More than 13,500km on board 4 vehicles with photovoltaic panels.

This is the challenge of Citroën together with Éric Vogouroux, former Dakkar Rally driver and current promoter of sustainable travel around the world. This exciting journey demonstrates the imminent effectiveness of technological advances applied to reliable, clean mobility capable of covering ever greater distances.

It is a 13,500km expedition from north to south of the African continent to demonstrate the potential of compact light electric vehicles. Each one will carry 5,600 W of solar panels that will be installed along the way for static charging.

The team will set off in October, one hundred years after the historic African continental expeditions in which Citroën vehicles also participated. It will travel from Paris to Marseille and then cross Morocco heading south, bound for Cape Town in South Africa. The plan is to drive at an average speed of 45 km/h, covering 200 km a day in two shifts, one starting early in the morning and the other in the afternoon with battery charging sessions during peak sunlight hours. “The Citroën AMI fleet will be equipped with a solar panel on the roof, but static charging is the main source of power,” explained van Pel. W of solar panels in portable multi-panel packs that unfold like mounting racks. “All the panels combined generate 22 kW of photovoltaic capacity. They are ultra-thin, lightweight, custom-designed modules, made with monocrystalline interdigitated back-ends. The racks are made of PET foam coated with fiberglass and with latitude shifts. The expedition will leave this autumn and arrive in the southern African countries in the summer.

For inverter functionality, a simple MPPT with commercially available equipment was sufficient. According to van Pel, the 48 V battery charging electronics are typical of a very small photovoltaic system that integrates a higher voltage capacity.

At Mondragon Assembly, we are committed to offering the next generations technological advances that guarantee a future where the production of renewable energy is the basis of sustainable development.