A team of drivers from veterans’ charity, Mission Motorsport has driven a standard Renault ZOE on ENSO EV-specific tyres over 475 miles on a single charge, smashing the previous record. Taking more than 24 hours, it was both a feat of patience and also served to demonstrate the benefits of picking the right tyres!

The team from Mission Motorsport actually undertook this particular motorsport mission in two identical Renault ZOEs – one fitted with ENSO’s EV tyres and one fitted with standard OEM-supplied tyres. Thruxton was the chosen location, picked due to its open and flowing corners which would allow the team to maintain a consistent speed throughout the test.

Not that the team – consisting of veterans, the spouse of a serving soldier and a hypermiling expert – would need to brake at any point, given that the optimum speed for maximising the ZOE’s range was 19mph.

“Thruxton was the obvious choice for this record attempt, but despite being the UK’s fastest track, the key to hitting 475.4 miles was finding the optimum speed and smooth consistent driving,” said James Cameron, CEO of Mission Motorsport.

You wouldn’t think that Renault ZOE hypermiling was a bit of a sport in its own right, but a precedent was set in 2018 when a French team drove a standard car 351 miles on a single charge, achieving 7.9 miles per kilowatt hour. Given that the ZOE’s WLTP range is 245 miles, the French team had set a big target.

However, Mission Motorsport didn’t just beat the record; they smashed it, achieving 475.4 miles on a single charge with the car equipped with ENSO’s EV tyres, meaning a staggering efficiency of 9.14 miles per kilowatt hour. In comparison, the identical ZOE on OEM tyres ran out of juice at 424.7 miles – 11.27 per cent fewer miles than the ENSO-equipped car – which is still impressive, but also a demonstration of just how important tyres are for efficiency.

“This new world record proves that our ultra-energy efficient EV tyres have a huge role to play in extending electric driving range and addressing range anxiety. By delivering ultra-low energy consumption per mile, our EV tyres not only save cost and electricity, but allow us to dramatically extend EV-range, moving the tyre industry truly into the electric age,” Gunnlaugur Erlendsson, ENSO CEO, said.

What can we learn from this?

Obviously, we’ve learned that the Renault ZOE can do 475 miles on a single charge if the conditions are right and you drive at an average of 19mph. However, given the chances of that happening are effectively zero, the real-world learnings are more around the benefits of EVs in low-speed, urban settings and the importance of choosing the right tyres.

That 19mph efficiency sweet spot is fairly typical of the kind of speed a driver might do in a city or the increasing number of 20mph zones around towns and villages, so it’s good to know that this is where EVs excel. Similarly, ENSO’s EV tyres increasing the range by over 11 per cent demonstrate that it’s worth budgeting for better rubber when the time comes.

If you want to learn more about the importance of tyres for EVs, click here to read our feature.