Easee and Renault have announced the successful completion of the Easee Sun Run, the first fully solar-powered drive from Land’s End to John O’Groats in a production electric vehicle.
Timed to take advantage of the longest days of the year, the five-day, 1,000-mile journey saw a Renault 4 E-Tech electric plein sud™ techno+ travel north across Britain using energy generated entirely by the sun.
No grid electricity was used during the record-setting trip. Instead, the Renault was charged through a three-phase Easee Charge Pro EV charger linked to a mix of established solar arrays and portable battery storage units charged by solar power along the route.
By combining renewable generation, mobile energy storage, smart EV charging and a standard production electric vehicle, the Easee Sun Run showed what is already possible when clean-energy technologies work together to support truly sustainable mobility.
The Renault 4 E-Tech electric plein sud™ techno+ was a fitting choice for the challenge. Its name translates as “due south,” the ideal direction for solar panels in the northern hemisphere to capture the sun’s energy.
The all-electric Renault 4 features a 52kWh battery, a 150hp powertrain and a driving range of up to 242 miles under the WLTP combined cycle. The plein sud™ version also includes an electrically operated canvas sunroof, echoing the open-air feel of earlier Renault 4 models.
At the start of the journey near Land’s End, the Renault 4 plein sud™ and one of the larger portable storage units were charged entirely with solar energy before setting off north. As the car moved through Britain, energy came from a carefully coordinated network of solar installations and pre-charged mobile battery units.
Rather than focusing only on the finish line, the Easee Sun Run also highlighted the people and projects helping to shape the UK’s solar energy landscape.
Along the way, the team marked the summer solstice near Stonehenge and stopped at the UK’s first commercial solar farm in Chard, Somerset. The journey also featured a rural Derbyshire cricket club that has been transformed into a community hub with the help of an off-grid solar system.
The route continued to Swansea University in Wales, where researchers are developing flexible, rollable solar materials, before shining a light on Durham University’s work on an ultra-efficient vehicle capable of running on energy generated directly from the sun.
In Scotland, an striking solar pyramid south of Edinburgh hosted the expedition and showed how far photovoltaic technology has advanced. The journey then moved north to the remote coastline of Dunrobin, where residents are using renewable solar generation and battery storage to support off-grid homes and businesses in the grounds of Dunrobin Castle.
Together, these stories showed the many ways solar energy is helping power homes, local communities, commercial fleets, scientific research and long-distance electric travel.
Easee’s smart charging technology is designed to work with renewable-energy systems by adjusting vehicle charging to the power available. Its solar charging ecosystem can monitor energy production and adapt charging accordingly, helping drivers make better use of locally generated renewable electricity.
The Easee Sun Run builds on the company’s earlier solar charging project in Canada’s Northwest Territories. That pilot, carried out in harsh sub-Arctic winter conditions, showed how portable solar generation, battery storage and smart charging can support electric mobility even beyond conventional grid infrastructure.
By completing the full Land’s End to John O’Groats journey, Easee and Renault have now demonstrated the same principle on a longer, real-world drive in a standard production vehicle, showing how clean electricity can be used more effectively whenever and wherever it is available.
Leadership Comment
Anthony Fernandez, CEO of Easee, said: “The Easee Sun Run goes a long way to showing what clean mobility is capable of today. In connecting electric vehicles, renewable generation and energy storage into one flexible ecosystem that works together efficiently, clean transport can become more resilient and more accessible.
“Many of the technologies needed to deliver that are already here, and they’re in action today – from intelligent home charging to scalable, business-ready solutions that help fleets make the switch. The journey we’ve just completed may be poetic, but it’s squarely grounded in the reality of smart, clean technology available to consumers and businesses now.”
A film telling the story of the journey, and the people who came together to make it happen, can be viewed here.
