Annual U.K. Fuel Efficiency Competition Electrified

Electric vehicles will appear for the first time in this year’s MPG Marathon and its U.K. organizers say drivers will have to carefully plan their recharging points.

The 360-mile (580-km) event aims to show how both car and driver can make a major difference in fuel costs and emissions. The Oct. 8-9 event, now in its 14th year, pits teams of contestants pushing for the best fuel economy.

Competitors find their own route between a series of fixed points. The cars will be fitted with tracking equipment, so organizers know exactly where each car has been and how far it has traveled.

All-electrics are debuting alongside extended-range EVs and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles in the event organized by Fleet World magazine, which caters to U.K. fleet managers.

The three new vehicle classes are joining conventional diesel- and gasoline-powered cars and vans that traditionally take part in the event, which this year is being held 80 miles (128 km) west of London in the Cotswolds and the rugged Brecon Beacons mountain region.

In all, there are eight main classes of car categories and five classes of light-commercial vehicles.

Several EV entries already have been received. Fleet World motoring editor Alex Grant has entered an all-electric Renault Zoe, while a team from leasing company ALD Automotive will compete in an all-electric Nissan Leaf.

They will have to make the best possible use of the recharging network housed at service stations on the route and will be judged on how much power they consume over the course.

Event organizer Ross Durkin says the EVs, EREVs and PHEVs will compete in their own class alongside the more-conventional but increasingly fuel-efficient internal-combustion-engine models.

“As we cannot measure the (fuel efficiency) of the electric vehicles in the conventional way, we have devised a method of measuring the energy they consume in completing the course, based on a notional value of 13 pence ($0.22) per kilowatt hour for electricity used,” Durkin says in a statement.

Organizers also will measure the carbon fuels used by any vehicles that cannot complete the course without relying on their conventional engines.

“Drivers will have to plan their recharging stops very carefully and at pre-identified recharging points to ensure they keep their EVs as fully charged as is practically possible,” Durkin says. “In doing so, they will be replicating the real-life driving conditions that the growing number of fleet drivers who use EVs encounter every working day.”