After an absence of two years due to the pandemic, the EcoRun is back for 2022, organized once again by AJAC. Here is the first part of our four-chapter report.
See also: AJAC's EcoRun: A Welcome Return in 2022, Part 2
See also: AJAC's EcoRun: A Welcome Return in 2022, Part 3
See also: AJAC's EcoRun: A Welcome Return in 2022, Part 4
Ten years ago, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) created an automobile event for its members to familiarize themselves with all sorts of alternatives to traditional gas-fed automobiles. Thus was born the EcoRun and several car manufacturers decided to participate.
The first EcoRun took place between the cities of Brighton and London, Ontario (a nod to the annual London-to-Brighton vintage car rally that has been held annually in England since the turn of the last century). There were hybrid-electric cars, diesel-powered vans and sports cars, and all kinds of vehicles with all kinds of propulsion, even hydrogen.
There were also electric cars at this first event in 2012, of course. But none of them could do more than a hundred km on a charge! What's more, there were no charging stations at all the rally points. To handle that issue, AJAC brought an electric generator powered by... a diesel engine, and installed on a trailer pulled by ... a big pickup!
But that was in 2012. The EcoRuns succeeded one another and evolved. More recently, AJAC has not been able to put together an EcoRun as such for the last two years because of the pandemic. The association did create a special format involving evaluations by participating members. That was great as far as it went, but it wasn’t quite the same as meeting in a group.
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The return of the EcoRun
Come 2022 and with it, the easing of health restrictions. AJAC, led by President Stephanie Wallcraft and assisted by Administrator Cindy Hawryluk and Director Matthew Guy, decided to revive the EcoRun. The event was recently held in the Toronto area with a dozen invited AJAC members; this time the vehicles involved were hybrid electric or all-electric cars and SUVs.
And of course, in 2022 the conditions were far more favourable for electric-only vehicles than in those early years. Especially in the infrastructure-rich Toronto area. Five manufacturers accepted AJAC's invitation to take part: Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis and Volvo. There were 11 vehicles on the program:
- Toyota Sienna (hybrid) - Our Auto123 review
- Toyota RAV4 Prime (plug-in hybrid) - Our Auto123 review
- Lexus NX 350h (hybrid)
- Lexus NX 450h (hybrid) - Our Auto123 review
- Kia Sportage (plug-in hybrid)
- Kia EV6 (electric) - Our Auto123 review
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 (electric) - Our Auto123 review
- Genesis GV60 (electric) - Our Auto123 review
- Genesis G80 (new variant)
- Volvo C40 (electric)
- Volvo XC90 (plug-in hybrid) - Our Auto123 review
In this choice of vehicles, there is a certain homogeneity. All of them could accommodate four or more occupants and all of them were family-friendly vehicles. Meaning, no sports cars or pickup trucks.
For the invited participants, the task at hand was: to drive these vehicles on a route that would take us from the Toronto area to Collinwood and then Tobermory on the Georgian Bay shore.
The second day, we were to take a large ferry to Manitoulin Island followed by a drive to Sudbury where an environmental conference was being held before heading to the resort town of Deerhurst.
The final day would take us from Deerhurst to Vaughn, just outside of downtown Toronto. In all, the trip totaled almost 1,000 km.
Note that this was not a competition, nor a race. Oh, there was a friendly little contest between the participants to see who would get the most out of their vehicles (with the least energy use), as compiled by the display of their energy-use data on the dashboard. In the event, Maritimer journalist Evan Williams won the "green shirt" for the most energy-efficient driving.
However, this event was held primarily to allow AJAC journalists to learn more about the most energy-efficient vehicles on the market so that they could share their findings with readers and viewers.
It’s worth noting that the route chosen by the organizers of the EcoRun was on fairly flat terrain with little or no mountainous area. The idea was also to ride within the speed limits of the various regions without resorting to tricks like drafting (i.e., following a heavy truck closely to take advantage of its aerodynamic pull). The technicians assisting the event took note of the energy output of each participant at the end of each stage.
Tomorrow, the second part of our account of the 2022 EcoRun organized by AJAC.
