Electric car racks up the miles and JoGLE first

The Tesla Roadster at Ackergill Tower, where it charged up for the first leg of the trip from John O’Groats.

THE first-ever drive from John O’Groats to Land’s End in an electric car came to a successful end on Sunday (May 22).

The historic drive by the Tesla Roadster, the first ever attempted by an electric car using publicly accessible charging points, was undertaken by Kevin Sharpe, founder of the charity Zero Carbon World, and electric car enthusiast David Peilow.

Both men have been instrumental in building nationwide charging networks. Kevin Sharpe’s charity, Zero Carbon World, has been building a network of freely accessible charging points across the UK that can be used by all electric car owners. David Peilow is the man behind the Tesla UK-wide HPC charging network.

The trip was conceived to show that it is possible to make long journeys with an electric car.

"I’m thrilled to be the first electric car driver to make the historic drive from John O’Groats to Land’s End," said Mr Sharpe.

The drive began on Saturday morning at John O’Groats, after the team had spent Friday night at Ackergill Tower, just outside Wick, where they used the castle’s charging point – the farthest north in the UK.

The pair completed the journey in 36 hours.