Charge Around The Globe (Americas)
Lexie Alford and Ford Explorer head into the fifth continent of their epic journey.
This stage of the journey will see Lexie and the Ford Explorer travel the Americas
Starting in Santiago, Chile...
...they will travel through the Atacama Desert...
...before heading to Buenos Ares, Argentina
The adventure then moves to North America and Los Angeles.
The charge from west to east will stop at Colorado Springs...
...then on to New York via Ford's hometown of Detroit, before heading back to Europe
Chile
Asia had been a vibrant and colourful adventure, now Lexie and the Ford Explorer head into the fifth continent of the journey with a very different prospect looming large; Chile’s arid Atacama Desert. The desert is the driest nonpolar desert on the planet and has been an experimentation site for Mars expedition simulations due to its similarities with the Martian environment.
Leaving the bustling city of Santiago, the striking beauty of the surrounding mountains immediately hits, as does a sense of anxiety about the lack of charging infrastructure in the almost 500 kilometres journey ahead to La Serena. Keeping an eye on the Explorer’s range, the loss in kilometres on the steep inclines is concerning, yet regaining kilometres on the descents gives Lexie some reassurance.
The journey from La Serena the next day to Copiapo is even more challenging, with no charging infrastructure enroute and the Explorer’s range indicator providing only a 30-40 kilometres safety net. This is the smallest buffer Lexie has had to deal with in possibly the worst environment, where a breakdown would leave her stranded in a hot desert with no shade. And an attempt at lunchtime to extend her range with a portable battery unit that has been charged through solar panels only adds 2-3 kilometres after almost 40 minutes.
Fortunately, the Explorer and Lexie make it with a mixture of careful driving, sparing use of electrics and making the most of descents for regeneration. The following day, Lexie decides it’s time for some fun and meets up with champion sandboarder, Constanza Albayay. Constanze fell in love with snowboarding while studying in the United States, so decided to replace snow with the sand dunes of Chile when she returned home. She gave Lexie a quick lesson and talked about how she has a goal of making it an Olympic sport, before Lexie was brushing herself down and heading back on the road.
In Taltal, further north, Lexie faced a major charging dilemma. The domestic charger she was using for the Explorer had a varying charging output with a potential 20-hour charge turning into what could be a 66-hour wait. With a tight schedule that was a delay that could create a scheduling nightmare, so a new compromised route that reduced the kilometres driven and time driving by two hours was taken. The situation highlighted not only some of the charging challenges but also the precision needed in a journey like this and how the ability to adapt and persevere are crucial.
By the time she was leaving San Pedro de Atacama, a popular hub for people exploring the Atacama Desert, Lexie and the Explorer had overcome what was possibly the toughest leg of the journey yet. Anxiety at the beginning of the journey has turned to confidence in being able to navigate challenging terrains and slow charging times in the Explorer. And with her fastest border crossing so far as she entered Argentina, the road to Buenos Aires can be viewed with renewed positivity.
Argentina
After the spectacular arid landscapes of Chile and the charging issues Lexie encountered there, Argentina was expected to provide some relief. The fascinating landscape continues across the border with a stunning location for her check in with the RecordSetter yellow jacket, before the Explorer is pointed towards San Miguel de Tucuman and onwards to the town of Loreto. And it’s clearn that her troubles aren’t over yet.
A lack of charging infrastructure there means further reliance on domestic charging, which is naturally much slower. Lexie makes the strategic decision to stay in the agricultural town for an extra day to ensure she has maximum battery charge for the next 377 kilometres leg to Cordoba. It’s a chance for a breather in what’s proving to be a tiring continent in this epic around the world adventure.
Two days later she’s on the road again and her journey through Cordoba and down to Buenos Aires highlights the duality of her trip so far. Argentina is green and verdant but the roads she travels are often monotonous with little variation in landscape, where the solitude and repetition she experiences are in stark contrast to the many vibrant encounters she’s had so far.
A big change of scenery arrives on the outskirts of Buenos Aires where our colleagues from the Ford Pacheo Plant, which has been producing iconic Ford models since 1960, welcome Lexie and the Explorer. This becomes a hive of activity as employees and local media try to find out all about her journey so far in a special reception.
As she arrives in the bustling capital city of Argentina it’s a milestone that the driving and charging challenges experienced in South America have been overcome and also that 74 per cent of her total journey is now done. Next up is Lexie’s home country, the United States of America, where her exploration of the familiar may just be viewed with a new perspective after her recent adventures across the globe. And charging the Explorer should hopefully be much more straight forward.
USA
After Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia and South America, Lexie is into her sixth continent and finally back on her home soil of the United States of America. From the familiarity of Los Angeles, where Lexie worked as an airport chauffeur when she was still a teenager, she points the Explorer towards the glitz of Las Vegas, passing iconic scenery along the way.
While the comfort of familiarity and excitement of exploring more of her home country are setting up the US leg to be a memorable one, there are also the challenges of ice-cold conditions and huge climbs into mountains ahead to contend with. There’s also an unexpected challenge. The unmodified pre-production Ford Explorer is unable to DC fast charge properly on the whole of the US network, meaning charges that should have taken around 30 minutes end up being several hours on AC charging.
The delays caused by longer charging slow her journey down and add another element of concern as she travels onwards, following the Colorado river and into the Rocky Mountains where the cold weather and icy road conditions need careful navigation. Fortunately, the Explorer’s range remains good and with the availability of hot coffee along the way a sense of optimism returns.
From Colorado Springs, the journey heads north-east towards Ogallala and Lexie has the opportunity to meet the Roberts sisters, Savannah and Aleeyah, who are renowned for their achievements in rodeo. Swapping car seat for saddle, Lexie learns about the extraordinary dedication, the role of family and the values of respect, accountability and community that are core to the sisters’ love of the sport. Although it becomes clear that for the pair of them, it’s more than a sport, it’s a lifestyle.
With the charging issue fixed thanks to Ford experts, DC charging is now possible and gets the journey back up to speed again as the Explorer heads onto flatter ground, crossing state boarders on a nearly daily basis. Past swathes of cattle farms, Lexie reaches Iowa City giving her a taste of city life which only serves to ramp up the excitement about the next stop, Chicago.
Despite growing up in the countryside, Lexie is always excited about the vibrancy and diversity of cities and Chicago is one city she has never visited before. But there are mixed feelings as Chicago also signifies that the end of the USA leg is near, and soon she’ll return to Europe for the final stretch of her epic journey around the world.
Chicago to NYC
One of the great things about travelling the globe is trying out the many different foods, and as Chicago is famous for its deep dish pizza Lexie wasted no time in trying it out. Was it as good as the pizza she had near the beginning of this world trip in Naples, Italy though? It was certainly better than the tarantula she ate in Cambodia.
Chicago comes and goes all too soon, with Lexie keen to head back to the Windy City to explore more in the future. For now, a 480 km journey awaits the Explorer as they point east to the hometown of Ford, Detroit. Detroit is famous for its strong automotive history, hence its nickname of Motor City, but it’s a different type of garage that gets her attention. The Detroit Body Garage in east Detroit is a garage and car showroom that has now been converted into a community gym where founder Terra welcomes Lexie for a look around and a chance to have a workout.
Terra, a former triathlete, traded her car for a van to offer pop-up gyms when she was in her forties before establishing the permanent gym in the former garage, a deliberately symbolic location to reflect Detroit’s automotive history. The transformation also aims to brighten perceptions of Detroit and uplift the community. Lexie learns that it’s not just a space that offers welcoming class training to the community though. Activities like community gardens for kids and puppy classes all help with Terra’s ambition of fostering an ever stronger community spirit amongst residents.
Leaving Detroit, Lexie and the Explorer travel through Pittsburgh and onwards to New York City. Reaching Liberty State Park, the iconic New York skyline in the distance symbolizes the end of her coast-to-coast journey across the United States and, for Lexie, a new appreciation for the diversity of landscapes, weather and cities of her home country. Next up is the final leg of this epic challenge in northern Europe, with the finish line in Nice on March 26th the ultimate destination. But before she leaves there’s still time to try a slice of New York pizza… and, according to Lexie, it ranks as the second best pizza of her global journey so far.
To be continued...
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