 see 25 EVs rocking up at the same time?
If you've never done the NC500 because you're worried about range/charging. Don't be. Just go. The scenery (what I saw of it) is stunning, unlike anywhere else in Scotland. The only suggestion I'd make is to take a spare wheel. Getting a puncture will involve a lenghty period of time while your car is recovered and while a tyre is brought to it. The FIA Observer on the event can attest to this!
Excellent, well done. As someone just trying to get home today, and coming across someone at the head of a queue of cars, trying to decide where to go (one assumes) and doing 25mph, I have....mixed feelings about too many of these events on roads where we live, but also understand the flip side of tourism. But the big corporate things, or worse, the young men (yes, I'm aware I'm defining gender) who hire high-powered cars and think they've also paid for exclusive access to the road, and those trying to "do" the NC500 as quickly as possible, are by far worse problems to folk who live on the route. (I may have mentioned, when we had our Panda, a BMW driver who came through a passing place by 5 metres, expecting me to reverse 200+ metres to the previous passing place. I sat with folded arms until he inched back (I realised then he couldn't reverse, so obviously the fault was mine...) until I had just enough room to pass. He wound down his window, and in the greatest non-sequitor of recent years yelled "I'm in a BMW and you're only in an <EXPLETIVE> Fiat!")
But when people are clearly enjoying the landscape, and are respectful. and understanding that people live here, it's fabulous to welcome visitors.
The charger situation is a little intractable. There are chargers all around the route, for sure, but yes, by no means enough to satisfy 25 cars at a time. Some places are better served than others. One hotel in Ullapool has installed quite a number - perhaps 8 - 7kW chargers in their car park, a very forward thinking idea.
Top tip, by the way - the Highland Council are happy to charge 70p for their fats chargers managed by Chargeplace Scotland. The slow chargers ar 35p a kWHr. But if you have an Electroverse card, the cost is 62p a kWHr, though the same 35p for the slow chargers.
Very glad you had a great time. Also appropriate you came second. MG4s have no need to stand out and attract attention.
