Institut Metron Sets EV World Record For Range In Europe

Feature article

Glonn / Bled – 10/13/2014
DSCN6945On the evening of October 10, the recently opened Triglav Information Center fills in Bled – one of currently twenty-nine locations in the Alps, who have dedicated themselves to the gentle, sustainable tourism and are united in the network of the so-called Alpine Pearls.

After being greeted by Mayor Janez Fajfar the audience eagerly follows the stories of four men sitting on the podium. They all have one thing in common; they pursue their work with a sustainable approach.

Japec Jakopin from Seaways developed the Green Line yachts to foster environmental awareness at sea. When designing the hull low energy consumption was a main focus. The yachts have a diesel-hybrid drive to enable electric sailing, and the battery can be charged via solar panels on the roof. Igor Kolovraty is the organizer of the five-day Nikola Tesla EV Rally, which will take place in 2015 in early June for the second time in his home country Croatia. With the rally he pays respect to the much admired inventor. Martin Koller from Trixy Aviation develops unusual vehicles like his Trixyformer for the future of individual mobility. Andrej Pečjak and his wife Jasna lead a company located near Bled that is completely dedicated to environmentally friendly mobility. Institute Metron turns existing vehicles into electric cars and also provides training to do so. In addition they build charging stations or range extending battery solutions and organize Slovenia’s largest yearly conference on electric mobility.

For Andrei and Jasna Pečjak this is a special evening as they will conduct a world record attempt the next day with their latest electric vehicle Metron 7, a converted Mazda 5.

Book Cover Project Black HungarianMetron-7 holds another surprise for the audience, because the vehicle provided the basis for an electric car, which together with its creators plays a leading role in the spy novel “Project Black Hungarian”. The novel is based on the events of the world’s largest electric car rally WAVE in 2013, which made a stop in Bled. In addition to the extraordinary beauty and friendliness of the people in this part of the Alpine Pearls it was also the commitment to preserve nature and foster sustainable mobility why Bled and the Garden Village Resort were chosen by the publisher as an important location within the story.

An amused murmur goes through the crowd as the publisher notes with a wink that the authors and MacRoslin York envisioned Janez Fajfar and Eva Štravs to be secret agents. Perhaps the true reason why the director of the Tourism Office of Bled decided to accompany the Metron team on their journey was to protect their vehicle from further spies. Officially, she takes the ride as an opportunity to pay the twin city of Dubrovnik their annual visit.

On Saturday the 11th of October at 8.30am, the team from Institute Metron starts from Bled to Dubrovnik on Croatia’s Mediterranean coast. Alongside Eva Štravs, they are accompanied by Igor Kolovrat, who travels in the Plug-in Hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander. Both are responsible for the organization of the record-breaking drive in Slovenia and Slovakia, respectively. A film and media team comes along as well.

The drive takes the small convoy across Slovenia to the Adriatic coast and the picturesque country roads along the sea. The route presents with more than 5000 meters difference in elevation some challenges for driver and navigator of Metron7. In the evening, the group reaches Stari Grad, where they spend the night, but without recharging the battery of the vehicle. This is ensured by sealing the charging socket of the car. The battery charge state shows 51% of its capacity and average driving speed during the day was 66km per hour. Andrei and Jasna know that it will be tight the next day because despite the hilly landscape they want to drive with a normal speed and not be an insidious obstacle to other drivers.
But they start confident on October 12th on the second and final leg of their record attempt that takes them to their destination via Split. Dubrovnik welcomes the group in the afternoon in bright sunshine. The team from Institute Metron passes relieved and happy through the archway to the destination with 2% capacity left in the battery. It’s done! Andrei and Jasna Pečjak covered a total of 726km at an average speed of 65km per hour on a single charge, thus have set a new record.

With total capacity of 98kWh, consisting of seven units with a total of 240Ah powerful lithium polymer cells plus a 12kWh battery as electric range extender, the vehicle with a weight of less than 1.8 tons showed an average consumption of some 13kWh/100km. At German electricity prices (0.30 € / kWh) the drive would have cost over 29 euro, in Slovenia (0.09 € / kWh), however, it was only 9 €. Since Andrej Pečjak recharges their cars via the in-house solar system, the ride was almost for free.

The value of the world record which he set up thanks to the high average speed of 65km/h – compared to previous records with average speeds of 29km/h or 40km/h – is priceless.

Author
AuthorBritta Muzyk
2023-06-22T12:16:41+01:00

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