After an absence of two years due to the pandemic, the EcoRun is back for 2022, organized once again by AJAC. Here is the conclusion of our four-chapter report.
See also: AJAC's EcoRun: A Welcome Return in 2022, Part 1
See also: AJAC's EcoRun: a Welcome Return in 2022, Part 2
See also: AJAC's EcoRun: A Welcome Return in 2022, Part 3
Day Three
After an overnight stay at the popular Deerhurst Resort in the Muskoka region, our group took the road again, our destination this time the city of Vaughn in the Toronto suburbs. The organizers gave me the Kia EV6, which is essentially nothing more or less than a twin of the Ioniq 5 (but which I found more comfortable).
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This crossover (given to me with 78-percent charged, which offered me a range of 364 km) is also an electric car with two motors and an output of 320 hp. I did a little better with the EV6 than with its close cousin with an energy usage of 19.2 kWh/100 km. However, my trip was only on the highway. The car was running on Continental CrossContact tires.
Finally, the last EV I got to drive during the EcoRide was Volvo's intriguing C40 Recharge coupe. I say intriguing because its four-door coupe styling is a bit out of place in its segment. But there’s also the fact that there's no ignition key or manual override to start the vehicle. Once you're behind the wheel (with the fob key in your pocket), all you have to do is shift into gear to “activate” the Volvo coupe.
The C40 is powered by two electric motors (one front, one rear) that together produce 402 hp. I only had occasion to drive the vehicle on the highway, and after about 50 km, the onboard computer gave me an energy usage reading of 20.9 kWh.
Unfortunately, there were two models I missed out: the Lexus NX 450h or the Toyota RAV4 Prime. Those will be for another time, but in the meantime I didn't feel like I’d wasted my time with this experience. Unlike past events, this time the EcoRide technical team always had easily accessible places they could direct us to to charge the vehicles. Plus, I took so many notes that I feel better prepared than ever to answer readers' questions about electric vehicles.
Eventually, I hope to be able to participate in an event of this kind devoted to electric pickups, several o which are getting readied for their commercial debuts in the coming months. I hope that AJAC will take my suggestion to choose only light-duty trucks into consideration for their next EcoRide ... and that I can participate!