The first expedition of electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles

November 3, 2018

750 km is the distance traveled by the 9 electric, plug-in and hybrid cars participating at Moldova Hybrid Electro Marathon. Expedition members have lived a unique premier experience of driving environmentally friendly cars on large distances. Various car brands and models roamed Moldova for five days, crossing the cities of Chisinau, Orhei, Soroca, Drochia, Balti and Ungheni.

On the last day of the marathon, the participating cars returned to Chisinau and lined up in Piata Marii Adunari Nationale for all those willing to know about the electromobiles for real and to find out about cars’ consumption figures and technical performance from the first source.

“The marathon demonstrated the performance of participating cars. All the cars behaved the right way. Currently, in the absence of the electric vehicle charging stations on national routes, we charged our cars at the gas stations, restaurants, and hotels. Stronger power networks, grounding and generous people have helped us meet the challenges and reach the final destination”, says Ilie Toma, organizer and expedition participant.

Currently, in Republic of Moldova there are registered 54 totally electric cars and only 5 charging stations, all of them in Chisinau. “The demand for electric cars is getting higher every year and there is a need to develop the charging infrastructure of zero emissions vehicles. We are very pleased to say that thanks to the partnership between the United Nations Development Programme and the Energy Efficiency Fund, we will be installing 14 electrical charging stations on the main roads across the country in the coming months. This incipient network will allow increased electric mobility in major cities, and it will create an electric corridor between Romania and Ukraine. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a journey that will see the number of electrical vehicles in the country increase dramatically and contributing to promote a clean, green and sustainable development path for Moldova”, says Stefan Liller, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Moldova.

14% from the total greenhouse gas emissions in Republic of Moldova is in the transport sector. The cars participating in marathon had a positive impact on the environment by reducing CO2 emissions by 1.2 tons. For comparison, this amount of CO2 can be assimilated by 400 trees in 1 year.

Anatol Untura is one of the marathon’s crew members. During the five-day expedition, he tested the driving of each participating car. “The electric vehicles are closer than we think to the traditional ones – in driving sensations and the way you can exploit them – the difference being only in the need of a more special planning of long journeys. At a smaller distance exploitation, however, sacrifices will be much lower than the benefits you get in return. And in the case of relatively small distances of Moldova, the electromobiles are even more attractive. We are convinced that a network of accordingly specialized sockets will greatly simplify their exploitation and boost the significant increase in their number”, says Anatol.

The Sustainable Green Cities Project, with five-year duration: 2018-2022, has a total budget of $ 2.6 million provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and co-funded by UNDP with $ 80,000.

The marathon is organized in partnership with PiaţaMuto.md, Orange Moldova, Mastercard and EWA Motors.

The first expedition of electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles