Exactly 11 km after
crossing Nicaragua – Costa Rica border, the Fiat Palio
Weekend Elétrico of the Zero Emission Project completed
the first 10,000 km of the 25,000 km expedition that is
taking it through 15 countries in 120 days.
After seven months spent
preparing in the United States, the electric-powered
Fiat Palio Weekend arrived in Mexico, via the border
crossing located north of Tijuana. The chosen route,
southward, was through lower California. Good and bad
road surfaces were intermittently mixed on this route,
the 1,544 km to La Paz, where the vehicle embarked on a
ship to take it and the expedition team to Mazatlán on
the Mexican mainland. 4,220 km were the notched up as
the team crossed through Mexico. The Palio Weekend, with
a platform and suspension system that was designed
primarily for the Brazilian terrain, is a vehicle was
perfectly at ease in the conditions of Mexico and
Central America.
Crossing
Central America
After Mexico, the
expedition cut through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador,
Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The route so far has gone just
as expected and within the time allocations estimated by
the expedition team. The plan had been to drive a
distance of 300 km every 27 hours. The team reports that
wherever it goes the Palio Weekend Elétrico causes a
sensation among the people that see it. Not a rare car
in itself, however crowds build up around it when the
expedition stops as it is probably the very first
electric-powered family vehicle to have crossed through
these nations.
After running 10,000
km so far, the team reports that the Palio Weekend
Elétrico still offers the same performance levels as it
did when it was brand new. Always reaching battery load
levels in the forecasted time, the car runs with no
surprises. Average speed on the road sections has been
68 km/h. Maximum speed reached was 131 km/h during the
test phases along Interstate 15 in California, while the
lowest speed was 6 km/h when the team left San Salvador,
in El Salvador.
Leaving Costa Rica,
the Palio Weekend Elétrico will now cut through to
Panama. As there is no road connecting Central to South
America in the present day, the zero-emission vehicle
will embark in a ship at Cristoban Colón port, in
Panama, to travel to Cartagena de Indias, in Colombia.
