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How far would you try and drive in an electric car? Dublin to Cork? West Cork? Up to Donegal, maybe? How about all the way to Ouarzazate in Morocco, going via Edinburgh to visit some family? Well, that's exactly what Galwayman Grattan Healy and his partner Simona done with their Tesla Model S (which in fairness has one of the longest one-charge ranges of any electric car). There and back again on electrons only.
"We live between Dublin and Galway" Grattan told us. "I'm one of the lucky few who already has a Model S here in Ireland. It's a great car with extensive range that enables me to charge at home in Galway, drive around all day, regularly crossing the country, and even then only charging here and there. Travelling around Ireland is really convenient and given the public charging infrastructure, driving an EV is made so easy. The ease of living with a Model S led me to consider what might be possible further afield."
Grattan had previously driven down as far as Marrakech in an Audi, but reckoned that with the right adaptors for plugs etc. the Model S would be able to get even further south, and his reasoning was that any country has more plugs than it does petrol stations so why not..?
"We started our journey to County Cavan and travelled to Belfast, and then onto Edinburgh to visit family in advance of the trip. We chose the route down through the UK, onto the Chunnel, through central France and the East coast of Spain, based on the extensive network of Tesla superchargers there, which is continually growing. Indeed the Cullar station near Granada was opened not long before our trip, getting us almost within reach of the ferries from Algeciras or Tarifa. We also charged up on the Tesla Destination Chargers located at the fine Vincci Hotels in both Malaga and Marbella.
"Our route took us through Tangier, where charging the Model S at Hotel MInzah allowed Simona and I the opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds that Tangier has to offer. We then continued on to Casablanca for our next stop, ahead of arriving at Marrakech, with more than 'half-a-tank'. The Movenpick Hotel in Marrakech has a commando socket set up, and the hotel very kindly arranged an adaptor for us. "
So having enjoyed a few days in Marrakech and filled our tank to the brim, as it were, we headed for the High Atlas. We crawled along to the foothills and then up the twisting road to the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, which is around half-way to Ouarzazate."
Even crossing the towering Atlas mountains left 60 per cent charge in the Tesla's battery, so getting to the Berbere Palace Hotel in Ouarzazate was a doddle. "The Hotel staff in Ouarzazate were more than a little surprised to learn that we had just crossed the High Atlas in an electric vehicle. None of them had ever seen one, so they all came out to examine it, sit in it and have their picture taken. The reception manager even claimed that our car was the first electric vehicle in Ouarzazate! This made us wonder if what we doing was too brave, but we were confident it would work out. We could of course charge the car at pretty much any building with a standard socket if the worst came to the worst. The Hotel's technicians got straight to work and within an hour, we had a temporary Schuko socket in the parking area to charge with. That enabled us to explore the wonderful Dades and Draa valleys over the following two days."
All in, the Model S covered 9,500km "at minimal cost" as Grattan puts it, and might just be the first electric car to cross the high Atlas passes. Think on that next time someone tells you you can't drive an electric car anywhere.