Day 1 of the e-miglia 2011: Munich – Mittersill the hero of the day is titleholder Ruhoff

Day 1 of the e-miglia 2011: Munich – Mittersill the hero of the day is titleholder Ruhoff                   

• Rally for electric vehicles, from August 1st - 5th, 2011
• Blue skies and a beautiful route  
• First stage finish: Mittersill on August 2nd at around 5 pm at the Stadtplatz
• Biggest challenge: Grossglockner High Alpine Road on August 3rd starting at 8:30 am
• The 31 e-protagonists: C-Zero, Electric RaceAbout, eMini, E-M3, eRuf, i-Miev, iON, Jetcar, Mega Van, Nissan Leaf, Raleigh Dover, Smart, Stromos, Tesla, Think, Tazzari, Twike
• Constancy rally through four alpine countries: D-AUT-I-CH
• Equal-zero emission: 800 km from Munich, over the Grossglockner and Bolzano to St. Moritz

Experience e-mobility firsthand 

The teams and vehicles of the e-miglia 2011 present themselves on Monday, August 1st. 31 purely electrically operated vehicles together with their drivers and co-drivers faced the astonished public. Seven nations are taking part in the journey across the Alps to show the world what e-mobility is already able to achieve. 

Co-driver is recruited at the TÜV SÜD.

Unexpected and spontaneously, Peter Podhorsky from Munich landed on the co-driver's seat of the Tesla of former Formula 1 driver Erik Comas (F). Comas' original co-driver had to cancel on short-term notice for health reasons and on the morning of August 1st, Podhorsky  was actually only at the TÜV, in order to have his wife's car checked through. Two hours later, it was set: Comas had a new co-driver. 

August 2nd, 2011, 9 am sharp

The starting flag is waved by Hans-Josef Fell, member of the Federal Parliament and World Councilor for renewable energies. Tim Ruhoff, the titleholder with starting number 1 crosses the starting arch in Munich and leads the group southward. Ruhoff: "My chances are good, we've trained a lot, we have a good vehicle and we're optimally prepared." 30 more excited teams follow in 1-minute intervals. “We want adventure!", says Sabine Heiss, driver of the women's team in an eRUF Coupé with starting number 21. They're bound to get that, since they're rather rally inexperienced and arrived at the midday charging stop very late. 

Charging stop in Oberaudorf

It's done, the first excitement has abated and in conversations with the participants it quickly becomes clear, that the Olympic mindset isn't the only thing counted on here. Ralf Schollenberger of Team Allianz Autowelt (Starting no. 26): "During the first half of the day, we made two annoying beginner's mistakes which cost us a lot of penalty time. That can't happen again." The Brunnerlions (Starting no. 11) in a Peugeot iON also display ambition. Evelyn Brunner: "We're athletes and set the goal to place amongst the Top 10. We know the vehicle well, so it should be possible, but we aren't experienced rally experts. We already goofed-up today, but lots can happen until St. Moritz." 

Erik Comas, on the other hand, is a professional, who already stood high on the podium in 2010, but he too had to battle adversities: "We lost about 10 seconds when we crossed the finish-line after the special stage, because another participant was blocking our way." 

Results are eagerly anticipated 

Since the electric power consumption is a new evaluation criteria in the e-miglia 2011, the interpretation of the daily results is delayed. It's already obvious to the drivers though, that the time frame for the stages is tight and that no one can afford to dawdle. 
And the daily winner is: 
1. Tim Ruhoff, Team Energiebau/NextGM, Tesla - the titleholder 
2. Kurt Sigl, Team Bundesverband eMobilität, Tesla
3. Michael Huhn, Sonnenpflücker Racingteam, Citroen C-Zero
4. Lars Krüger, Team Jetcar, Jetcar
5. Fuzzy Walter Kofler, Team Autotest Motorsport, Think City

The facts of the 1st daily stage  

It's 189 km from Munich to Mittersill, only the cyclist Michael Buse (starting no. 8) manages it in 182 km: "I used a route planner for bicyclists, which spared me 7 km. I might have however missed a check point by doing so." he pedaled 124 km uphill and only 65 km downhill. Highest point of the route was the Thurn Pass with about 1200 m.

  ____________________________________________________________________________________

The e-miglia is the first international e-rally for electric vehicles exclusively. She originated in 2010 with the goal to demonstrate to the world the efficiency and attractiveness of e-mobility in an exciting as well as emotional environment. The e-miglia is an initiative of the Rebel Group and the Schalber Event GmbH.

In 2010 e-miglia meant: at least 560 km through three Alpine countries on four days across many passes and in any weather. A task no e-mobile had to perform in a sportive competition until then. The second e-miglia, from August 1st through the 5th, 2011, will make even more demands on the participants.  In addition, the e-miglia offers a future-oriented platform for companies and service providers from all segments of e-mobility to portray themselves positively and powerfully, so that consumption interest and buying incentive are created within the general public. The e-miglia combines the look of classic rallies with the technology of the future.

   The concept of the e-miglia was first presented at the trade show in Friedrichshafen in 2009 as part of the-electric-avenue Expo, which celebrated its premiere there as the world’s first independent expo for sustainable mobility. She combines all aspects, branches of trade and industry sectors of electric mobility into an integrated concept and is the first purely electric vehicle trade show. The tea expo is an initiative and registered trademark of the Rebel Media Group.