Due to technical problems of the aircraft, the Italian crew had to stay overnight in the Portuguese Azores islands. Continuing their trip, they reached their car in Halifax at 6:05pm local time on Tuesday 21.
The adventure of Team Italia however did start in the best way. At the eve of the start of the 80edays the Italian crew participated in the press conference and drove some kilometers with their Tesla through the heart of Barcelona with some Spanish journalists on board, eager to experience the thrill of the power and quietness of the car.
On June 16, at 1:00pm local time, the 12 teams warmed up the batteries of their 100% electric cars and started their world tour from the Triumphal Arch in Barcelona. The around the world journey is expected to last 1,920 hours; namely 115.220 minutes.
As follows the first five days of these adventurous Italians:
June 16: {Barcelona-Zaragoza} Mandatory average of 85km/h to travel on a single charge to drive 319 kilometers through the Spanish countryside.
June 17: {Zaragoza-Madrid-Salamanca} Journey of 574km. Great difficulties to charge. The charging columns identified in Madrid were all damaged or nonexistent. A long break of eight hours in a high-class hotel in Madrid allowed Federico to take the wheel at 10pm and to reach their destination at night.
June 18: {Salamanca-Coimbra-Lisbon} Once again, the usual problem was the charging columns. The Italian Team was lucky as they could charge their vehicle at a car dealership in the outskirts of Coimbra, allowing to arrive, with a low battery power, to Lisbon. Charging columns are almost non-existent in the Portuguese capital. But a Roadster (only two existing of the 90 registered Teslas in Portugal) reaches Team Italia, which through the official website follows the cars live via satellite (www.80edays.com). Charging column found thanks to their help.
June 19: {Lisbon Airport} Cars loaded into the cargo and transported across the Atlantic to reach Halifax.
Until now 1.300km were driven in Europe. The journey will continue through Canada on Wednesday 22, starting at 7:00am local time from Halifax, along with the other 11 teams.
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